Page 37

But I felt it, the moment that tiny possessive ember caught fire, scorching every dark crevice of my soul in a wildfire that was Octavia Vanguard.
My light in the dark.
And I didn’t knowhowI was going to keep her, but I’d be damned if I was going to let that go—especially as I sat at my desk and enlightened myself on what had been happening since the events at the bridge.
Tributes to Octavia had been left at the gates of the Vanguard estate. Flowers and trinkets from people who never even knew her piled up in a gaudy display that made my lip curl in disgust every time the images flashed up on screen.
She hadn’t asked me what had happened yet, though I could see the question moving closer to the surface the bolder she was getting—and she was definitely getting bolder. I could feel hereyes on me wherever I was in the room. I coveted it. Wanted her attention, and that alone was a novelty for me.
“What is your middle name?” she asked suddenly, taking me by surprise.
Swiveling my chair around, I gave her a long look.
“Pardon?”
“It begins with E,” she said, eyeing me from her usual spot on the couch. She hadn’t been back in her cell since my injuries. We hadn’t even spoken of it. And I hadn’t commented on the bed she had made up on the longer of the couches…or the fact that it was kept in a disorganized nest of blankets that she tended to curl up in during the noon hours when the sun streamed through the windows.
She stretched like a cat, my Kindle gripped in her hand, and the sunlight shining off the different hues of golden blonde hair that she wore loose around her shoulders. I wanted to wrap my fist in that hair and use it to drag her onto my strap, but I was barely holding myself in check as it was. The next time I touched her, it would be at her initiation, and I was not going to go easy on her.
“Elain,” she guessed, when I was silent.
“You found my dog tags, I take it?” I asked dryly, turning back to the screens.
“They were hanging on your headboard, it’s not like they were hidden,” she protested. “And I saw a lot more than just your dog tags.”
I raised a brow at her over my shoulder to see that she had ducked her head down, her eyes glued to the Kindle again, but what I could see of her face was flaming red.
“Why, Octavia—did you take advantage of me in my incapacitated state?” I teased. “For shame.”
“No!” Her head snapped up, her gaze narrowing as she realized I was teasing her. “Ethel,” she said darkly. “Eunice?”
“My parents were drunks, not savages,” I retorted.
“Ellie?” She went on. “Emily…Emmerson—tell me if I get warm—Emory?”
“Octavia…” I warned.
“No, that starts with an O, Theodora.” She set the Kindle down, crossing her arms and twisting her mouth. “You look like an Elvira.”
“What the fuck does an Elvira look like?” I cried.
She gestured toward me in a wide circle. “Alll o’ that.”
I glared at her, and she smirked.
“It’s totally Elvira, isn’t it?”
“It’s Elizabeth,” I said through gritted teeth. “You done?”
“Theodora Elizabeth Lancaster?” she asked, her brows rising. “Really?”
I just folded my arms and leaned back in my seat.
“But it’s such a pretty name?” she said, then snapped her mouth shut, turning red. “I mean…it’s not that you’re not pretty…it’s just that pretty is the wrong word. You’re hot.” She covered her mouth, closing her eyes for a moment. “You are an educated woman, Octavia,” she muttered to herself. “Act like it.”
“Do you always talk to yourself, or is that another side effect of captivity?” I asked, waiting for her to calm down.
“Another side effect?” she asked, cracking an eye at me.