That seemed to snap Cosmo out of it, and his shoulders sagged. It took him a few minutes of standing there before he finally said, “I am going to sleep for a few hours, then I am going to the war room to figure out another strategy.”
“We will be there,” Ax answered for all of us, and for once, I didn’t mind. I knew we all wanted to get her back as soon as possible, but looking around, I knew we all needed to recharge.
“Do you have extra rooms here?” Everyone turned to look at me, but I kept my eyes on Cosmo and Rick. When they didn’t say anything, I elaborated, “It makes it easier if we have one location as a base. That way if anything develops, it’s easier to tell everyone.”
Cosmo nodded toward the door to follow him. “Yeah. We have some rooms for you guys. Come on.”
As he and Rick showed us to some rooms, that spot on my hand itched again. I closed my door and tore off the glove, looking down at the blood drop mark that showed up a few hours after Rayla bit me.
While it seemed like I was feeling the signals of a mating, Rayla seemed oblivious. Also, the bond I expected felt incomplete. Like something was blocking it from forming.
I needed to find my mate and figure this all out, and with the faces I saw in that room, I suspected I wasn’t the only one.
Chapter 12
Afterthethirdroundfor the night, I was parched and asked Lex to get me a drink. He happily popped out of bed and scurried down to get me something. It was cute how attentive he was.
As I was alone, I glanced around the room, still fascinated with how much work it must’ve taken to get the room like this. It was sweet and creepy now that I knew more about Lex. He must’ve stared and stared at the items in my room to tell what brand and the exact item each piece was. He had a keen eye for detail, which was very valuable.
I couldn’t help that my thoughts turned into how he could benefit the Syndicate. How he could fit in and take over the Devil name with a little help. That thought jarred me out of my daydream, and I reminded myself the Devil clan was alive and well, being run by him and his uncle.
I got up and slipped his black shirt over my head as my stomach sank at the thought. With my rational mind back online, I kept running through questions I had quieted earlier. I walked over to the closet and opened it up. If he didn’t want to join us, then why was he here? If he had built the Devil clan up in secret, what were they doing? What was their goal?
I saw a few things I wore often, but it was not my full wardrobe, and that made me smile for a second. Almost perfect.
I skimmed my hand over the dresser that was almost good enough to fool me, heading for my desk, wondering what he possibly had in here. I would be disappointed if it was normal office supplies.
The more I thought about all those questions, the more I realized it didn’t bode well for the Syndicate. The more I went over his words from before, it seemed he was more against us than with us.
I opened the top drawer and saw pens that had bat wings on them, a pad of paper in the shape of a coffin, and paperclips curved into blood drops. It was kind of adorable. I went to the second drawer, expecting the same items when I yanked it open, and a strange thing rolled into the light.
Right there was a syringe filled with a sky-blue liquid. A flash of memory hit me, and I remembered him taking out something that looked like this when he drugged me to knock me out. I didn’t know why I did it, but I snagged that syringe and put it beneath the pillow I was using, then sat in front of it before he came back.
I was at a crossroads and had only two real options. I could look at this as an opportunity to win him to our side, or I could treat this situation as an information gathering on our enemy.What to do, what to do?
Deep down in my black soul, I didn’t want to harm Lex. This was someone I had a tie to whether it was good or bad, and that meant something. Also, after everything he told me, I knew I meant something to him, too. I desperately wanted to say he would never hurt me, but taking away what made me who I was? The organization my dad built? The thing that tied us together in the first place? Doing those things would hurt me worse than if he tortured or killed me. It would leave one lasting wound that would destroy me and whatever we had.
“What are you thinking about? Whatever it is, I can take care of it so you never have to look that way again.” His voice was an octave lower than his normal carefree tone while he stalked from the doorframe over to the bed with a glass of ice-cold water.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him, only wearing his boxer briefs and looking so fucking edible. I chewed on my lip, thinking about more things we could do in this bed. His sweet, leathery, smoky scent filled the room as soon as he was back here, intoxicating me with his presence.
It was strange, after we had sex, no, it was more after I bit him, I could smell his specific scent so much stronger than before. It kind of reminded me of how I could always tell where Cosmo was in the house by his scent, or when I was practically choking on Falcon’s specific scent in the car on the way home. The only tie was that I had bitten all three of these men and their blood flowed in my veins, but I had bitten other men before and it wasn’t like this? Maybe it was because these guys were just that powerful?
Those thoughts smacked me over the head, shaking out the lustful one that wanted to take over again, bringing me back to the original situation. I needed to ask Lex what his goal was here, and since he said he wouldn’t lie, I was going to test that out.
“I’m fine, Lex. I can fight my own battles, remember?” I blinked and remembered he took out those hooded figures that circled me. My left eye twitched as my jaw tightened, and I said through clenched teeth, “I guess I should say thank you for your help with those guys.”
Lex smirked up at me brightly, almost laughing at me as he threw out, “Oh, I knew you could handle those idiots, but they were a good distraction for you.” I was too stunned at his offhand tone. He suddenly looked down as his cheeks turned a nice rosy color, then he followed with, “Plus, I wanted to impress you a little bit with my power. It was my first time really getting to show it off in front of you.”
I knew he was a grown man, someone who’d had different life experiences than me, that we were different people from who we used to be, but sometimes the sweet, boyish Lex I knew back in that funeral home poked his head through, and my heart melted. I couldn’t help it. I had a soft spot for the guy. The one that needed my protection.
I understood now why guys liked that kind of girl, the ones that they wanted to protect, because I was feeling that way for Lex. Even knowing about his power and the fact that he had saved me twice, I still had this pull inside of me to protect him. To keep him who he was.
I ran my fingers through his silky strands, combing those soft onyx tresses as I smiled down at him in familiarity. He tilted his head back, and his eyes fluttered as he bit his lip at my touch. All my anger from earlier ran through my fingers like sand. “Well, mission succeeded. I was impressed.” His face lit up, and I realized this was a moment I could use.
“In fact, I was even impressed with what you knocked me out with. Usually, it’s not so easy to do that since I break down chemicals like that quickly.” I kept my features soft, like I was having a conversation over coffee, and he laughed along with me.
“Yeah, I did take that into account, and I made a second batch, but it only took one.” His head tilted. So, there was a second syringe. I smiled as I was glad I put that underneath the pillow before he saw me.
