Chapter 46 · How do you know that?

He grabbed my chin and turned my face toward him.

"How do you know that?"

"Let go."

"Answer me."

"You want the truth? Fine. The last line has three words. Count the bells. Three rooms. The third room is yours. The code always points to the next movement, not the current one. Whoever wrote this knows your schedule."

"And you know the code."

"That doesn't make me the killer."

"It makes you the only person who can read the warning."

"Then stop treating me like the person who wrote it."

His thumb moved once against my jaw. A small motion. Almost gentle.

I froze.

So did he.

For half a breath, his eyes dropped to where his hand held me. The hard line in his face shifted. Not softness. Regret, maybe. Or restraint.

I pushed his wrist away.

"Don't touch me unless you're ready to believe me."

His expression closed again. "I believe the evidence."

"No, you believe control. There's a difference."

"Control is why you aren't dead."

"And trust is why I just saved your life."

He stepped back at last.

The space between us felt colder without him in it.