He’s the storm that won’t pass.

The heavy beat of his footfalls brings him closer. I don’t stop.

“Where the hell are you going?”

“I’m not waiting for Agent Alister to send a detail after me. I’m taking myself in.”

“Make him wait.” He matches my fast pace easily. “You can’t walk all the way back into town in the storm.”

“I can do whatever I want. At least for right now, while I’m still free to do so.”

“Your fucking logic is going to get you killed,” he says, the accusation in his voice a near growl. “If you don’t get back inside the house, I’ll toss you over my shoulder and carry you back.”

I laugh; I can’t help it. “You don’t know me. You have no idea how illogical I can be.” I’ve proven as much during this whole case. “I swear, you’re destruction incarnate. Dr. Stoll. Dr. Torres… You can simply look at someone, and their whole world implodes.”

Beneath my fury, I know damn well my life was destroyed before Kallum Locke strode into my world. But before him, I might have had a chance to repair the damage.

“It’s true that we embody the violence of the stars,” he says, and I can hear the smirk in his voice. The darkness grows denser the farther we head down the gravel road. “But destruction isn’t an end, it’s a beginning.”

“Christ, you don’t stop,” I mutter, my teeth chattering from the chilly, wet air. “Maybe I deserve this.”

Although I wasn’t found at fault for the car accident that took Jackson’s life, I was the one driving. I wanted to be punished. I begged the universe to punish me. And it has finally answered.

I stumble over a pothole. Kallum reaches out to catch my arm, but I snatch it away and walk faster.

“The ancient Greeks thought of Apollo as the superior god, their god of rational thought,” he continues, undeterred. “But when a satyr of Dionysus challenged Apollo in a competition, he had him flayed alive for his audacity.”

I hug my midsection, uselessly trying to shelter my body from the rain. “What am I supposed to glean here, Kallum.”

“That it’s not our logic and reason which stops us from committing such monstrous acts.”

My steps falter. Turning to face him, I stare at him through the barrage of rain.

“Are you insane?” I ask him outright. “Are you really, Kallum. Because…I don’t know if you’re crazy or a genius, or if it’s all an act. At this point, I’m seriously questioning my ability to discern the difference.”

A crooked smile tips his mouth. He takes a step toward me, and I take a reflexive step back. “I’m crazy for you.” His gaze drifts over my body, deliberately taking in my soaked shirt. “Fucking certifiable. Capable of the most vile, monstrous acts.”

I feel exposed under his heated stare. I tighten my arms around my waist and blink the droplets from my lashes. “Then confess them.”

He licks the rain from his lips, his gaze locked with mine. His silence is louder than the storm.

I nod knowingly. “No way to lie if you say nothing at all.”

Kallum smoothes his wet hair back. “Tagore said it best. The small truth has words which are clear; the great truth has great silence.”

“And someone important once said… Truth is the object of philosophy, but not always the philosopher.”

His smirk is devilish. “Did you google that just for me?”

“Maybe,” I admit, and stare down at a puddle deepening around my boots. “I didn’t kill Detective Emmons’ brother,” I say suddenly.

“I know,” Kallum says. “Neither did I.”

I swallow hard as I look up to meet his eyes. “I didn’t kill Professor Wellington.”

He watches me closely, his wet hair pitch-black, the strands dripping rivulets of rain down the beautiful contours of his face. “I didn’t kill Wellington,” he finally says.

The whole truth hovers on a tenuous heartbeat. I don’t breathe. “I didn’t—”

“This isn’t a confessional,” he interrupts. “I told you, when the case is closed, I’ll give you all the answers you seek. I keep my word. But that deal has a stipulation.”

I suck in a breath. “To trust your methods. Right. The ones that lured me into a sex ritual.” My face flushes despite the frigid air, my heart pounds my ribs like the rhythmic drumming slithering up from my memory.

A dark flame ignites behind Kallum’s gaze. “But you got one of your answers, didn’t you.”

“What I got was fired from my job,” I snap.

He shrugs unapologetically. “You hated that job.”

Indignation rears hot and fierce. “I’m going to go clear my name, then beg Alister to let me stay on the task force so I can locate the victims and put an end to this madness.”

Kallum’s features harden at the mention of the agent. A rumble of thunder builds in the distance. I turn and start down the road.

“Then what?” he asks, a hard dare edged around his words. “Reopen the Cambridge case? Turn yourself in to be investigated? There are better, more satisfying ways to uncover your answers, sweetness.”

A flash of the ritual steals across my vision, snatching the breath from my lungs. Kallum’s hand around my throat, his kiss burning through me. The sigil he carved on my thigh pulses at the memory.

“You better get back to Agent Hernandez,” I warn without slowing my pace. “Rain can weaken the signal to the ankle monitor.”

“You want me to explain the scapegoat theory for the Harbinger crime scene.” He effectively switches tactics. “I can’t do that if you don’t trust me, Halen.”

I huff a derisive laugh. “You mean, trust the monster who used a high-profile case to leverage his revenge?”

“Here you are using rational deduction to your detriment once again.” He stomps through a puddle and curses. “Dammit. Look at me, Halen.”

I whirl around. “Fine. Let’s break it down,” I say. “No more games. No more manipulation. No more existential meanderings or vague philosophical quotes. Just cold, hard facts.”

He waits for me to continue, his black suit soaked, making him blend into the darkening night. The falling rain frames his silhouette with an unearthly glow, the hazy stars his own personal backdrop. I hate the fiery ache that claws at my chest at the beautiful sight of him.

“You used the case, people, actual victims to get me to perform a ritual under the guise of solving a crime. All so you could fuck me. To play some warped mind game with me. But that wasn’t enough.”

“I’m flattered you think I’m that diabolical.”

“It wasn’t enough to use the victims as a piece on your gameboard, but you had to frame me in the process. You planted the rope evidence at the crime scene. And I let you do it. I gave you the means to hurt me.” I bite down on my lip hard. “You should’ve just stabbed me, Kallum.”

Anger tightens his jaw. “You have it all figured out.”

I shrug a shoulder. “It’s not hard to put together.”

He swipes his tongue over his bottom lip, a dangerous glint flashing amid the flinty shadows of his eyes. “Then I’m about to make your pretty little head spin.”

I plant my hands on my hips, thoroughly drenched, desperate for the way he makes me feel to turn as numb as my frozen skin.

“You won’t be charged with any murder,” he says, not denying any of my other accusations. “After you reported Landry’s attack, you were taken to the hospital. You couldn’t have killed anyone and staged a crime scene, Halen. You’re not the one being framed.”

“Then who the hell is being framed here?” I demand. I blink past the rain, my thoughts a tangled web Kallum has spun around me, sank his fangs into me so deeply, I almost crave the pain. At least that I know I can handle.

“The scapegoat,” he says.

I groan my frustration. “Alibi or not, my reputation will be damaged. More. Best case scenario, Alister will accuse me of contaminating a crime scene.” A pang of guilt resonates in my chest. “Shit. Maybe I did. I don’t know. I could’ve transferred fibers from my bag, from my tools.”