My heart jumped into my throat. “It might?—”
“No. It won’t.” His tone was final. Commanding.“You will stay safe.”
The choked sensation from when I first met him washed over me. Full of threat and danger, the sarcastic man I’d grown accustomed to transformed before me into the ruthless Blood Colonel—a killer hiding behind pretty eyes…
Coveting my safety.
“Alright.” My voice was barely more than a breath.
His intensity faded by degrees, and he watched me as a predator might, like he thought I might run. “I’m not sure who convinced you that you hold no value, but let me be clear about something. Your life matters, and if you continue to act as if it doesn’t, we’re going to have a problem. Do you understand?”
No, I didn’t understand at all. I was no one to this man, just some Defiant who served as a glorified text messaging service.
He stepped closer, and his voice honed to a sharpened blade. “Do you understand, Sophia?”
My throat closed up at the implied threat in his words, so I merely nodded. He kept insisting he wouldn’t hurt me, so what was this? If I told him right now that I was worth very little to the Defiance, that losing me wouldn’t affect them in the slightest, what exactly would he do?
It was a simple truth.
“Is there a plan for tomorrow?” he asked, changing the subject entirely.
Still reeling, it took me a moment to remember what was happening tomorrow. Ah, right. Lily Wyatt’s rescue. “I assume there is. It’s not information they share with me.”
“And you won’t be there? They’re not sending you out into the field to die again?”
Bemused, I shook my head. “I’ll be in the hospital wing, like usual.”
His gaze narrowed. Did he think I was lying?
“So maybe try not to kill anyone,” I added.
The ice around him melted, his muscles relaxed…and I drowned in the confusion. Whatwasthat? His head canted to the left, thoughtful. “But if I kill them, won’t that ensure you an easy shift?”
My mouth fell open. “Was that ajoke?”
“No. Of course not.”
Something behind my belly button pulled tight, and I floundered in the bewilderment. Was he…teasing me? Right after he scarily declared I must somehow become immortal?
Whowasthis man?
Lucas sat cross-legged on the floor and patted the carpet.
Okay, so we’d just ignore it all, then. I could do that. I was excellent at the head-in-the-sand option.
I settled before him while he detailed once more his itinerary for the following night. He gave tips and suggestions about ways to help us succeed. Knowing his ideas would wound Theo’s pride, Lucas wanted me to present them as if they weren’t important or he was trying to keep them secret.
“Tell him I ‘let slip’ that the river will be low enough to cross that night.”
“Oh, mention the part about the empty warehouse off-handedly.”
The man understood how to exploit people’s weaknesses, and I couldn’t help but wonder which of my flaws he was sucking dry. When the time came to leave, he opened the door for me. “Until next week.”
I allowed myself to give him a cheeky smile. “Mission tomorrow sounds dangerous, and you’ll be the primary target. Will you even be alive for me to meet you next week?”
“With any luck, no.”
My smile fell.
