Behind me, Graham went utterly still.
I pictured an animal with their leg caught in a trap, a thief interrupted with their hand on a safe’s dial. He flinched again when he looked up, and identified who had spoken.
Then his voice grew distinctly cold.
“What in the gods areyoudoing here?” he demanded.
15
Interrupted
My eyes fought to focus on the person with us only then. I felt like I was suffocating, even apart from the hand wrapped around my throat.
My whole body felt hot, my vision dipped and swam, I could feel tears running down my face. I couldn’t tell if I was breathing. I stared up at pretty much the last person I expected to see, although maybe I shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was.
If hehadheard me, I might’ve supposed he’d only come out of irritation, rather than any sense of charity. He’d want to tell me in person to shut the fuck up, that I was annoying him, or I’d ruined one of his shagging sessions, or I should have known better than to go on a date with an idiot like Strangemore, much less take an offered drink from the prick, particularly after what happened on our first date.
As it was, his cold, metallic-gold eyes surveyed me on Strangemore’s lap without emotion, his expression as indifferent as always.
“You raping hybrids now, Strangemore?” Bones asked. “Interesting. When did this become your new hobby?”
He folded his arms and leaned against the stone wall of our alcove. His gold eyes focused on the hand gripping my inner thigh, and the dress bunched up around my hips.
“Alright, then,” he said, his voice a touch colder. “Let’s see it.”
Strangemore took his hand off my throat, and air abruptly rushed down into my lungs. I couldn’t control any part of the process still, but I felt my chest expand tangibly, enough that I could feel the oxygen rush into my blood, making me both more and less light-headed. Graham didn’t let go of me, though, even with Bones there. He wrapped his arm tightly around my chest, just under my breasts. His other hand gripped my thigh hard enough to hurt.
I saw the gold eyes flicker. They focused again on Strangemore’s hands.
Then the expression in them slid casually back to bored.
“Are you going to show me?” Bones asked. “Don’t be a tease, Graham. You’ve only been bragging about it for a year now. Let’s see that little prick of yours. Do you think you’ll be able to make her scream your name, like you promised?”
“Get out of here, you sick fuck,” Strangemore snapped. “Why are you even here? Your boy, Alaric, isn’t going to care––”
“You think I’m here for Alaric?” Caelum leered down at my spread legs. “You overestimate the bonds of friendship there, I’m afraid. No, I’m here purely for my own entertainment. If you’re going to fuck her, I want to see it.”
“You’re a pig.” Strangemore’s voice held disgust. “What is wrong with you?”
Bones let out a bark of a laugh. “Oh,I’mthe pig. You’re the one doing the raping. Can’t blame a bloke for wanting to watch.”
I stared up at Bones, fighting with conflicting emotions that only got amplified by the drugs, and by the blank, disinterested look on his face. I could hear, or possibly feel, the rage behind his words, but I wondered if Strangemore could.
I wondered thatIdid, for that matter, or if I was hallucinating all of it. After all, why would I think I knew him well enough to see beyond the blankness of that mask?
His eyes flickered to mine.
A lick of that sharp, green-gold flame curled through both of his irises.
Bones’s face didn’t change, and he aimed his stare back at Strangemore.
“Go on, then.” He planted himself in the alcove, making it clear he didn’t intend to go anywhere. “Continue.” He pulled a pocket watch out of an embroidered vest, and made a show of checking the time. “I haven’t got all night.”
Strangemore’s voice grew thick with fury.“Piss off,Bones. I don’t give a shite who you are, take a walk. This is private. Are you some kind of peeper?”
“Private?” Bones looked around past the alcove at the dark corridor and the stone walls. “Doesn’t look all that private to me. Practically inviting an audience, I’d say.”
He motioned a pale hand towards where Strangemore’s fingers wrapped around my thigh.
