Page 17 of Cold-Blooded Creatures

I stuffed my disgust in that special little box behind my left eye. I’d sort it out later.

A wrinkle between Gedeon’s eyebrows deepened, and I shrugged. I didn’t have the capacity to deal with the box right now. I didn’twantto deal with it right now.

So I changed the subject. “Tell me you have an idea how to get around their new security system.”

Dark circles under his eyes stood out on his puffy face. He clearly hadn’t slept a single hour throughout the night. He’d probably spent it brooding, either in the training rings or stalking her in the forest. Like usual. Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep an eye on them this time. That heinous assistant had occupied me. Information took priority.

“You can guess the plan. We go in, get the microchips, figure out the implantation process, take the necessary supplies, and get out.”

“And work out how to program them remotely, so our profiles are added to their system and we can go in and out as we please. Easy.” Obviously, it was something we did every day. And not what put a hamper on our daily existence.

Capping his pen, he placed it an inch away from the closest stack of his notes, their edges lined up perfectly. “Have you reached out to the other compounds?”

“I’ll bring them the chips to see if they can help. But neither city has updated its system yet. Seems Ilasall is the first one.Maybe they’re a test version and Ardaton and Coriattus will follow up later. Until they do, it’s not likely Damia or Conall will be able to help.”

He strode to the large window on the far wall. Bright light spilled inside, but he remained a dark silhouette brimming with tension and repelling any illumination. “This will continue to hinder our operations without an end in sight. Why did no one in the city warn us about these changes?”

“I don’t think they knew. The military kept it under wraps until the tests began. And then it was too late to inform us,” I said carefully. He’d never displayed irritation at our people who risked their lives in Ilasall by planting our riotous ideas into the minds of their residents. Blaming others was a particular skill of mine I’d developed over the years, while Gedeon’s skewed more on the…cleaning up my shit side.

Something else must have unraveled to put him in a sulking mood.

The long silence strained his shoulders and back to the limit, and he cracked his neck. “They have expanded the patrol area around the city. I took care of a soldier last night.”

Shit.“What happened?”

“He saw her running through the field in the forest and went after her. I left his corpse at the east gates.”

“None of the guards tried to shoot you?” I studied him for potential wounds, but his black clothing concealed any potential gashes. Recklessness and foolish risk-taking tended to fall on my side of stupidity, not his.

“They would have had to notice me first,” he said, his focus on the street behind the window, the people outside hurrying to open their shops and stores, others munching on breakfast around the tables scattered on the sidewalks or making deliveries. “I doubt they have a sufficient number of guards tocover all bases at once. We need to hunt those chips down before they finish upping their security and we lose our opportunity.”

“They’re finishing the tests tomorrow.” I despised hurried plans. They never worked out properly. Someone always died. I’d be happy if it was them—I’d gladly offer my skills to help move it along—but well, I’d also like to keep Gedeon alive. And I had a hunch he was coming this time, even though we usually didn’t let him. He was too valuable to risk. This compound existed, thrived, because of him. “Tomorrow evening then. They’ll be calling off the extra guards with the new security system up and running. We’ll use the chip we cut out from the assistant to get into the city. Because we aren’t stealing just the supplies, are we?”

He turned away from the window and curtly nodded.

If you didn’t know him, you’d say the firm dip of his chin displayed quick decision-making. The truth? More like a tiny slip in his self-control, an inability to slow his movements, turning them rapid and jerky.

It was beyond time. If he wasn’t planning on snatching her, I would have done so. Simply to mess up with his self-restraint a bit more.

I’d pretended I didn’t want her for far too long. I’d dragged person after person into my bedroom to placate the razor-sharp demand inside me and, sure, they were fun to fuck, but not one could pacify the ants crawling under my skin. I wanted someone to play with, someone from outside, someone I could torture in the sweetest ways.

I pouted my lips, thinking about the possibility of keeping one of the guards alive.

“I’ll get Ezra to help me,” I decided, but a thought popped up. “Wait. You said she was running. What did you do?”

Wordlessly, Gedeon leaned against the windowsill, gripping its edge, a strand of dark hair tickling his forehead.

I snorted. “I see. Maybe that’s why the guard found her tonight. She’d loudly announced her being.” Heading for the door, I paused in the middle of the study. “I wish I’d been there to witness it. She does look hot in her bed.”

“When did you see her?” he asked calmly, the familiar icy tone signaling he was about to snap.

And I was more than down to play. “You didn’t think I was curious? It wasn’t that hard to track her back to the city from the forest. Have you ever seen how her ass looks in her sleep? It’s like she’s propping it up on display for you. And those lips… I can already imagine the tongue behind them.”

My instincts were shouting to move, but I widened my stance, bent my knees, and tensed my core to secure my balance as he jumped the space between us.

I laughed, knowing very well how to get him riled up. “I wonder what it would take to get her on her knees,” I paused, and added, “kitten.”

A fist connected with my jaw, and metallic iron trickled on my tongue. A pleasant burn spread from where my lip had split.