Page 38 of Fated By Fire
But first, I need answers from the woman beside me.
The penthouse elevator doors slide open, and I stride in, Elena trailing behind me like a shadow. She stops just inside the doorway, her sharp gray eyes scanning the space with a mix of wariness and curiosity. The living room is a carefully structured blend of clean lines and muted tones—dark leather, polished wood, a wall of windows that frame the glittering skyline.
“Nice place,” she says dryly, her voice cutting through the silence. “Very… cold and impersonal.”
“Sit,” I order, gesturing to the sofa.
She doesn’t move. “I’m not a dog, Caleb.”
“You’re in no position to argue,” I snap, rounding on her. “You broke into my company, accessed a restricted area, and now you’re neck-deep in something you don’t understand. So sit the hell down and start talking.”
Her eyes narrow, and for a moment, I think she’s going to argue. Instead, she crosses the room and perches on the edge of the sofa, her posture stiff, her hands clenched in her lap.
I lean against the arm of a chair across from her, my arms folded. “Start with who hired you.”
She doesn’t answer immediately, her gaze flickering to the window before returning to mine. “Who said I was hired?”
“Don’t play games, Elena. You’re a private investigator. You don’t go snooping around billion-dollar corporations for fun.”
Her lips twist into a bitter smile. “And you don’t kidnap people and lock them in basements for shits and giggles. Yet here we are.”
I stiffen. “Malakai acted without my knowledge or consent. He’ll be dealt with.”
“Good to know,” she mutters.
I take a step closer, my voice hinting at the anger brewing inside me. “Who hired you?”
She hesitates, then exhales sharply. “A company called Blackthorn Consulting. They offered me a job investigating Craven Industries. I don’t know who they are or what they want. They just gave me a list of tasks and paid me a lot of money to do them.”
Blackthorn. The name rattles in my head. This confirms my suspicions. Someone sent her in to poke around, to dig up information—or to find something specific.
My eyes lock on hers. “What did you tell them?”
“Nothing of value,” she says, her voice rising. “Corporate structure, financial reports, employee records. Stuff anyone could find with a little digging. I didn’t know what they were after until—”
“Until you found the vault,” I finish for her.
She nods, her expression grim. “Yeah. Until I found the vault.”
The tension between us ramps up a notch. I study her face, searching for any sign of deceit, but all I see is frustration and defiance. She’s telling the truth—or at least most of it.
“What did you see?” I snap out the words. “What did you see in the vault?” I add more gently.
She hesitates again, her gaze dropping to her hands. “A… crystal. It was glowing. And then… I don’t know. It’s fuzzy. Before I could get a closer look, that guy—Malakai—grabbed me.”
A knot of unease twists in my gut. She saw the Heartstone. That alone is dangerous enough. But if she felt its power…
I stand and step closer, my voice dropping to a near-whisper. “Elena, you have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into. That vault wasn’t just a corporate secret. It’s—”
“What?” she interrupts, her eyes flashing with anger. “A magical treasure trove? A secret government experiment? What the hellwasthat thing, Caleb? And what washe? Because I’m pretty sure I didn’t hallucinate a man turning into a… a…”
She trails off, her voice shaking. I see the fear in her eyes, the confusion, and it feels like the sensation belongs to me. She’s caught in the crossfire of a war she doesn’t understand, and for a moment, I want to tell her everything. To explain the Heartstone, the clan, the Syndicate. But I can’t. Not yet. Probably not ever, if I can help it.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I say instead.
“Try me,” she snaps.
Before I can respond, my phone buzzes. I glance at the screen. Dorian.
