She turned the vehicle onto a narrow road. He saw the tops of—angels? Stone angels. Tombstones. They drove past a cemetery and under the interstate.

“The house isn’t much,” Cassie told him, “but we’re not trying to attract attention.”

The steering wheel was shaking in her hand. That truck didn’t have many more miles in it.

A few more moments, then she was turning in front of an old, plantation style home. One that had burglar bars across its windows and spray paint on the walls. “Most of the locals think that this place is cursed,” Cassie said as she pulled the truck around to the back. “So no one comes here much.”

The truck’s driver side door groaned when she shoved it open. Dante climbed from the vehicle and followed her up the old steps that led into the house.

Heavy boards crisscrossed the back door. She bit her lip, then glanced at him. “Ah, you think you could . . . ?”

With a yank, he had both boards falling onto the old broken steps.

“Thanks.”

They went inside. Judging by the way the house looked on the outside, he’d expected to see dust, spider webs—anything but the too tidy space that waited him.

“From the front, no one can see any lights on in here.” She’d turned on several lights already. “The windows are tinted, and thick curtains also help to block the interior light. If anyone glances this way, the place will keep looking abandoned.”

Even though it wasn’t.

“I told Charles we’d regroup at midnight, so we just need to lay low until then.” She headed for the spiral staircase. It had probably once been the talk of the town. Now the steps squeaked beneath her feet. “There are a few habitable rooms upstairs. Take the one that you want.”

She wasn’t even looking at him. Just heading up those stairs.

No.

He rushed across the room and caught her hand, stilling her on the fifth step.

“Dante?”

His gaze raked over her. “I saw your eyes . . . in the face of a child. You said—you said someone had killed you.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Wrong. She knew exactly.

“You sound different when you lie.”

Cassie stilled.

He leaned toward her. His fingers brushed over her cheek. “I like the way your skin feels. Like silk.” He inhaled, drinking in her scent. “And I f**king love the way you smell.”

And the way she tasted.

Cassie’s hands flew up and caught his. “Stop. ”

He frowned at her.

“You don’t know how much it rips my heart out every time this happens. You die and you burn and you come back—and you don’t remember me.” Her laugh was too bitter and rough.

That wasn’t the way her laugh should sound. He knew that, even if he couldn’t recall the actual sound of her laughter.

“I got lucky when Jon took me to the ranch. You actually remembered, but it still didn’t change the way you felt about me, did it?”

Dante could only stare at her as a dark tension swept through him.

“I don’t think you do feel.” She swallowed and pulled in a ragged breath. “I think you want and you lust and maybe it is because of what I am.” Her lips twisted. “Siren.” Said like a curse.

His muscles hardened.

“You look at me and see a stranger.”

No, he saw a woman that he knew belonged to him.

As he belonged to her.

“I look at you and see the man who keeps breaking my heart.” She dropped his hand as if he burned her.

He’d burned plenty of people.

Not her. Never—

“Why do I love someone who doesn’t even know me?”

It was his turn to pull in that ragged breath.

Even softer, she said, “Someone who can’t ever love me back.”

She straightened her shoulders and carefully eased up a few steps. Putting distance between them. “I can’t handle you right now. I’m too . . . raw. And you make me feel too much.”

His hands clenched into fists so that he wouldn’t reach out to her.

“Dammit, remember me!” Cassie suddenly yelled. “I don’t want to be so forgettable to you! I never forget you! I never gave up on you! I just—” She broke off, and there was more of the bitter laughter that sounded so very wrong coming from her. “You can’t help it. Just like I can’t help loving you.” She spun away. “But I’ve got to learn how to try.”