Page 19 of Soul Fated

She stopped short, and I knew the end of her sentence. I’d felt it. The blade called for blood. For death.

Lana frowned. "But you don't want to…harm yourself, right?"

Callista shook her head. "No. I don't want to touch it again, but every time you let go, my body is screaming at me to pick it up."

Rowan turned to his second. “Lyra said it wanted sacrifice.”

Callista held out her arm and pulled up the sleeve of her shirt to reveal a gauze wrapping. “It gave me this wound.” She kept her eyes trained on Rowan. “I think it wants to finish the job it started.” She pulled away from the man holding her. “Thanks, Jasper. I can stand now.”

Lana shrugged. "I don't know. But it's the only thing that makes sense. There's something about you that's connected to this dagger." She turned to me and held up the dagger. "Do you know how this works?”

My throat tightened. "No."

Jasper scoffed. “Convenient.”

Lana shot him a look. "He might be a dickbag, but he kept Callista from grabbing it and stabbing herself." She turned back to me. “I want to know why.”

I exhaled for seven. I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to be connected to these people, to Callista. I was there to finish the job and give the damn relic back to the alphas so Destin could go back to doing whatever the hell he did in Monticello.

Rowan crossed his arms. "I don't care about answers right now. We can get those from Lyra. I want to make sure he's not a threat."

The alpha posturing made my blood boil. It was always the same with alphas. They had to prove they were the biggest, the baddest.

Evelyn stepped closer, her eyes locked on me. "How do you mask your scent?"

I shrugged. "I’ve always been able to.”

Evelyn's eyes narrowed. "Are you psi?”

“I’m nothing. Omega. I’m a thug for hire.”

Rowan dragged a hand through his hair. "Jasper and Will, take the first watch. I want you and Lana on shifts. Two hours each. Don't let him out of your sight."

Jasper nodded, and Lana's mouth tightened into a thin line. They didn't like their babysitting assignments.

After an hour with me, they were going to like it even less.

Chapter

Ten

Callista

Ipushed aside the tent flap, and my heart hammered against my ribs. My hands shook as I fumbled with the zipper. The tent felt both too small and too vast. He’d come in while I was sleeping. The dagger had led him right to me.

Every sound was magnified in the stillness. The rustle of leaves in the wind, the creak of the trees as they swayed. My eyes darted around, searching for threats that my logical mind told me weren't there.

But my logical mind had been wrong about a lot of things lately.

The wound on my arm was so still it was eerie. It had been calm before I slept, but when Lana held the dagger, I almost felt whole. That knot buried against my spine had loosened for the first time in weeks. It was almost more terrifying than the pain.

I squeezed my arms tighter around my knees, trying to ground myself. The dim light filtered through the tent fabric, casting ghostly shadows across my sleeping bag.

The tent flap rustled, and I gasped.

“It’s just me.” Evelyn’s voice. “Okay if I come in?”

“Mmhmm.” I swallowed, my heart in my throat.

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