Page 199 of The Devil's Thorn

I didn’t look at him. “Do you think I care what you think is smart?”

“That’s not what I asked.”

I turned my head slowly, meeting his eyes. “No. But it’s the only answer you’re getting.”

Ash let out a humorless laugh as he turned onto the road, palms gripping the wheel tighter than necessary. “So it’s true then.”

“Is that a question?” I asked coldly.

“No,” Kellan said. “It’s a confirmation. We know what you did last night, Isa.”

My jaw locked. “Good for you. I didn’t realize I needed to report to you before I let someone screw me.”

“Don’t do that,” Kellan snapped. “Don’t act like this doesn’t matter.”

“Oh, but it’s perfectly fine when you two fuck half the city and bring strangers into the house? Got it.”

“That’s different.”

“Why? Because it’s notRafael?”

“Exactly,” Ash muttered. “Because it’s Rafael. Because he’s dangerous.”

“I’m dangerous too,” I hissed. “Or did you forget that?”

“You think we’re mad because you fucked him?” Kellan said, voice low now. “We’re mad because we know you’re not doing this just to use him anymore.”

That hit something. A nerve I didn’t even know was exposed.

My fingers curled on my thigh. “Careful,” I said, voice like glass. “You’re starting to sound like you care about more than just the mission.”

“Wedocare,” Ash muttered. “That’s the problem.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“We don’t trusthim.” Kellan’s voice hardened. “And the deeper you get, the harder it’s going to be to crawl out. Especially when he wraps his hands around your neck and you start to like it.”

I looked out the window, watching the palm trees blur past in streaks of green and gold. “What makes you think I haven’t already liked it?”

Silence fell in the car. Heavy. Unmovable. I leaned my head back against the seat, closing my eyes for a second. They didn’t understand. They never would.

This wasn’t about sex. Not anymore. This was about fire meeting gasoline. About wanting answers so badly, you let the devil whisper them into your mouth while he bruised your skin.

“You think I’m in danger,” I murmured, mostly to myself. “But you haven’t seen what I’m capable of yet.”

The silence in the car thickened, every second stretching like wire pulled too tight, waiting to snap. The distant sound of the ocean faded behind us as Cartagena blurred by the tinted windows, and I felt Kellan’s stare burn into the side of my face like a blade he hadn’t yet unsheathed.

I kept my gaze locked on the road ahead, jaw clenched, nails digging into the soft leather of the seat beneath me. Ash was the first to speak.

“You really did it,” he muttered in disbelief, low but sharp. “You actually let him fuck you.”

My spine stiffened. “Don’t start again.”

“No,” Kellan cut in, his voice calm in that dangerous way, like the quiet before a hurricane. “Let’s talk about it, since you clearly weren’t planning to elaborate.”

I turned my head just enough to look at him. “And what exactly do you want me to say? You want an apology? A breakdown of positions? Should I ask if you need comfort now that he beat you to it?”

Kellan’s knuckles tightened in his lap. Ash scoffed, leaning back. “You really think this is about jealousy?”