Page 4 of Exiled Heir

He didn’t speak, approaching slowly. His heels made a clicking sound against the concrete as he walked forward.

When he got to me, his boots were close enough to my face that I wasn’t sure if he expected me to kiss them. I reared back, the movement proving I had more control of my muscles. Twisting, I tried to turn over, but he was faster.

Before I could regain my feet and maybe give myself a chance, his foot was on my face, grinding down.

I panted, trying to kick out, trying to struggle, but he pressed down harder. If he wanted to, he could probably press hard enough to shatter my skull, to leave nothing but pulp behind.

“We have a very limited time to have this conversation, even with my magic giving us some leeway. Let’s skip the escape attempt. There’s no way out of this room. Do you understand?”

He emphasized the question by leaning on his foot, his hard heel digging into my jaw.

I managed to make a sound that approximated a yes. With one last press, he backed off, removing his foot but not moving any further away.

I tried tilting my head, but it was impossible for me to see more than his long boots and pants. My head wouldn’t turn far enough for me to see his face.

“If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with. Whatever they gave me is wearing off, and I prefer to be drugged while I’m dying,” I said.

“I’m not planning on killing you.”

I waited, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of asking about his plans again. When the silence grew too heavy, I risked flopping over on my back so that I could at least see his expression. It pulled at my shoulders, and my weight crushed my hands underneath me.

Cade was haloed by the light, his brows drawn together, a twist of black tattoo disappearing under his shirt collar.

“Do you know who I am?” he asked. I nodded, and his nostrils flared. “Good. That will make things simpler. I heard one of Declan’s lieutenants went rogue. Since you’re tied up in the back room of atrulytawdry bar, I’m going to assume that’s you. What’s your name?”

Cade’s question caught me off guard. I searched his face for signs of deception. Hehadto know my name. Wasn’t that why he was here?

Snorting, he shook his head at my hesitance. “Your name.”

“Miles,” I said, drawing the word out.

“Family name? Pack name?” he pressed.

I shook my head. I had neither anymore.

“Good. That will make things easier. I want to hire you, Miles. I suggest you take my offer since we’ve established that Declan is here, wants you dead, and will be considerably angrier after those buffoons try to charm him withonion ringsandbravado.” There was no animosity on Cade’s face, no hate, no rage. Just a bored annoyance as I failed to respond.

My stomach dropped out. Cade Bartlett had no idea who I was.

Cade Bartlett continued to stare at me, and I felt my heart beating fast in my chest, faster than when I had been hit with enough electricity to kill a bull. My next words had to be chosen very, very carefully.

“Can I sit up?” I waited for Cade to nod, then struggled into a sitting position. With my arms behind my back, it was awkward, and I adjusted, trying to get more comfortable.

Cade exhaled sharply through his nose, then closed his eyes. When he reopened them, entire universes were contained in them. My jaw dropped open, and he reached out.

Even though I knew it would make him suspicious, I almost fell backward again, trying to get away from his reach. Tattoos moved along his neck and then disappeared under his shirt. They trailed across his wrist, down his fingers, then lanced out, hitting me on the shoulder.

I felt it like a millipede crawling across my flesh, moving so fast that I couldn’t do more than turn my head, and it was on the other side of my body, crawling down my back and leaping to my bound wrists.

The shackles melted.

It should have burned. It should have hurt me. Instead, it felt as though Cade had poured warm water over my abused flesh. When I couldn’t feel any hint of warmth, I pulled my hands out from behind my back, examining them.

I didn’t know how much magic it took to melt solid steel, but Cade didn’t even look breathless. His eyes glanced over me, lip pulled back, revealing a hint of perfect white teeth.

“Are you ready to talk?” Cade asked.

“You aren’t scared of me?” I asked.