Back Deceptions Save as PDF
Chapters (76)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for Kelley Armstrong and the Cainsville Series
  3. Also by Kelley Armstrong
  4. Dedication
  5. CHAPTER ONE
  6. CHAPTER TWO
  7. CHAPTER THREE
  8. CHAPTER FOUR
  9. CHAPTER FIVE
  10. CHAPTER SIX
  11. CHAPTER SEVEN
  12. DOWNWARD SPIRAL
  13. CHAPTER EIGHT
  14. CHAPTER NINE
  15. OUTCLASSED
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. SEEING RED
  20. A REASONABLE MAN
  21. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  22. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  23. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  24. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  25. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  26. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  27. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  31. NOT EVIL
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  37. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  38. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  43. CURTAINS
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  47. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  48. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  49. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  56. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  57. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  58. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  59. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  60. GONE
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY
  62. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  63. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  64. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  65. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  66. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  67. CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
  68. CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
  69. CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
  70. CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
  71. TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
  72. CHAPTER SIXTY
  73. CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
  74. CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
  75. CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
  76. About the Author

The call nearly went to voice mail before he answered.

“Oh God, thank God.” The words rushed out. “I’m trapped. There’s not much air, and I’ve lost Ricky, and I need your help. I really need your help.”

Silence.

“Gabriel?”

“Yes?”

I gripped the phone tighter and raised my voice. “Can you hear me? I’ll text if you can’t. I don’t have much battery left.”

“I can hear you, Olivia.” His voice was cool, almost icy.

“I need your help. I really, really need your help. I’m trapped—”

“Yes, I heard that.”

“Good. Thank you. I can send you the coordinates—”

“No need.”

“You have them?” I exhaled. “So you’re on your way?”

“No. I’m not.”

The line went dead. I thought I’d lost the battery, but when I looked, I still had a little. I called back, and the line rang and rang and rang, and then he picked up . . . and disconnected. And my phone turned off, plunging me into darkness.

“Gabriel!” I bolted up, his name on my lips. The room was pitch-black, and I couldn’t remember where I was, still half lost in that dream—

The door opened, moonlight flooding around a dark figure.

“Olivia?”

Gabriel started through the doorway, then pulled himself up short and flipped on the light instead.

“Sorry,” I said. “Sorry, sorry.” I ran my hands over my face, trying to banish the dream.

“A vision?”

I shook my head. “Garden-variety nightmare.”

I kept struggling to push the dream away, but it wouldn’t go, alarm and dread swirling in my gut.

“Are we okay?” I asked.

“What?”

I wanted to say, never mind, I was being silly, go on back to sleep, but the words came out anyway. “Is everything okay? With us?”

His brow furrowed, and he said, “Of course,” but there was something in the way he said it, something in his eyes, still too close to sleep, that wall not yet up, letting me catch a flicker that said we weren’t okay, not really.

“Have I done something?”

“What?” He seemed ready to step into the room but again stopped short, his hand on the doorframe now. Keeping his distance.

Something’s wrong . . .

No, it’s not. You’re in his bed. He’s doing the right thing, the proper thing. Staying out.

I’m in Gabriel’s bed.

Oh God, what am I doing? I shouldn’t be here. Not in his apartment. Not in his bed. It doesn’t matter if he’s over there. It doesn’t matter if there hasn’t been a word, a touch, even a look between us. I’ve crossed a line. I know I have, and that’s what counts. Not what I’ve done. What I feel.

“Olivia?” He took a half step in, his hand still firmly on the doorframe. “What did you see?”

“You left.”

Did I just say that? Stop talking. Please stop talking.