“It’s not in our protocol, but technically there’s no rule against it.”
“So you’re giving me special treatment?”
“Of course I am.Are you sure you don’t want me to call your brothers?”
“No,” he fired back, casting a serious look my way.“I don’t want them involved.”
“Okay.But if you think they could somehow help…”
He laughed and folded up the box.“We’re out of their jurisdiction.All it’ll do is make me feel like shit for causing all this trouble.I want to sort out my own mess.”Lucian stood and walked over to the sink.While he bent over to drink from the faucet, I stared at the second food bag.
“Lucian?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you able to make venom?”
The faucet squeaked off, and he glared at me over his shoulder.“What?”
“It’s relevant to the case.”
He stopped halfway across the cell, and his fangs punched out.A second later, liquid dripped from the tips.“I’m not a defect.”
“It’s nothing personal; I just needed to confirm.I’m ignorant to a lot of things about Chitahs and want to understand.”
He wiped his mouth and stared at the sack on the floor.
I closed the distance and firmly grasped the bars.Now that I was promised to Henry, my heart ached.All I wanted to do was turn back time to that moment in the kitchen with Lucian and make him stay, hold him until he couldn’t refuse.Then we could live in that moment forever.
His jaw slackened as he drew in a forceful breath and pushed it out.Black rings appeared around his golden eyes, and he surged forward.He leaned toward me, pressing his face against the bars, his nose poking through as he inhaled forcefully.“That’s it—that’sthe scent from outside the bar.”
“Just as I thought.”
“Who were you with?”he growled.
Should I tell him?
“Lucian, there were a lot of people on the scene that night, and it’s not enough to prove he committed the crime.It might prove he was there, but that’s all we have.You should know more than anyone that slander ruins lives.An unproved accusation not only hurts the victim but also the accuser.It’ll stay with you forever, and you could lose opportunities.Look what happened to your father.”
“Who is it!”he roared.“His scent is pungent—you’re thick with it.I need to know, female.Tell me!”
I shook my head.
Lucian white-knuckled the bars, his rage as palpable as the chill on my arms.“I’m locked up in here, and you’re out there with a maniac!His smell is all over you.”
“What good is telling you his identity?What if you tell everyone in a fit of rage?”
“I would sully my name if it meant saving you.”
“You would sully mine too, because I’m the one who told you.”
His anger faltered as he considered the consequences.“Then let me out.”
I gave a hollow laugh.
Lucian held my gaze.“You don’t know the things I’d do for you.”
Suddenly I knew perfectly well from the promise flickering in his eyes.“Lucian, things have changed.”
