Lex’s eyes narrow, understanding more than I want him to.“Because you’re too close to her.”
“No.”Too fast.Too sharp.My voice cracks like a gun misfiring.“Because she’s Crowley’s kid.Because she’s a problem.”
Lex tilts his head.“And you don’t trust yourself around her.”
My lips flatten.“Shut it.”
Squeezing the key between his fingers, he lifts both hands in surrender.Doesn’t drop his gaze.“I’ll help.But Royal… she’s not a demon.She’s a girl who grew up in Hell.”
I knew what he meant.Hell.Not here.In Hell, Kentucky.
That’s the thing.
Hell is where I live, now.What happens when she starts feelin’ like home?
I turn away.“Just take her the shit she needs.”
“Royal,” Lex calls softly.“Distance won’t fix anything if something’s already there.”
I don’t answer him.
Because the truth is simple.
Violent.
Dangerous.
If I go back into that room tonight… I won’t walk out without her blood on my hands.My name carved into her skin.
And maybe her heart.
Chapter 14
Becki
Royal hasn’t come near me since the night after the basement.
Not since he slammed me against the tree trunk with murder in his eyes.Not since my breath mixed with his and we both leaned in like gravity had given us the same sin.Not since I whispered, I’m not yours even though some traitor part of me already knows I’m lying.
Now the distance between us feels colder than the concrete floor I pace on.His footsteps haven’t come down this hall in days.Not the heavy, purposeful stride that makes the chains on him rattle.
My thighs tighten with anticipation before my brain even catches up.Not the soft scrape of his knife hilt against his belt.My warning, my thrill, my reminder that he is the danger I still want too close.
He’s vanished like the ghost he pretended to be once.
And Oaks hasn’t come back either.
Good.
I don’t trust him.
But I almost miss the way his shadow paused under the crack of my door like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to save me or sell me.
Maybe I crave the attention Legend won’t give me.I stare at his name carved into my leg.I put it there myself.Prez hasn’t come to even interrogate me.
Instead… I get Lex.
Lex, the club’s chaplain, preacher-wannabe from Lexington, left one of them mega churches.He’s got kind eyes and hands that always stay visible, so no one mistakes him for a threat.Heard he was wrongly accused before.But I know he’s not as innocent as he lets on.
