Page 26 of The Never List (Never List #1)

Axl

“Throw that up here, will you?” I call down to Pierce, who walks barefoot on the beach, his suit pants rolled up over his ankles and his jacket tossed over his shoulder as he approaches my ship.

He rolls his eyes but hefts the wooden crate sunk in the sand and hands it to me. He could easily use his powers to lob the thing at me, but I’m grateful he doesn’t. I grab the box and pass it to Kal, who is already on board and helping me stock the vessel for next week’s mandatory kings’ dinner.

Jax follows behind Pierce, grabbing another crate off the beach and hauling it with him as he boards.

“Four cases of sparkling wine seem a bit much, yes?” Pierce asks as he stops before me.

“Not when the kings have invited a slew of nobles to this dinner.”

Pierce arches a dark brow. “Don’t they usually like to keep the focus on themselves at these things?”

“Yep,” I say, almost growling as I move the cases he and Jax brought up to the other side of the ship. I don’t mean to be short, but my nerves are shot, which is really fucking up the amazing three weeks I’ve had with Rylee.

Fuck, even thinking about her has my body tensing with need. I’ve fucked her senseless countless times, and I still want her. I wake up craving the taste of her on my tongue and go to bed with her scent drenching my skin.

It’s not enough.

And when we aren’t fucking? We’re talking . And not the kind of conversations that past potentials have had with me. Rylee doesn’t speak in a scripted format handed down from parents or the kings or the mass nobility who live for the sole purpose of attending the Choosing events and scrutinizing every single detail—as if they can crack the code on what it takes to be the perfect mate, to be the one that finally becomes queen.

Rylee speaks from her heart, even when her mouth threatens to get her in trouble.

Like when she says things about the kings—Baydel specifically—that would get her thrown in the palace dungeons if she wasn’t under our protection. At least she’s never said anything like that in front of the Occuli, but damn, the woman is fearless. I’m worried it’s only a matter of time before she crosses a line she can’t come back from.

But it’s not like I disagree with her disdain. Baydel is one of the worst people I’ve ever met, and seeing as my own father is a piece of work, that’s saying something. I know better than to say so aloud, though. Better to keep your cards close to the chest than air out your intentions for everyone to hear. Something I’ve been trying to teach Rylee these past weeks, and she listens—I know she does—but she still keeps herself guarded in some areas.

We’ve grown close. Closer than I’ve ever been with a potential. We laugh and talk until we’re exhausted. And I know she feels safe with me—that much was proven when she told Kal it was fine if he needed to return to the Ruby Aire not three days after he’d come here with her. It meant everything to me.

But Jax is right—there’s something she’s keeping from me, from us. I can sense it in the same way I can sense whenever she’s close—some connection I can’t quite explain. I don’t know if it’s my power locking on to her signature in a way it’s never done before, or if it means she’s really the match we’ve all been waiting for. Either way, I can’t stand the thought of Baydel being anywhere near her for the dinner, but I’m powerless to stop it.

I just hope the asshole doesn’t concoct another public execution to scare her into submission.

I finish stocking the kitchen, prepping it so it’ll be easy when the servers arrive next week to facilitate the party, and head back to the deck, where the guys are waiting for me.

“You find anything new?” I ask Jax, who is sitting on one of the benches lining the ship’s starboard side, one ankle crossed over his knee.

He nods, and I take a seat next to him, Kal and Pierce following suit. “Rylee’s records were tampered with,” he says.

Shock blazes through me. “What the fuck do you mean, tampered with ?”

“Exactly what I said.” His voice is as cold and sharp as the blades he likes to play with. Something is bothering him, but I know better than to ask what.

“Did you find the source?” Pierce asks.

Jax shakes his head. “My source could only tell that the records had been altered. He couldn’t see what exactly had been changed, only that the scroll had been replaced.”

“Fuck. Baydel?”

Jax shrugs.

Kal leans forward, elbows on his knees. “You think it’s like we suspected?” he asks. “That he made up the Never List information about Rylee’s sister to have some kind of hold on her?”

“Or,” Pierce offers before any of us can respond, “did he merely erase the specifics of her sister’s mission so none of us would find out?”

Either could be true, but the reasoning behind his actions is more disturbing. I’m leaning more toward Baydel wanting her under his thumb, either so she gets spooked and doesn’t choose us in the end, or she’s forced to choose us in the end.

I wouldn’t put it past him, but there has never been any proof of it in the past Choosings. Those potentials were either terrified of us on their own or hated us, which had not bothered me because I never grew attached in the way I have with Rylee. Sure, most of them were nice enough, but they didn’t understand me. Not in the way she does.

If Rylee rejects us in the end… Fuck, I don’t know if I’ll survive it.

I shove the thought down, burying it beneath the ocean where it fucking belongs.

“Maybe it’s neither,” Jax says, his eyes distant as he stares at a spot on the deck as if he’s seeing something else entirely. “Our potential is a little liar. I’ve told you all that.”

Cold dread sluices through my veins. If I didn’t know Jax better, I’d say he was manipulating my emotions to fuck with me, but we have a pact to never use our powers on one another unless in a life-or-death situation.

No, the fear tumbling through me has everything to do with the instincts I haven’t been able to ignore the closer I’ve grown to Rylee. She’s definitely hiding something, but who is to say it’s anything damning?

I flash a silent glance to Kal, and he dips his head slightly. He feels it, too. He’s just as linked to Rylee as I am, and we’ve all three shared more than a few intimate experiences these past weeks. If anyone can understand the concern I have for her well-being, it’s him. But he also knows we can’t push her without running the risk of her deciding we’re too overbearing and leaving us high and dry at the end of all this.

“Have you figured out what specifically she’s lying about?” Pierce asks, his eyes sharpening on Jax. They’re as close as Kal and I are. Sure, we’re all closer than blood, but he gravitates to Jax the way I do to Kal. They even have the same silent communication we do. Not that Pierce needs it. If he wanted, he could slip into each of our minds and make our thoughts his own.

“Have you ?” Jax fires back.

Pierce cocks an eyebrow at him. “I’ve told you before. Her mind is guarded.” The intrigued look churning in his brown eyes says that fact excites him more than it troubles him. And why wouldn’t it? With his power, he can dip into anyone’s thoughts as easily as breathing. Rylee offering him a challenge for once must be…exhilarating. “More than anyone I’ve come across before, save for the kings and you lot.” He narrows his eyes at Jax, that penetrating gaze of his falling over Jax’s features. “Have you even tried to speak more than ten words to her to sort truth from lie?”

Jax sends him a warning glare. “Stay out of my head.”

Pierce laughs. “Your head is the last place I want to be,” he says, feigning a shudder. “Cold in there.”

Jax cracks a sharp grin. “What do you think next week is all about?” he asks, waving to my ship. “Inviting the nobles to an exclusive dinner? To test Rylee again?”

The way he says her name gives me pause—there is a sense of familiarity there he can’t possibly have, since he hasn’t spent more than an hour or two with her at a time. And the sense of devastation that accompanies it makes me swallow a bit harder. I’ve never seen Jax so tangled up before, and most certainly not over a potential. We’ve practically had to carry him to all the events in the past Choosings, puppeteering him in the way only we can in the hopes of finding a match.

We need a mate. A partner in the plans we have for the future. A confidant who will not only love us for who we are but be capable of handling us at our most powerful.

But Rylee… It’s not just a means to an end with her, and that scares the shit out of me. Jax can say he’s staying away from her because she’s lying all he wants, but I can see it. There is something different in him. Could he be feeling what we all are? An undeniable connection none of us can explain?

“I wouldn’t put it past the kings to switch things up,” Kal says. “In the past, they’ve stuck to the rules the goddesses laid out in the beginning, but now?” He sighs. “There’s something more going on. You can sense it whenever they’re all together.”

“Plus, the mention of the threat overseas,” Pierce adds. “And the recent attacks from the Faders.”

My hackles rise at the mention. The Faders have remained quiet over the last month and a half, but their lack of action almost makes me more nervous than when they’re outwardly trying to irk us. It’s not like we haven’t had groups challenge us before. We have, plenty of times. But we Legends always put them in their place.

Our ruthless ability to stop outright war against our people in its tracks has been the one thing keeping peace between the Lumathyst cities. But the Faders…they’re different than anything we’ve come across. Too elusive with their endgame, too familiar with the ins and outs of Lumathyst. They know exactly where to disappear, know exactly where to strike when we’re too far away to stop them. It’s fucking unnerving.

I rub my palms over my face, tipping my head back and letting the hot sun wash over me.

“The kings don’t care about the Faders,” I grumble. “They think they’re nothing more than misguided youths making a name for themselves.”

I don’t believe it for a second. They’re too organized to be young people playing at being bad, especially when we’ve been clear with anyone who threatens our innocent citizens before.

We Legends operate on a strict two strike basis.

You get one fuckup and one chance to redeem yourself. If you don’t? We make sure you never fuck up again, and we do it in a way that sends a message to anyone else even thinking about messing with the people we’re charged to protect. Do we have to get our hands dirty sometimes to ensure that protection? Sure, but that doesn’t make us the bad guys.

Not all bad, anyway.

“That may be true,” Pierce says. “But they’re the first organization to evade us. It’s troublesome.”

I roll my eyes, folding my arms over my chest. “It’s annoying as fuck.”

Jax raises a hand toward Pierce, eyes narrowed. “Don’t call them an organization. Don’t give them the credit.”

Pierce crosses one leg over the other, his arms stretching over the rails of the ship as he gazes toward the horizon. “I’m incapable of calling anything other than what I see. Discrediting them won’t weaken their attempts to break the laws in any of our territories.”

Jax leans down, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Why do you always have to be so goddess-damn serious?” His tone is as playful as Jax ever gets, which makes the rest of us laugh.

“I apologize,” Pierce says. “It’s in my nature, just as yours is to brood, mope, and cut into things.”

“I don’t mope,” Jax fires back.

“I’d say you mope quite a bit.” Rylee’s voice sounds from the stairs of the ship. We all turn in sync to watch her as she clears them and boards. There’s a small wooden crate tucked beneath her arm, no doubt the last from the batch on the beach.

Her feet are bare. White grains of sand cling to her toes, which are painted ruby red, no doubt putting the smile on Kal’s face right now. She wears neutral colors today. White linen pants hang low at her waist, and a cream-colored sleeveless top clings to her breasts so tightly, I can see the moment her nipples peak.

I’m self-centered enough to believe that that happened to her at the sight of me.

I cast a sideways glance at Jax, each of us silently awaiting his retort. There’s a brightness in his purple eyes that wasn’t there moments before, and the tense set of his shoulders loosens at the sight of Rylee.

So, he does have feelings for our potential mate, no matter how hard he tries to dismiss them.

“You barely know me, butterfly,” he says, the sharp edge of his voice smoothing out into a low tone that has Rylee’s throat bobbing.

She sets down the crate and strides toward Jax as if the rest of us don’t even exist. Leaning down to meet his eyes, she arches a brow, her stunning blue eyes as sharp as a hawk’s.

“I may have secrets,” she says, outright challenging him with her defiant look, “much to your horror. But I know you dance like smoke on glass,” she says. Jax flinches. “I know you like dark fairy tales as much as I do.” She boldly reaches for him, sliding her hand beneath his jacket and retrieving a knife from one of his many holsters.

Holy shit, I’ve never seen him allow anyone to touch his blades before.

Kal shifts in her direction like he’s prepared to put himself between her and whatever retaliation Jax will have for her crossing a line he’s drawn with everyone in existence. I’m right there with him, the water in my blood rising from the ocean behind us, ready to create a wall if need be.

“I know this is your favorite toy,” she continues, not realizing the momentous error she’s made. Jax’s blades are like his babies—he covets them the way I do the sea or Kal does the sky or Pierce does knowledge.

She twirls the blade in her hand, studying the obsidian laid into the black walnut hilt. I hold my breath, anxious with the way she handles it, worrying she’ll slice off her finger.

As she flips it end over end, Jax watches her movements intently, holding us all on a tightrope while we wait for him to react. Rylee catches the hilt perfectly each time while Kal, Pierce, and myself hiss in response, waiting for the inevitable slipup and cry of pain, the spilling of our potential mate’s blood all over the deck of my ship.

But she doesn’t wail, doesn’t miss a gentle toss until she finally stops, nothing but a wicked smile on her face that has me wanting to fall to my knees and worship her.

She effortlessly slides the blade back in Jax’s holster. “I can see the draw,” she says, giving Jax a sexy little shrug that reminds me of a lioness toying with her prey. “So, tell me, Jax. Was I lying about knowing you?”

Jax eyes are searing as he looks from her to the knife she returned and back again. “Clever butterfly,” he says, low and icy as he leans forward. “I would’ve had to tear off your wings if you hadn’t returned my favorite blade.”

Rylee doesn’t balk at his words. In fact, a tremor visibly racks her body as she wets her lips. “That’s right. I almost forgot,” she says. “You’re the big bad Nightmare,” she whispers.

Fuck me, this woman likes to dance with death. Why does it turn me on so much, watching her take him to task? Maybe because I’ve never seen it before. Not once in my entire life. The only person who has ever had the balls to do so is Baydel, and that’s a whole different vibe.

Rylee leans closer, her lips a few inches from his. Pierce and Kal are watching with as much rapt attention as me. I can’t tell if she’s going to kiss him or bite him to draw blood, but either way, I’m so fucking here for it.

“You know who isn’t afraid of nightmares?” she asks, boldly placing her hands on his thighs to brace herself.

Jax glances at the touch, then focuses on her face, not bothering to move. I’ve seen him nudge plenty of girls off him before—mainly the countless ones in his club that are dying for a taste of his danger—but here, with Rylee? He doesn’t even seem aware that the rest of us are watching this scene play out.

“Who’s that, butterfly?” he asks, tilting his head in that lethal, predatory way he does.

Rylee leans in close, inhaling deeply like she’s trying to memorize his scent. Jax visibly swallows, watching her lips with a hunger I can feel in my soul. “People who don’t dream,” she finally says.

Jax aims that wide, maddening smile of his at her. The one that usually sends people running in the opposite direction, but not Rylee. She holds his stare, her blue eyes brightening as she studies his lips.

And then Jax laughs—not his threatening, sardonic laugh—his real, raw, unsuspecting laugh. He reaches up and tugs on a loose strand of her long blond hair. “Like I said.” He releases her hair. “Clever little butterfly.”

Rylee studies that smile for a few more moments before she pushes off his thighs, taking a few calculated steps away from him. She glances at me and flashes me a mischievous wink.

A laugh rips from my chest. Kal and Pierce join in, but Jax goes quiet, blinking a few times as if he’s just remembered they aren’t alone. Something passes between them, something I can’t read. But after a few heartbeats, they both relax as if they’ve come to some sort of agreement. It’s the first time I’ve seen them look at each other like they don’t want to rip the other’s throat out.

“Seems I’m not the only one who likes to play mind games,” Pierce says, dipping his head to Rylee in compliment.

She grins at him and does a little curtsy. “I’m excited to play with you,” she says, then cringes at the way it sounded, which has us all laughing again.

I reach for her wrist, gently hauling her into my lap. She falls against me with a little pleasant squeal as I wrap my arms around her, tucking my head over her shoulder. “Your month with me isn’t over yet,” I say, nipping at her neck.

Pierce stands up, sliding his hands into the pockets of his suit pants as he looks down at the two of us. “Be glad of it, Axl.” He reaches for her hand to plant his signature kiss on the back of it. “Because once I hold her, I may never let her go.” He grins seductively at Rylee, and my kitten shivers .

“Get off my ship,” I say playfully. “Before you steal my girl’s attention and I throw you in the sea.”

Rylee laughs, shaking her head at me. “Haven’t I proven I can share?”

Kal barks out a half cough, half laugh, following Pierce across the boat.

“You can,” I say. “But that doesn’t mean I want to all the time.”

She goes liquid in my grasp, soft and pliable in a way that has me growing hard within seconds. What is this woman doing to my control?

“We’ll see you in a week,” Pierce says before climbing down the stairs of my ship and onto the beach.

Kal smiles at Rylee before following him, leaving just us and Jax, who is staring out past the bow of the ship, contemplative.

“We still need to figure it all out,” Jax says, never once looking our way.

“I know,” I say, sighing.

“Figure what out?” Rylee asks, going a bit rigid against me.

Jax rises, crossing the ship and pausing before the stairs. “Everything, little liar. Every. Single. Thing.”

He’s gone in a matter of breaths, leaving Rylee with a confused and slightly fearful expression. She turns in my lap, shifting a leg so she can fully face me. “What did he mean, Axl?”

I smooth back her blond hair, staring into her concerned eyes, trying to break through the few walls she has left between us. Leaning in closer, I brush my mouth over hers, working her lips in a lazy sort of way until she relaxes against me again.

“I’ll tell you about it,” I say, and she leans her cheek against my hand. “But first, there is somewhere I want to take you tonight.”

She looks at me with a slow, easy smile. “Another date?”

I return her grin. “Can we have too many?”

Something serious flashes over her eyes, her features settling into a look I can’t quite place—almost like she’s regretting something.

“No,” she hurries to say. “Never.”

I kiss her again, taking my time to trace the lines of her mouth. I gently smack her ass—not enough to mark her, just enough to make her squeal again—and lift us, gently setting her on her feet before I head to adjust the sails on the ship.

She follows me, curiosity making her eyes bright. “Where are we going?”

My heart expands in my chest as I finish with the sails. “You’ll see.”