Page 7 of Sins and Salvation

"Stay there," I tell him, putting down the hot dish and wiping my hands on a kitchen towel.

A second knock, harder this time.

I am tempted to ignore it, but the locks in this building aren't great, and I've noticed strange cars parked across the street for the past week. My mom-senses are screaming that something is not quite right about a visit at this hour.

When I look through the peephole, it's black. Someone is covering it. My heart races as I back away.

"Maeve." The voice hits me like a tidal wave.

A voice I haven't heard in seven years.

A voice I've tried to forget.

"Maeve, I know you're in there."

Conor appears at the edge of the kitchen. "Mom?"

I motion for him to stay back and take a deep breath, summoning every ounce of courage I have.

"Go to your room," I tell Conor.

"But—"

"Now, Conor."

He hears the edge in my voice and listens, though I see the confusion in his eyes—eyes so like his father's that it hurts to look at them sometimes.

When the bedroom door clicks shut, I unlock the front door but leave the security chain on. I open it just enough to confirm what I already know.

Declan Donovan is standing in my hallway, his frame filling the narrow space. Older, harder, with scars I don't recognize, but still Declan. He is still the man who broke my heart and left me to pick up the pieces. Still a monster in the dark.

"What are you doing here?" I keep my voice low, aware that Conor is just down the hall.

"Let me in, Maeve."

"No."

His green eyes, the same ones that haunt me every single time my son gets mad, darken. "Please. We need to talk."

"We have nothing to talk about."

He leans closer to the gap in the door. "I saw him, Maeve."

My blood turns to ice. Of course he did. Conor is his mirror image.

"Go away, Declan."

"He's my son, isn't he?"

The question knocks the air from my lungs. All these years of secrecy, of protecting Conor from the Donovan legacy, shattered in an instant.

"Lower your voice." I glance behind me, making sure Conor hasn't snuck out.

"Let me in." There's an edge to his voice now. "There are men watching your building. Did you know that?"

The mysterious car. The feeling of being watched. Fear slides down my spine.

I close the door, unhook the chain, and open it again. Declan steps inside before I can change my mind.

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