Kinsey gave a dry laugh. “Nice one. The truth, please.”
“That is the truth,” Dmitri said with his back still to them.
She looked from Ryder to Dmitri and then back to Ryder. “Millions?”
“We can no’ die.”
“Immortal?” she whispered in awe.
“Aye.”
Kinsey put her hand to her throat as it all came into focus. “You were never going to tell me about who and what you are, were you?”
Ryder gave a single shake of his head.
She wanted to cry. All the old feelings welled up just like when he’d left her. “I thought we had something special. I thought you were The One. I saw my life with you by my side. You let me think that. You let me fall in love with you.”
“Kinsey,” he began.
“Then you left. You left me standing on the sidewalk, waiting for you to show for our lunch date.” She sniffed back her tears, anger beginning to bubble. “You canceled your mobile and your e-mail account. You made sure I couldn’t get in touch with you in any way. I thought I did something to push you away.”
Ryder grasped her arms. “Never,” he said adamantly.
She shoved him away with all her might. He couldn’t touch her, because when he did, she forgot all the bad and focused on how he’d once made her feel. “Now I know it wasn’t me. It was you. Is this what your kind does? They get involved with us mere humans and make us fall in love, then you leave? Do you laugh at how we have to scrape ourselves off the pavement and try to live again?”
“It killed me to leave you!” Ryder yelled.
“I doubt it.”
Kinsey grabbed her purse and bag and walked to the door. If she had to tear it down with her bare hands, she was going to walk out.
But the door opened when she turned the knob.
It was time for her to blow this joint and put Ryder in her rearview mirror for good.
CHAPTER THREE
Ryder intentionally let her leave the computer room. He followed her into the corridor and toward the stairs. Kinsey’s black boots made little sound on the thick rug over the hardwood.
She looked back at him as she descended the stairs. “I can find my way out.”
Ryder didn’t bother to comment. He wasn’t following her because he worried she would get lost. He was following her to make sure she didn’t run into Con. Her leaving wasn’t an option, not after learning the work order had her name on it.
He lengthened his strides and came even with her in the foyer. Ryder opened the front door. She met his gaze as she walked past him, and then came to a dead stop when she saw the sleet.
It was no freak storm. No, this was all the work of Arian. No doubt Tristan or Dmitri had told him to keep Kinsey on the estate.
When Kinsey started to walk from the shelter of the overhang, Ryder stopped her. At her cold look, he released her and held up his hands. “Easy. I doona think getting wet in this cold is wise.”
“Because I’m human and can die?” she asked saucily.
“Aye. That’s exactly why.”
Some of the fire went out of her. Kinsey adjusted the bag on her shoulder. “I can’t be near you.”
“Because I frighten you,” he said with a nod. “I understand, but you also need to realize that what you’ve seen is no’ something we want repeated.”
“Who would I tell?”
“Anyone. We’ve lived in secret for thousands of years. It needs to remain that way.”
She wrapped her blazer tighter around herself to ward off the cold. Kinsey looked out at the sleet that was turning into snow. “You still think I wrote that work order to get myself here.”
“Nay, I doona.” The shock on her face had been too real. “I contemplated it for a wee bit, but I realized it wasna you.”
“Damn right it wasn’t me,” she said with a lift of her chin.
Ryder fought back a smile. He’d always loved her fire, her spirit.
Her lips pursed briefly. “The question then is who sent me?”
“That’s what I need to determine. We’ve a lot of enemies.”
She turned to face him then, her arms crossed over her chest as her nose was beginning to turn red. “Someone knew about us.”
“That’s what I’ve concluded. Why else would they send you?”
“I don’t like this,” she muttered.
Neither did he. If she was innocent, Kinsey was a pawn in this vicious war. “I could use your help finding out who it is.”
Kinsey gave a quick bark of laughter. “No, you don’t. You’re the best I’ve ever seen with computers.”
“I’d like your help then,” he tried again. “The Kinsey I knew wouldna have passed up a chance to clear her own name.”
She looked away and remained silent for several long minutes. “Look, I don’t think it’s—”
The sound of Shara’s laughter as Kiril chased her through the snow from around the side of the manor interrupted Kinsey. Shara was quickly caught in Kiril’s arms, where they shared a passionate kiss.
Before the kiss could get heated, Rhys came around the house. Kiril released Shara right before Rhys tackled Kiril to the ground while Lily came to stand by Shara as they laughed.