Page 70 of The Dead Don’t Scream
His eyes rise.
“That wasn’t a request.”
Dante murmurs, “She learns quickly.”
Callum stands. I keep one hand against his chest. His heart hammers beneath the crow tattoo.
“What happens if I stay?” I ask.
Callum’s attention sharpens.
“Tonight?”
“After tonight.”
No one moves. Rhys answers first.
“We learn each other without applications and masks.”
Dante comes to my side.
“We take you to breakfast somewhere that won’t object to the fact that none of us slept.”
“And after breakfast?”
“Lunch.”
Rhys ignores him.
“We establish boundaries outside the maze. We decide what this relationship means. No assumptions.”
I look at Callum.
“And you?”
“I spend every day earning the next one.”
No threat. No demand that I become his. Only a promise to earn what he wants. I touch the ribbon.
“If I leave?”
Callum’s jaw tightens.
“I open the gate.”
“And afterward?”
“I don’t contact you unless you ask.”
The answer hurts him. I can see it. He gives it anyway. I untie the blanket. It falls around my feet. Three men watch me step out of it. No masks. No roles. Rhys. Dante. Callum.
“Good,” I say. “Now take off the rest of your clothes.”
Dante’s mouth opens. Rhys arches an eyebrow. Callum doesn’t blink. I point toward the altar.
“My turn.”
CALLUM
