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arm and squeezed until he felt bone. The pain forced him to clear his head.
    Just in time for him to hear Charles say, “Don’t worry, baby. He’ll be yours. We’ll find a way to get rid of his little bitch.”
    Vaffanculo . Bella had been right. His stomach flipped and he swallowed down the urge to vomit.
    They’re Mal.
    If this was a movie, the ominous music would start now. Instead, all he heard was a high-pitched whistle that reminded him of a hurricane blowing through. That whistle was in his head, threatening to bring him to his knees.
    How had he missed it? How could he have missed the fact that the two people he’d spent the most time with in the past three years were exactly what he’d tried so hard to stay away from? And how had they known about him?
    He shook his head. He couldn’t think about that now. He had to get out before they realized he was here. Had to leave and never come back.
    Need to find Bella and keep her safe. Need to tell Cole.
    Shit. They knew about Cole’s congress .
    He closed his eyes for a brief second and swallowed a groan of despair.
    He hadn’t believed her. If anything happened to her, he’d never forgive himself. Bella had been right. They’d wanted to use against him then kill her so Tiffani would have no rivals for her affections. But someone else wanted him, too. Someone who wanted him to give in to the darkness that ate up a part of his soul.
    From infancy, his parents had told him horror stories of the Mal , had taught him to fear what he’d been born to become. His mother had shown him how to submerge his magic, to only use pieces of that great, black well of power. But then he’d turned fifteen and they’d come for him…
    And his mother had died protecting him.
    He’d made her a promise before she’d died. He’d promised never to go willingly. That he’d fight until he couldn’t.
    He’d lost so much. And walked straight into a trap.
    How could he have been so stupid?
    “According to Dietrich,” Tiffani continued, “Steven took the bitch back to her house and stayed the night.”
    His stomach heaved. He’d been followed.
    “Dietrich said she’s got a flight out of Philadelphia to New Orleans late tonight, around one a.m. Steven hadn’t left the last time I talked to him.”
    So they didn’t know he was back in Tampa. He had to leave, now, before they realized. And he needed to warn Cole, needed to make sure Bella was safe.
    The sound of a vacuum cleaner jolted him into action. He backed toward the elevator so he could watch Charles’s office, throwing glances over his shoulder to keep an eye out for the cleaning woman. He’d almost reached the elevator when he realized the night watchman had probably returned to his post by now. The elevator released directly in front of the reception desk. He’d have to take the stairs. They would take him all the way to the bottom floor.
    Still, there were cameras in the stairwell. Heart pounding, hyperventilation a real possibility, he took a deep breath and forced down the fear.
    And reached deeper still for his magic, praying he could control it.
    * * *
    Bella let her gaze roam over the people waiting in the gate area of the Philadelphia airport.
    She’d been sitting here for at least an hour. And she still had another hour before her plane left for New Orleans.
    But she hadn’t been able to sit in her apartment on Bainbridge Street and mope any more.
    Alright, at least be honest with yourself. You don’t want to cry anymore.
    That’s all she’d done since she’d left Steven this morning.
    She’d hoped—prayed—that Steven would follow her back to her apartment, beg her to let him back in her life.
    Damn him for crushing her dreams. Again.
    Well, shit. Her eyes were flooded. Again.
    Wiping them, she took a deep breath and forced herself to continue people watching. It was a favorite pastime—watching the eteri .
    There were a few families with young children, several businessmen in suits carrying