They deserved better than a letter, but she didn’t know how to give it to them. She traced the contours of their faces in the picture; she was going to miss them all so much.
A creak caught her attention, and her head lifted. The hair on her nape rose as the unsettling feeling she was not alone came over her. Except, she didn’t sense Lucien out there. A Savage?
But no, that wasn’t possible. She would have had to invite them in. Callie stepped away from the bed and glanced around for something she could use as a weapon, but there was nothing nearby.
Her gaze returned to the bedroom door as a shadow fell across the threshold. Callie’s mouth went dry, and her heart doubled in speed. It wasn’t Lucien; she’d developed a kind of sixth sense when it came to his presence. She always knew when he was nearby; his presence was a balm to her soul, but there was no comfort right now.
Instead, her instincts were telling her to run and run fast.
Her eyes darted to her office doorway as a hand fell against the door and slowly pushed it open. Callie’s apprehension turned into full-blown panic when she spotted Carter looming in the doorway.
His brown hair was longer than the last time she saw him, and it curled at the collar of his shirt. His brown eyes burned as he glowered at her. With his shoulders hunched up to his ears, he looked like Frankenstein’s monster. She sensed a wildness about him that she’d only felt once before… when he was beating her bloody.
Memories of the past screamed into the present as a lump clogged her throat. She’d been training with the others, but she wasn’t as strong or as insane as him.
“Where have you been?” he snarled.
Callie gulped back the lump in her throat as her mind spun. She struggled to come up with a response, but words failed her.
“Where have you been?” he yelled.
Callie refused to answer him. It was none of his damn business. “You’re not allowed here, Carter.”
Her gaze returned to her office. She could make it there before he grabbed her. She was fast, and she was terrified, and those things would give her the advantage.
“Don’t you tell me what I’m to do, you whore!” he spat. “Are you fucking him?”
Callie edged away from the bed and toward the door. Like a wolf on the prowl, his eyes tracked her every move.
“Who is he, Callista? What is he doing here?” Then his eyes went to the containers on her bed. “And where do you think you’re going?”
Callie continued to edge away. Don’t let your panic control you.
Those words ran on a loop through her head. Willow had said them during one of their training sessions, and they’d struck a nerve with Callie. Now, she grappled with abiding by them as her pulse raced like a runaway thoroughbred.
At the time Willow said those words, keeping control sounded like such a simple, easy thing to do. However, faced with Carter standing there looking as if he planned to rip her face off, it wasn’t so easy. Looking at him again, she clearly recalled his blows while she screamed, but no one heard.
“Do you think you can leave?” he demanded. “Do you think I’ll let you leave?”
When he stepped toward her, Callie bolted for the door. Not only did she recall every bit of her training from the past few weeks, but she also remembered her track days. She put her head down, pumped her arms, and ran like fire nipped at her heels.
When she crossed the threshold, she grasped the office door and swung it shut behind her. She sprinted through the room and skidded into the kitchen. She realized her mistake when she slid to a stop in front of the locked back door.
Not only had Carter already locked the door, but he hadn’t followed her through the office. Instead, he’d retreated through the living room and was coming across the kitchen when she reached the back door.
Her fingers fumbled at the lock as he seized her hair. Muscle memory from her training took over, and she swung back with an elbow. She jabbed him in the ribs at the same time he yanked her head back and smashed her forehead off the doorframe.
Stars erupted across her vision, and when something warm trickled down her face, she realized he’d split her skin open.
“You bitch!” Carter exploded as his hand twisted cruelly in her hair.
Callie bit back a cry as she struggled against unconsciousness. If she passed out, she’d never open her eyes again because he’d kill her. She did not doubt that.
Enclosing his hand around her throat, he dragged her away from the door and pinned her to the wall. Callie clawed at his hand as the starbursts cleared from her vision. Finally, she saw well enough to take in the rage contorting his features into something inhuman.
His fingers constricted around her throat until her breath wheezed in and out of her.
“Are you fucking him?” Carter demanded.
When she didn’t—more like couldn’t—answer, his fingers cut off her air completely. Knowing she was going to die, Callie pulled back her arm and drove her fist into his face.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Lucien stacked the three remaining containers outside the door of Callie’s shed. He glanced up the stairs toward the apartment as he leaned against the doorframe. He’d give her a few minutes to herself and her memories before returning.
He studied the building before turning his attention to the other homes lining the street. Fences separated most of the backyards, and this one was no exception. The six-foot fence surrounding the property kept it neatly separated from the neighbors.
Lifting the two full containers he’d carried downstairs, he walked to the closed gate and set them down to open it. He used his foot to keep the door open while reclaiming the containers and strode into the front yard.
He stopped at the back of the SUV, pulled out his keys, and hit the unlock button. Setting the containers down again, he lifted the back door as, down the street, another door slammed shut. He set the boxes inside and closed the door before turning to discover Saber stalking toward him.
“Don’t you answer your phone?” Saber demanded.
Lucien frowned and slid his hand into his pocket. “It didn’t ring.”
He removed the device and checked the screen; there were no missed calls. It was no secret he despised technology, but he knew how to use a phone, and he held it up to show Saber before turning it back to him.
Then he saw there were no bars at the top. He glanced at the sky as if he could somehow see the waves, or signal, or whatever it was the stupid devices used to work, but of course, they weren’t visible.
“I don’t have any service,” he said to Saber. “Why? What’s the problem?”
“A human went inside a couple of minutes ago. There’s no sign of Savages, but we thought you should know.”
Usually, a human wasn’t a cause for concern, but Savages sometimes used them to do the dirty work they couldn’t during the day. He glanced up and down the street before lifting his eyes to the third-floor windows.
He kept his eyes on the windows as he opened himself up to Callie’s presence. Although they weren’t mated, he could still sense her moods. However, he kept her shut out so as not to intrude.
Now, as he opened himself up to her, Callie’s terror hit him like a bolt of lightning that seared straight into his soul.