Under Sawyer’s intent stare, Naomi couldn’t help but feel like she had been teleported into an interrogation room. Sweat beaded on her lower back, as she did her best not to shirk away from his gaze.

Crap! Did I say too much? Just when I thought I’d gotten better at lying…

This was not how she had wanted Sawyer to find out it had been Verin that had broken into her house all those years ago. But from the crease between his brows and the way he was looking at her, it seemed he was at least growing suspicious.

But how much does he really know? I’ve been careful not to mention any details about my parents’ death.

Sawyer let go of her hand, folding his arms on the table in front of him.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re keeping something from me?” he asked.

For a split second, Naomi was torn. If she had taken a moment to think things through, she might have come to the conclusion that the cat was out of the bag, and it was time to be honest with Sawyer, like she had always intended to be.

Still, her first instinct was to hide behind the wall she had built around herself after she had suddenly found herself an orphan.

“I’m not,” she blurted out, sounding as defensive as she felt.

Sawyer arched a brow at her, clearly not buying it.

“How do you expect me to make the right calls if I don’t have all the facts?” he asked.

With a sigh, Naomi knew there was no point in fighting it any longer – this might not have been the way she had wanted to tell Sawyer, but continuing with lies wasn’t going to make the situation any better.

“When… when Verin came to my house, pretending to be Detective Hill,” she started, keeping her voice even. “After he morphed back, I recognized him. That face had been burned into my mind,” she took a breath, forcing the words out, “ever since the night I witnessed my parents’ murder.”

Sawyer’s eyes widened ever so slightly, but all in all, he didn’t look all that surprised. But all the warmth was gone from his voice when he spoke, replaced by an air of cool, professional detachment.

“You’re telling me we’re up against the same demon you escaped once before, and you chose to hide this from me?” he asked.

“I didn’t choose to,” Naomi shook her head. “I didn’t think it was connected to what’s happening now.”

“You think this is all a coincidence?” Sawyer arched a brow at her.

Feeling like she was now talking to a cop instead of a man she…cared for? That didn’t feel like the right phrase. There was so much more going on between them than that. Or at least that’s what it had seemed like before.

Now, though, the trust they had built between them was wavering, and Naomi felt helpless to stop it.

“I’m sure it is,” she insisted. “That night, Verin came looking for something, like he’s looking for the statue now. But he got the wrong Professor Moore. My father had no idea what the demon wanted. I just found out today that there was another Moore on staff at the college where my dad worked, with the same first initial and everything. And he’s an anthropologist. So…” Naomi said, but was cut off.

“That’s what you were doing on the computer?” Sawyer asked.

Naomi leaned back in her seat, beginning to fidget with her fingers. Now that she had said it all aloud, she had to admit it sounded bad. Purposefully hiding things from Sawyer, when she could have easily let him in on what she had discovered? Yeah, that wasn’t really the best way she could have handled things.

“Look,” she started, searching his face. “I was going to tell you all of this when the time was right…”

Sawyer let out a harsh laugh, distracting Naomi from what she was going to say.

“Were you?” he asked, his features tight and an edge to his tone. “I spilled my guts to you. Told you things about my past I haven’t told anyone. Was that not the right time for you to chime in? Maybe just a quick oh, by the way, Verin is the same demon that killed my parents?”

Tensing at the bitterness in his voice, Naomi searched for the right thing to say, but was coming up short. One thing she didn’t appreciate, though, was Sawyer treating her like a suspect.

“And I told you things I haven’t told anyone in a very long time,” she countered, meeting his gaze head-on. “Can you really blame me for keeping this one thing to myself? Remember the way you first reacted when I said I wanted to be involved in this?

“You treated me like some damsel in distress, ready to send me packing to hide away somewhere. If I had told you about my connection to Verin, you would have never let me help you.”

“Damn right,” Sawyer replied, his voice rising. “You are way too close to this, and it will make you reckless. You’ve spent your whole life trying to appease your dead parents. Tell me, what wouldn’t you do to avenge their death?”

Crossing her arms in front of her, Naomi scoffed, feeling like she had just been slapped in the face.

“What the hell do you know about me and my parents?” she exclaimed, anger bubbling up in her veins. “You barely know me, and now you’re psychoanalyzing me?” she huffed. “I’ve had way better therapists than you, trust me.”

“Am I wrong, though?” Sawyer countered. “You told me you had a fight with them that night about your grades. With two professors as parents, they probably expected a lot from you. For you to follow in their footsteps, maybe?

“And you never got the chance to talk it out. And with all that guilt, and those unresolved issues… You made yourself into the daughter you thought they’d be most proud of.”

Unable to sit still any longer, Naomi pushed out of her seat, the chair scraping on the floor. Sawyer wasn’t saying anything new, wasn’t telling her anything she hadn’t considered, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

But to hear it aloud from him, the way he was saying it… It was too much. He must have seen the hurt on her face, because he stood, too, taking a tentative step closer.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “My temper got the best of me. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Why not?” Naomi turned to him, blinking back tears. “It’s what you were thinking.”

So there they stood in the middle of the kitchen, both clearly hurt by the other, neither knowing what to say. Naomi spoke up first, needing to get her reasoning heard.

“You say I’m too close to this, and maybe you’re right, but I can’t back down now,” she said. “He killed them without a second thought, Sawyer. Verin took everything from me, and for what? Nothing. My father never even had what he wanted. You can’t deny me the opportunity to be a part of stopping Verin from getting even more powerful.”

“You’re letting your past dictate your future. And you’re playing right into Verin’s hands. He must know that your connection to him is a weakness for you, and he will exploit it if he gets the chance. Isn’t it time to let go?” Sawyer replied, standing opposite her, his dark eyes trained on her.

Naomi couldn’t help the swell of frustration inside her. How could Sawyer not understand how important this was to her? Why would he stand between her and the closure she had yearned for so long?

She had already run away once. There was no way she was going to do that again.

I need to be a part of destroying that statue. I don’t care if that means Verin will come after me. Let him come. It’s time I face my fears, once and for all.

“And do you practice what you preach?” Naomi countered. “Have you let go of your past?”

“I’m not saying I’m not still struggling,” Sawyer admitted. “But ever since I met you… I’ve seen a different future for myself. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe we are both beyond repair. But there’s one thing I won’t do, and that’s stand by and watch you get yourself killed,” he added, the softness that had flitted over his face suddenly gone.

As if nailed into place, all Naomi could do was stand there, her heart beating fast as she stared at Sawyer. How quickly things had changed between them. Her lie had unlocked things in both of them, leading them to say things that would have better been left unsaid.

Him bringing up her parents’ expectations and treating her like she couldn’t make her own decisions had been uncalled for, but Naomi hinting at Sawyer’s own issues with his dead partner had been a low blow.

It seemed they both knew where to strike the other right where it hurt.

“What does that mean?” she asked, a heavy weight settling in her chest.

“I can’t do this,” Sawyer shook his head. “I can’t watch another person I care about die. I’m going to go take a walk. If you’re still here when I get back, I’ll take that as a sign you’ve seen reason, and that you’ll let me handle this. If you’re not…” he trailed off.

A quiet panic swept over Naomi, anxiety like a tight ring around her throat.

“You’d really shut me out?” she asked, her voice coming out weak. “Make me go away instead of letting me help?”

Sawyer was quiet for a long moment, looking down at her with an expression she couldn’t begin to decipher.

“If that’s what it takes to keep you alive,” he nodded, grim. “And I thought finding my mate would be the hard part,” he muttered to himself, turning to walk to the front door.

“What?” Naomi yelped, rushing to catch up with him. “What did you say?”

“It doesn’t matter now,” he said, reaching for the door. “You have a choice to make.”

With that, he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, walking away without ever looking back. Naomi stood stunned, looking after him until he disappeared around a corner.

How did things turn into such a mess? she wondered, standing at the doorway for a good minute before going back inside Sawyer’s apartment.

Her insides twisting and turning, Naomi sank down onto the floor, resting her back against the wall. Was this it? Was she going to lose Sawyer, because she couldn’t let go of her desire to get revenge on Verin?

Getting even had seemed so important just a moment ago, but now that Sawyer was gone, nothing felt the same. Running her hands through her hair, Naomi couldn’t help but think about what she had heard Sawyer say.

Could he really have meant it? Did he think she was his mate? Naomi hadn’t even considered that possibility, with things between them moving so fast she had hardly had time to catch her breath…

But the more she thought about it, the more sense it made. Hadn’t there been an unexplainable connection between them right from the start? From the moment they met, her gut feeling had told her Sawyer could be trusted.

Yet I didn’t trust him with the truth about Verin…

Sighing to herself, Naomi found herself more conflicted than ever. When it came down to it, she knew where her choice really lay – between her past with Verin, and her future with Sawyer.

When she thought of the demon, she felt nothing but disgust and anger, mixed with a healthy dose of fear. It was a powerful combination, one that had pushed her this far, and had made her do things she never thought herself capable of.

But when her thoughts drifted to Sawyer… It was almost indescribable, the effect he had on her. With him, she felt brave, smart, beautiful… More like herself, flaws and all. He made her feel… good.

And just like that, she knew her decision had been made.