Dangerous Lovers (17 page)

Chapter Thirty

We headed to an area that I assumed was reserved for prisoners, because it was barren and held only one building. The building lacked all of the extravagance that seemed to drown the rest of the city. It was made of gray stone and surrounded on all sides by a black iron fence, on a hill far away from any of the other structures.

We had taken Gavin’s car to get there, and I looked over at him sitting in the driver’s seat next to me. “Is this the prison?”

“No,” he said. “That is not some place I would take you. It lies far beyond our walls. This is our Warrior headquarters, but it serves as a holding facility as well.”

“Oh.”

We parked the car and headed into the building, where we were greeted by multiple guards. They all wore the black uniforms and nodded to the three of us as we passed. We headed down a hall where four more guards stood in front of a door. Next to the door was a large window looking into a room.

We came to a stop in front of the window. The room it looked into was plain and sterile; all white with a metal table and three chairs. Two of the chairs faced away from us, and on the other side of the table, sat a man chained to the third chair.

He wore a bright blue suit and had his eyes closed. As I stared at him, his eyes popped open, and I jumped back from the glass.

Gavin laughed and patted my back. “Don’t worry, Warrior, he can’t see you. This is a one-way mirror.”

I was still staring at the man in the room, staring at his crystal blue eyes. Kayden must have sensed something was up, because he laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. I felt better having him there, but I was still pretty shocked. Not really scared, just… shocked.

“You recognize him,” said Kayden.

It wasn’t a question so much as a realization. Maybe I was spending too much time with him. He was starting to read me just as well as Nelly.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

Gavin turned me so I was facing him, forcing me to pull my eyes from the man in the room. “From where?” he asked.

I told them about how I had met him in the foyer of the Council building just before the ceremony had taken place, and how he had shown me his fangs. They didn’t like that one bit.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Kayden asked.

Gavin raised an eyebrow at Kayden. “Why didn’t you tell
me
?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I kind of had a lot on my mind at the moment. Besides”—I gestured at the man—“he didn’t strike me as dangerous. What’s the big deal? Don’t all of you have fangs?”

Kayden sighed. “Yes, but we don’t go baring them at young women. It’s considered highly inappropriate.” Gavin raised an eyebrow again, but Kayden continued as if he didn’t notice. “We usually only show them to someone when we are challenging them. It is considered a threat.”

I looked back at the man in the room. He still didn’t look threatening to me. Actually, he just looked kind of pathetic. If he hadn’t just tried to kill me, I would have felt sorry for him.

I shook my head slowly. “What do you mean ‘usually?’ Because I don’t think he was threatening me. I think he was expressing… other interests.”

Gavin and Kayden exchanged looks that answered my question for me. I’m not sure why I wanted to do what I suggested next, but for some reason, I felt like I had to. Maybe it was those instincts my mother had always talked about.

“Let me talk to him,” I said.

Gavin and Kayden replied almost simultaneously. “Absolutely not.”

I shot looks at both of them. “Why the hell not?” “Because it’s not safe,” Kayden replied.

“He’s dangerous,” said Gavin.

I looked at both of them like they were stupid, because really, they were being stupid. I crossed my arms. “You’re kidding me, right?” I continued before they could answer. “You think
he
is capable of hurting
me
? I’m a trained fighter and he’s all chained up. Hell, I’m more dangerous than he is right now.”

They seemed to be considering this, so before they could make a decision, I added, “I think I have a right to speak to the man who almost took my life.”

I could see Gavin’s decision written on his face before he spoke, so I had to work to keep the smile off mine. “Fine,” he said. “But Wallace is going in with you.”

I gave a small nod. I wasn’t happy about that, but I had to take what I could get. Gavin had the guards unlock the door, and Kayden and I stepped inside.

The man at the table looked up at me and smiled. Once again, his incisors elongated. Next to me, Kayden stiffened.

“It’s good to see you again, Warrior,” he said.

“I can see that,” I replied dryly. “So… you tried to kill me?”

I know that sounded stupid, but all I knew was that I wanted to talk to him, that didn’t mean I knew what I was actually going to
say
.

He looked down at his hands and then back up to me. “I already answered that question,” he said. “I would assume you already knew that.” “Why?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Why not?”

I grabbed Kayden’s arm so that he wouldn’t attack the man, who was lucky that I could move fast enough to catch him. I didn’t let go until I felt him relax beside me.

“Because you don’t even know me,” I replied.

He smiled that creepy smile again. “Everyone knows you, Warrior.”

“Bullshit. Why would you want me dead? Why would you want to kill your queen?”

This made him laugh, and this time, Kayden had to grab
my
arm. His touch made me calm down a little, but I was still pretty angry. “I don’t see what’s so funny,” I said through gritted teeth.

He stopped laughing and looked at me with those icy blue eyes. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I saw sadness flash behind them. “No, you don’t. Because, really, none of this is very funny.”

I furrowed my brow in confusion. This guy was definitely off his rocker. “Don’t patronize me,” I said. “I don’t think you’ll like my reaction.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Warrior. You, you are a Wolf. Me? I’m just a sheep, a goat, if you will. I wouldn’t dare mock you.”

I didn’t know what else to say, so I just stared at him. He cringed a little under my gaze and I gave a smug smile. Kayden gently took my arm and began urging me toward the door. “Come on,” he said. “He’s crazy. You can’t trust anything he says.”

I nodded and turned to leave, as the door opened, the man called out to me.

“He’s right, Warrior, trust no one. Everyone has an ulterior motive.”

The door closed behind me and I walked right past Gavin and the other guards, with Kayden following on my heels.

“What did he say?” Gavin called to me down the hall.

I kept walking, but called over my shoulder, “Nothing. He’s crazy.”

I didn’t realize Kayden had followed me until I stepped out of the building. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop. “What is it? What’s bothering you?”

I wanted to answer him truthfully, really, I did. I wanted to believe I could trust him more than I had ever wanted to trust anyone in my entire life. He was so magnificent, so strong and wonderful and I wanted to believe in him so much that it made my heart ache. But as I stood there considering it, the man’s words came back to me. My mother’s words came back to me.
Trust no one. Everyone has an ulterior motive.

“Nothing,” I said, without looking at him. “I’m just really tired.”

Chapter Thirty-One

Kayden walked me back to the dorms and we didn’t say a word the entire way. When we got there, he pulled me to a stop once again. I knew that he knew I had lied to him about what was bothering me, and I prepared myself to do it again. Even though I felt like I was lying to myself in doing so. I had to watch myself around him, had to make sure that I didn’t let my infatuation and that wonderful feeling he brought me make me let down my guard.

To my surprise, he just pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around him possessively because I couldn’t help it. My body just moved instinctively to embrace his, and the scent of him filled my senses in the most pleasant of ways. It felt so right to be in his arms, so natural. I felt like nothing in the world could hurt me when he was holding me. I felt complete and balanced. I felt happy.

I broke the embrace first. I didn’t need a man to make me happy, never had. And I wasn’t about to start now. I needed to be able to think clearly, to figure out what was making me feel like I was missing something here, and I couldn’t seem to do anything but be happy when he was around. So, what I did next was much harder than it should have been. Maybe one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, aside from leaving my mother that night.

“Thank you,” I said. “For everything.”

“You’re wel—”

“But I need you to stay away from me. I want you to stay away from me…” I swallowed hard so that my voice wouldn’t crack. “I’m safe now, so… your services are no longer required.”

Even though his face had returned to that unreadable expression, the look in his eyes when I said this was almost enough to make me eat up my words and beg him to stay. Almost. But an instant later, it was gone, replaced by what could only be immense hurt and maybe a little anger. I couldn’t blame him. I felt like a total bitch.

He gave a slight nod and said, “As you wish, Warrior.”

Then he turned and walked away. I felt like a piece of my soul walked away right along with him.

I ran up to my room and threw myself across the bed. I was not going to cry. I was absolutely
not
going to cry. I refused to. I knew that what I had done was for the best. That I had done the only thing I could do, the right thing.

But sometimes, the right thing can feel so very, very wrong.

Chapter Thirty-Two

A knock at my door awoke me early the next morning. Pulling myself out of the bed, I stumbled over to the door and threw it open. A very pissed off Nelly stood outside it. I wondered why for just a moment, then it hit me. I had forgotten that I was supposed to meet up with her last night. Whoops.

“Hey, Nell,” I said, weakly.

The anger on her face kicked up a notch. “Don’t
hey, Nell
me, Alexa. Do you know how worried I’ve been? I didn’t sleep all night. Neither did Jack or Daniel. We were all up waiting for you to come back.”

I rubbed my face. I knew she had a right to be mad at me, but I didn’t feel like dealing with it this morning. Not after everything that had happened last night. My next words came out much harsher than I intended.

“Yeah, well, I’m sorry, but I kind of had a lot going on. My world doesn’t revolve around you, you know.”

Her expression switched to one of hurt and my stomach clenched. Again with the anger. I should be ashamed. Nelly wasn’t acting any different than I would if the situation was flipped. Hell, I’d probably be a whole lot meaner than she was being. I took a deep breath and tried again.

“I’m sorry, Nell. Really. I had a lot of stuff going on. I guess I kind of just… forgot,” I said.

She brushed past me and sat down on the bed. She sighed and pushed the hair out of her face. “What’s going on, Lex? I feel like you’ve been really guarded lately. You used to tell me everything, and now I have no idea what’s going on in that head of yours.”

I sat down beside her and rested my head on her shoulder. She ran a hand through my hair and whispered, “I’m worried about you. Tell me what’s going on.”

I did. I told her everything. My feelings for Kayden, my conversation with the man in the blue suit. I ended by telling her what I had said to Kayden last night. It took a while, but like always, she just sat quietly and waited for me to finish.

“Why did you do that?” she asked when I was finished.

It took me a minute to realize she was talking about Kayden. I sighed. “I don’t know. Because I can’t seem to control myself around him. I can’t do anything but tell him everything that’s on my mind. That’s dangerous right now. I don’t know who I can trust. His presence makes me feel…”

“Happy?” she finished for me.

“Yes, but it’s not only that. It makes me feel vulnerable. I can’t trust myself around him. He makes me feel strong and weak at the same time. I don’t like feeling that way and not being able to stop it.”

She was silent for a long time, then she hugged me. I took comfort in her embrace. If nothing else, I would always have Nelly. I could always trust her to be there for me.

We broke apart and she smiled at me with that wonderful smile of hers. I smiled back because I couldn’t help it. Nelly had that way about her that made her moods contagious.

“Go shower and get dressed,” she said.

I glanced at the clock. It was seven a.m. “Why?” I asked. I was planning on just going back to bed. I was still so tired after last night.