Chapter 23

GUNNAR

The words tasted sour on my tongue as they rolled off. They hung in the air, a potent stench that threatened to suffocate me. It was a memory I lived to forget but it haunted me every waking moment.  And now, she was forcing me to relive it by making me talk about it. I never wanted to be the one to tell her. Maybe she didn't have to know. All she wanted to know, in the beginning, was what her family had brought her into. But here she was, fishing deeper than she needed to. She needed to stop because she wasn't going to like where this little fishing expedition of hers was about to lead.

"I'm through with this topic," I gritted,  pinning her with a hard glare, "and it will be best if you're through with it, too. You're not leaving this house. You've got your question answered so I don't see a reason for you to leave."

I turned to flee but she stopped me by curling her cold fingers aroun