Page 64 of Manacled Hearts

“My car or the motels we managed to stay in didn’t exactly offer the facilities. And the few times we managed to underhandedly rent studios with kitchens, my priorities didn’t allow it.”

Morrigan nods at my explanation.

But it’s not the whole truth, is it?

I sigh at that voice inside my head. It is the truth. There were other priorities. More important things to spend our money on than this hobby.

Though, I did miss the chemistry of it all. The anticipation of the oven timer going off after experimenting with new flavor combinations or recipes, the excitement of that first taste, and then there’s the decorating part of it. That is my true ecstasy. Before I was taken, I kept a tattered old notebook where I drew—in pencil—all the designs I hoped one day I would get to do. It was the only thing I owned that I cared about. It’s gone now. I thought I forgot those designs, but just like the baking techniques, they’re all coming back to me like I’ve been doing it all this time. After moving out of Katya’s and into Loreley’s downstairs apartment, I fell right back into it. Well, not straight away, because I pushed back at first. Harder than I probably needed to. I had a point to prove, though I already forgot what it was. And I’m not fond of the reasoning my therapist suggested.

I’m not saying she’s wrong, or right, I’m just not fond of it. I still don’t have an answer to her question, and I’m unsure why it stumped me so hard.

Do you think you matter, Evelyn?

“You could make money out of this.” Morrigan catches my attention again, punctuating that sentence with a deep moan as she takes another bite of cake.

I could.

“Sure.” I laugh awkwardly instead.

The monitor next to the TV signals that the motion sensors have detected movement on the long drive to Vincent’s forest house.

“It looks like Madds,” he says as he watches the car drive down.

“Hide the cake!” Morrigan yelps and jumps off the bar stool.

We all burst into laughter, and I can’t resist imagining that if I were ever to do this for money, she would be my most loyal customer.

Stop wasting your time on silly dreams, Evelyn.

I sigh internally, wondering if my therapist was right.

FINNIGAN

“He really didn’t say anything to you?” I ask Madds for the second time since we got into his car.

“He didn’t. But I think he found something big.”

It better be. Too much time has passed since we’ve been trying to find Vassallo. It’s never taken us this long to track down a person or group and it’s getting downright embarrassing. I can’t keep track anymore of all the people we blackmailed, tortured, or killed for this goddamn information. It kills me that this asshole, whoever the fuck he is, bested us. Not only when we rescued the children, though, according to Evelyn, it was dumb luck that they left just before us, but he’s besting us now too.

Carter is even more frustrated. Even if Vin tried to calm him by reasoning that we have absolutely nothing to go on, apart from an alias, he was not satisfied. The man allows only success in his portfolio, and this frustration is bringing The Carver out… and he demands satisfaction in pounds of flesh.

The motherfucker is scary. But fuck me if he’s not effective. And it sounds like the blood paid off because he’s finally got something.

“He’s not here yet,” Madds says when we pull into Vin’s driveway.

I push the car door open and draw in a deep breath that makes me feel more at home than my penthouse. Damp moss, faint sea salt, and tree bark drown me, but there’s a tension in the air I can’t quite put my finger on.

Foreboding.

It prickles my skin and turns my head, watching for something, anything, to come out of the shadows of the forest trees.

But nothing does. It’s just us here.

“Coming?” Maddox calls for me, a few steps in front.

“Yeah…” I trail off, following him to the front door, just as he pushes it open.

The smell hits me so hard, I stop dead in my tracks.

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