Page 30

Gage peered at the hole I’d made in the barrier with narrowed eyes. Every few moments, those dark eyes would dart to where I sat at the table, peeling an orange as if it were an average afternoon.

They had removed Beatriz’s body with a combination of fear and intrigue on their face. More like annoyance from Gage, but the effect was the same. They weren’t taking my threats idly anymore.

“You know, I wouldn’t have poked at the barrier so much if you’d entertain me.” I hung my head back and groaned. “It’s so boring here.”

“You should have thought of that before.”

“The least you could do is entertain me,” I pointed out, my fingers picking at the orange peel in my hands. “Tell me about yourself.”

“You know all you need to know.”

It was like pulling teeth with this man.

“Well, I know you’re a paid killer for the council.” That earned me a pointed look. “You’re a grumpy ass and have to hide your face because of how ugly you are. Seriously, babies would cry if you walked by.” I smirked and popped a piece of the orange into my mouth.

Gage snorted a laugh, shaking his head. “We both know that isn’t true.”

Ignoring his comment, I continued on my search to learn something deeper about this man that kept me at such a distance. “Do you have any family?”

He sighed. “I have a mother and a sister.”

“Do they live here?” I glanced around as if they would show up out of nowhere.

“No.” He paused. “I don’t really talk to them. None of us do.”

None of them talked to their families? With only a mother myself, I couldn’t imagine never talking to her out of choice. Especially, since my choice had been taken away from me.

“Why?”

“Why, what?” Gage snipped, dropping his hands from the barrier.

“Why don’t you talk to them?” My head tilted slightly to the side.

“It’s better that way.” He scratched his jaw line through his mask. “We all have prestigious jobs and if we kept in touch with our families someone could use them against us.” He gave me another pointed look.

Point taken.

We went silent for a few moments and then just as I was about to ask something else, Adam walked in with a broom in hand. His eyes darted between Gage and I, seeming to sense the tension between us.

“How did you even figure out how to make this barrier?” I asked, gesturing around with an orange piece in hand to distract myself.

Adam looked up from where he swept up the fruit from the ground and dumped it into a trash can. “Zane helped us.”

My heart clenched.

“Zane?” I choked out. “He helped you make this?”

Adam paused, his lips pressed tightly together before shaking his head. “Not in the way you’re thinking. After the party, we started looking for backup plans in case you... got out of control.” He shot me a look that said, “Like you are now.”

Huffing, I returned to my orange, biting into a piece before sucking on the juices. “I’m not out of control. I gave her a chance to do the right thing, and she blew it. If you do not inflict consequences when someone breaks their word to you, your threats have no effect.”

“You didn’t have to kill her,” Adam said quietly.

“Yes, I did.” I finished my orange and proceeded to suck the juices from my fingers.

Adam’s eyes dipped to the motion, memorized. I languidly sucked on it, letting my tongue slide up and down the digit before pushing it all the way in. I closed my eyes and hummed a moan.

Adam cleared his throat.

My eyes opened, and I grinned at his back as he pretended to be interested in cleaning.

The fact that he still found me attractive even after seeing me end someone’s life shouldn’t have made me happy, but it did.

A wet cloth sailed across the room and smacked me in the face. I grabbed it, glaring at Gage. His eyes were on the hole, but they were crinkled at the edges.

I wiped my fingers off and crossed one leg over the other. “Instead of yelling at me for killing her, you should ask yourself how she even found me. You can’t protect me if the council members know where I am.”

“They weren’t supposed to find out,” Adam tried to reassure me. “We didn’t tell anyone about where we set this up and assumed they’d stay away.”

I snorted. “You give them too little credit. Just like you give them too much credit as reasonable beings. They won’t ever agree to let the humans free, no matter what you offer them. The only way to fix the problem is to destroy them.”

For once, Adam didn’t argue with me. He exchanged a look with Gage, a silent message I couldn’t read in their eyes.

What was that about?

Not commenting on their exchange, I returned to the issue at hand. “What’s to stop the others from showing up and trying to kill me? I’m a sitting duck here. They might not be easily tricked like Beatriz. Knowing those cowards, they’ll try to kill me from the other side of the barrier.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Gage announced, his hand over the hole as it filled in until it was a smooth shimmering surface again.

I shoved out of my chair and stalked over to him. “How do you know that? You obviously made the barrier to hold me and my magic in, but other things can go out. You can go in and out as you please. And since I was able to pull Beatriz in, you didn’t guard against others from coming in if they want. Tell me exactly how I’m going to be protected in all this.”

“I’ll alter the barrier to keep them out.”

I cocked my head to the side. “And how exactly are you going to do that?” I lifted my head, peering up at the barrier with a thoughtful expression. “If your barrier is the kind I think, you can’t just pick and choose who can pass and who can’t. This barrier was created from part of my essence.” I lifted a brow at Adam, who had the decency to look guilty.

“Hair from your brush.”

“So unless you have Jetta’s and Carisa’s essence on hand, I don’t see how you’re going to make it so they can’t get in.”

“Let me worry about that,” Gage muttered, stepping through the barrier to push me back from the edge, but paused before touching me. A flicker of uncertainty crossed his eyes.

“You’re afraid of me now, aren’t you?” I couldn’t help the gleeful tone in my voice.

Some might call me crazy for being turned on by the fact that the men I was involved with loved and feared me equally, but I didn’t care.

What was a little excitement without a little fear? It was why I’d always been able to toe that line with Zane’s demon. He could kill me at any moment, and the uncertainty that he just might made me come harder than I’d ever come before.

“No,” Gage snapped, dropping his arm. “I won’t make the mistake of underestimating you again.”

Adam shoved the trash can out of the cell. His eyes bobbed between the two of us. “I’m missing something here. You’ve seen her kill someone before. At least this time, there’s no pieces to pick up.” A shudder went through him as he grimaced.

I smirked at Gage, lifting a hand to trace along his jawline. He kept himself still, stubbornness shining in his eyes. It was clear he wanted to keep me from touching him, and yet he refused to give in to that fear.

“Gage didn’t like the trick I played on him.” I stepped closer until my front brushed against him, my hand landing on his chest. The rapid beating of his heart thudded under my fingertips.

“No one likes to be controlled.”

I giggled, pushing up on my tip toes until I could feel his breath on my face. “And fucking me with your fingers wasn’t you trying to control me? Don’t be mad because I outmaneuvered you.”

His hands grabbed my arms in a biting grip. “You didn’t outmaneuver me, you used magic to take over my body. Then you fucked yourself on my fingers.”

I pulled my lower lip between my teeth, peering up at him beneath my lashes. “You started it, I just finished it.”

“That’s beside the point.” Gage lifted me slightly so our eyes met. “How can we trust you if we know you can take over our minds any time you want? How can anyone trust that you won’t just make us all into your puppets?”

I sighed. I knew this was going to come up. It was why I didn’t show many my compulsion ability. They start to question everything about me and how they felt.

“I can’t just do it whenever I want,” I started, glancing between Gage and Adam. “I have to be touching you, preferably your face. It’s easier to get to your mind that way. And it doesn’t always work. If you’re strong of mind, I’d have a hard time getting you to do anything.”

I let my lips tick up into a smirk. “Guess we know which one you are.”

“I was distracted,” Gage growled, releasing me abruptly so I stumbled.

I caught myself before I fell, shooting him a glare. “Rude. And yes, distraction can cause it to work easier. Big emotions, physical exertion.” I slid a sly look at Adam. “Arousal.”

Worry painted his expression and then something I didn’t expect happened. Hand stroking over his jaw, Adam shook his head and laughed.

“You think it’s funny?” Gage practically shouted at him. “She can control us whenever she wants.”

“If she wanted to control us, don’t you think she would have done it by now?” Adam raised a brow. “And it seems like you were playing dirty as much as she was. How can you fault her for using it? Besides,” his hot gaze slid over me, heating my body against my better judgement, “I for one would be interested to see this compulsion in action.”

A shiver ran through me that had nothing to do with the temperature and everything to do with every naughty thought that just ran through Adam’s eyes. Oh, the things I could make them do to me, to each other. The list was endless and not something I should be thinking about while trapped in their prison.

I crossed my arms over my chest and harrumphed. “You haven’t earned that pleasure yet.”

“Yet?” Adam crooned, he sauntered toward me as boneless as a cat. His fingers pinched my chin, turning my face toward him. “I can work with yet.” His thumb rubbed back and forth over my lower lip, his lids lowered as he watched the movement. “Will you ever forgive me for lying to you, Eva?”

The urge to lick my lips, to taste him on my tongue was strong but I shoved that feeling down. “I don’t know. Maybe. This though?” I gestured around us as I pulled away from him. “I don’t know if I can forgive this.”

“I know.” Adam’s voice was low, no longer filled with desire. “I could say I’m sorry, but I’m not. We didn’t know what to do. You’re like a wave crashing against the rocks. Untamable and unpredictable. We’re scrambling to keep ourselves together while you wage war on everything we’ve ever known. It’s a lot to adjust to.”

“Adjust faster.”

Gage snorted and turned his back on us, walking out of the barrier and then the room.

Adam stepped away from me with a sad look. “I wish it hadn’t been this way. However, each day brings me closer to thinking you might have been right all along.”

As he walked away, I hugged myself tightly. The cracks in my heart were starting to fill back in slowly.