Page 3 of All the Devils are Here

We’d been right here before, and we both knew it. When it was darker, more intimate, and I’d made the mistake of thinking I could have her. Of risking everything for a taste that would torture me for eternity.

Meg shook her head. “I don’t know if I know myself very well at all right now.”

“Are you all right?”

The air was tense again between us, flavored with her sharp, floral scent I wanted to drink in. Meg lifted the coffee to her lips, and I found myself lost in watching her, following the line of her throat as she swallowed, and lower, to where her skin disappeared beneath her hoodie.

She looked at me, blue eyes full of pain I’d never seen before. But it was gone in a flash, and she smiled, returning to her normal, brilliant self. “Did you have heart surgery?”

Her eyes flickered to my chest where it was still exposed, the shattered web of red scars now visible. I’d been so distracted by her I’d forgotten my shirt was even open, let alone that she could see.

“I’ve never seen a scar like that, though.”

“Surgery.” I cleared my throat. “Yes. A long time ago.”

She grinned. “Glad it worked out and you’re still here. Then I’d have to pay for a hotel whenever I come to Paris.”

“We can’t have that,” I murmured. “What kind of life would that be?”

She laughed again and stepped away, breaking the spell she had on me. “Right?”

“Anyway, I think I might take a walk down by the river first and see how I feel later. Maybe I can even convince a stoic doctor like yourself to have some fun.”

Fun.

There was plenty of fun I wanted to have that would make the sound of her rapidly beating heart go even faster. And mine too—if I had a heart that beat.

But it was good I didn’t have to worry about my heart—it had already caused me far too much pain.

“Take a key,” I said, pushing off the counter and grabbing the extra set from the hall, taking a moment to breathe in air that wasn’t drenched in her scent. “Though I’m sure I’ll be here when you get back.”

Meg took the key from my hand, watching me carefully. Every other time she’d come to visit, we’d been fine. Normal. There hadn’t been this thick tension in the air that made it difficult to breathe or even be near her. I blamed it on the dream she’d pulled me out of—it had my emotions too close to the surface and too far away from the cool persona I used every day with my patients. Friendly, professional, and easy. That’s all there was. It was all I could ever have.

“Okay,” she said carefully. She was too polite to call out that something was strange, though we both knew it was. “I’ll see you later.”

I turned back to the counter and downed my too-hot coffee in one go so I didn’t watch her leave. Not only because those leggings were driving me crazy for all they left to the imagination, but because I didn’t ever want to watch her walk away.

Meg was supposed to spend a whole week here before Christine and the others arrived. For the first time since I met her, I wondered if that wasn’t a good idea.

CHAPTER TWO

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MEGHAN

Itook a breath and leaned against Laurent’s door for a second. What the fuck was that? I knew I threw him off when I showed up because he’d forgotten, but I’d never seen the gargoyle doctor so out of sorts.

A walk hadn’t actually been in my plans, but I needed to take a breath. The air in his kitchen was thick with unspoken words. There was always something invisible in the air around us, and there had been for years. But I’d neverfeltit like this before.

Pushing myself off the door, I started walking the familiar path toward the ruined opera house. It was exactly the same as the day it burned, and every time I was here, I walked by it like a memorial. Everything had changed since then, and yet it felt like nothing was different.

Anyone who looked at my life would probably roll their eyes, but I couldn’t help the way I felt. Like everyone was moving on without me, and I was nowhere. Especially now, with nothing on the horizon.

There were people crowded around the opera house, taking pictures. It was even more of a tourist attraction than it had been when it was being restored. I didn’t need to get close to it. The memories I had of learning the building was on fire and fleeing for my life were plenty.

Even now, fire made me nervous. All of us had been celebrating, and by the time we realized what was happening, the flames were far closer than we’d realized. I could still feel the heat we’d had to jump over.

I kept going and made my way to the river. There were mixed memories here too, knowing what had happened to Christine. But those monsters were gone, and even my best friend still liked walking by the river when we were here.

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