hell out of there. “Thank you, I’d be happy to.”
Eleri snorted beside him, but Kyle didn’t glance at her, his attention fixed on Hugh Warlow. He’d swear something glinted in the older man’s pale blue gaze. The hair at the back of his neck prickled. Did he know him? Recognize him from before?
Warlow handed him the keys and a copy of the lease. “There is one more thing, and I hope you don’t find me deplorably rude. I couldn’t help but notice your injury.”
Kyle went cold. Absently, almost without control, his fingers moved to the thick ridge of scar tissue peeking out from his collar.
“I was in an accident.” The gravel rasp in his voice seemed more pronounced all of a sudden and a thin line of sweat dribbled between his shoulder blades.
Warlow’s eyes tightened. “Must have been a terrible recovery.”
Months of painful recovery and the black fear he lived with since that day swirled inside his head. “It’s behind me now.”
“Yes, of course. I won’t keep you.” Warlow waved him away, sinking into the chair behind the desk.
Kyle turned from the man, his gaze shifting to Eleri. She’d moved to the door, watching him with narrow-eyed curiosity. The hostility tightening her features had gone. Good God, he must have looked as rattled as he felt.
He forced a grin. “Shall we be off, then?”
Eleri nodded and left the study. Kyle followed her outside, letting out the breath he’d been holding. He’d made it through. Whatever suspicions they had about him weren’t enough to keep them from accepting his money. He hadn’t even really had to lie yet. For all their reservations, they had never thought to ask if he’d ever visited Stonecliff or Cragera Bay before.
But maybe they remembered him and already knew he had.
Chapter Two
“Get in,” Kyle said, yanking open his car’s passenger door. Nervous energy hummed through him, making his skin itch.
Eleri didn’t move, eyeing the opening like a wary animal gauging a potential trap. “You want me in your car?”
“I don’t see how you can show me the way, otherwise,” he told her, forcing a grin while rounding the vehicle to the driver’s side.
Still, she hesitated as if instinctively sensing something about him wasn’t on the up-and-up. The knots tangling his insides squeezed tighter.
“You know what people say about me.”
Oh he knew, all right. Probably better than anyone else. “I’ve heard the rumors.”
He slid behind the wheel, not giving her a chance to argue further, and waited for her to get in.
She slipped into the seat, closed the door behind her with a thunk and positioned herself as far from him as their tight quarters would allow. Hell, he’d have guessed he was the one rumored to kill people if he didn’t know better. Irritation prickled the hair at the back of his neck.
He switched on the engine, shifted gears and started back down the drive toward the road. He glanced at Eleri stuck to the door, gripping the handle with one white-knuckled fist as though she were waiting to spring out of the moving car if need be.
“Be careful, love. You press any harder and you might fall out.”
Eleri scowled. “You ought to be worried about yourself.”
“Me?” He lifted his hand from the gearshift to tug on his seatbelt. “I’m safe and secure.”
“That’s not what I meant.” She shifted to face him. Her mouth stretched into a smile as hard as her glare. “Aren’t you worried about your safety? They pulled twelve bodies from The Devil’s Eye, and you’re alone in the car with the woman who put them there.”
“Is that a confession?”
“No,” she snapped. “That’s what everyone believes. You do realize you’re the ideal victim? A single male, late twenties to early thirties. No attachments. Just like the other men who vanished from this place. You might as well have ‘prey’ written across your forehead.”
Cold settled in the pit of his stomach like an icy brick. Still, he kept that unconcerned smirk in place, his shoulders loose. At least, he hoped he did. “What makes you so sure I’ve no attachments?”
Eleri snorted and turned away to look out the passenger window. “Why would anyone come here if they had somewhere else to be?”
“I have attachments.” He shot her a brief glance before turning his attention to the winding drive through the windscreen and away from her scrutinizing stare.
“Are you married?”
“No, but I have family. Parents. Siblings. People who would look for me if I should up and vanish.”
“Is that a warning? In case my murderous impulses overwhelm me?”
Was it? Maybe. He glanced at her as the car approached the gateposts. This was only the third time he’d seen her, and only the second time up close. He tried to imagine the delicate features of her face pinched tight with effort and concentration. The slender fingers of one hand tangling in his hair, jerking his head back, while the other pressed a cold blade to his throat.
A shudder rippled through him. She watched him, arms folded over her chest, a smug smile pulling at her mouth.
She hadn’t been the one to wield the knife. He knew that for certain. So how did she fit into the murders?
“Which way?” he asked.
“Turn right. The same way you came.”
He nodded and she stayed quiet as he steered down the narrow road, thick woods rising up on either side of them. Despite Eleri’s silence, Kyle could feel her gaze boring into him as she studied him, measured him. Cool sweat sprang to his skin, that all too familiar anxiety beginning to build.
He tightened his hold on the steering wheel and concentrated on drawing deep, even breaths. Once the tension gripping him eased, he forced his stock nonchalant grin and glanced her way. “Am I that lovely to look at?”
Those black eyes narrowed. “I beg your pardon.”
“You’re staring. While I’m flattered, I—”
“Don’t be,” she snapped. “If I told you the rumors were true, would you leave?”
Eleri’s words sent a chill scuttling along his spine.
“No.” Not until he knew for certain. Not until he could prove it. Not until she led him to the others.
“Turn right.” She pointed to a nearly invisible break in the trees.
He slammed his foot on the brake and cranked the wheel. The car’s back end fishtailed as he steered up the drive. Unlike the gravel-covered drive leading to the main house, this one was little more than two narrow ruts cutting through the trees.
Once the spring and summer foliage took root, the pathway could very possibly disappear entirely. It would be swallowed up by the woods, leaving him trapped amongst the trees. The idea left him cold.
The car emerged into a clearing. A dark stone building rose up before him. This house was older than Stonecliff, possibly by a good hundred years. He had no idea how modernized the place was inside; for all he knew he would have to dig a hole in the woods every time he needed to shit.
He stopped the car, and before he could even cut the engine, Eleri had hopped out, slamming the passenger door behind her. He climbed out and followed her to the front door, where she waited for him to unlock it.
Once he pushed open the door, Eleri moved passed him, her rubber boots thudding on the wood floor. She pressed a button on the wall, and the overhead