Page 77 of Problematic

“This house has rules,” I said at the front door.

Kalon glanced at me. “It does.”

“I knew it.”

“You can keep your shoes on.”

“How rebellious.”

He unlocked the door and stepped aside rather than ushering me through.

I crossed the threshold.

A gray blur launched itself from the hallway with a wounded scream. I stumbled into Kalon as a long-haired cat attached itself to his boot and began yowling as though he had returned from the dead.

Kalon sighed. “Calcifer.”

The cat screamed louder. I stared down at its smashed face and furious yellow eyes. “You named him after the fire demon?”

“He knocked over a candle and nearly burned the house down the day I brought him home.”

Calcifer bit his pant leg.

“That tracks.”

Kalon lifted the cat with one hand. Calcifer collapsed against his chest before yowling directly into his shirt.

“I was gone for two hours,” Kalon told him.

Calcifer remained unconvinced. A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. Some of the tension cracked beneath the sound.

The house smelled of clean laundry and expensive soap. Dark wood flooring stretched beneath warm lighting. Nothing crowded the counters. No strange roses waited inside.

Kalon placed my bag near the stairs. “You can use the guest room. The door locks from the inside, and I’ll stay downstairs.”

He brought me water while Calcifer refused to leave his arms.

The sofa swallowed me when I sat. Kalon took the opposite end. Calcifer settled across his thigh and watched me with open suspicion.

“You don’t owe me anything because I brought you here,” Kalon said.

“I know.”

“I mean it.”

“I know.”

His steadiness made something inside me ache. I held the water glass in both hands and tried to imagine choosing this rather than using him to hurt the man who had invaded my home.

Calcifer lifted his head and gave a miserable complaint.

“Yeah,” I whispered. “Same.”

My attention drifted toward the window.

Nothing moved beyond the glass.

“Kalon,” I said.