Ember’s brows furrow. For perhaps the first time since I took her, she pauses andthinksinstead ofacting.
“Third of all, I think you’re much more legal, much hotter, andso much more powerfulthan the young, wide-eyed, naïve girl who became my best friend. I felt horrible for being attracted to her; I feel fuckinginvigoratedby you.”
“Beauty fades,” she says dismissively. “It’s an asset that swiftly degrades over time.”
“Your mind doesn’t. Yoursouldoesn’t.”
Her lips thin. “I don’t have a soul anymore. I sold it, then killed it by doing what I’ve done.”
Aw, fuck. I hear the self-flagellation in her tone, and it nearly undoes me. I step forward, taking Ember’s hand in mine. “Baby—”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Baby,” I repeat slowly, suppressing a smile when she hides an eye roll, “if you didn’t have a soul, you wouldn’t have spent the last half-decade being Dagon’s slave to protect a sister you only knew for a couple months. That right there isproofthat you’re still human, no matter what you tell yourself.”
“You don’tget it, do you?” she asks. Instead of coming out harsh, her tone is forlorn, almost defeated. “I can’taffordto be human anymore. If I’m human, I have to come to terms with all the terrible shit I’ve done. I killed innocents because I was ordered to, Maximus. I probably did kill Tobias’s cousin—an errand boy, by the sounds of it. When Dagon told me to jump, my only question was how high. I’m a monster, and I’mexceptionallygood at being one.”
I draw her closer. “Then you can be my monster. I don’t care about your sins, Ember. My hands are far from clean. What I care about isyou. You being alive, here, and mine. Give me that and I’ll give you the world.”
Her throat bobs as she swallows. I imagine wrapping my hand around it and pressing down until she’s dizzy from oxygen loss. Willit make her come harder? Deny her an orgasm? Frighten her or turn her on? I’ll find out soon.
“Give me my sister’s safety, and you can have me,” she says, challenge lacing every word.
I smile. “I’ll get right on that. First, Flame, I need your sister’s name.”
She blows out a deep breath. Looks at the ceiling, at the floor, basically anywhere but at me. Finally, she says, “If you use this information against me, I will find a way to kill you. Don’t doubt me, Maximus; Iwillfind a way to fucking destroy you.” She inhales a deep breath. “Alina Braxton.”
I take Ember straight back to our place, outfit her with an extremely well-monitored laptop and tell her to start redesigning our apartment, and go to my office. I start with a garden-variety search of Alina Braxton, and find a girl who looks immensely different from Ember, but shares her nose and her eyes.Justenough similarities to confirm that they are probably related.
Probably isn’t good enough for me—I need confirmation. A DNA test alongside birth certificates and life stories. So, I call in reinforcements to get me the information I need—Toby.
He arrives an hour after I ordered him to come up immediately, which is a subtle fuck-you that irritates me. Toby might fall under Greyson’s direct purview, but I’m still his superior, and he answers to me as much as he answers to Grey. I suppose his little argumentwith Ember has made him reluctant to help me, which I intend to straighten out promptly.
I open the front door when he knocks on it, casting Ember a warning glance that silently transmits for her to stay put on the couch, keep shopping, and not antagonize Toby any further. I need him right now—sheneeds him right now. She must recognize that, because when I swing open the door and Toby steps in, she only gives him an uninterested look up and down before returning her attention to her laptop. She looks a little too interested in whatever she has pulled up for my comfort, but I made it quite clear that I can seeeverythingshe does on the laptop, so I doubt she’s stepping out of line.
“This better be fucking good,” Toby quietly seethes, following me into the office.
I close the door behind him. “It came from me; that makes it good.” I round my desk and take a seat. Toby follows suit, lowering into the chair across from me, but I hold up a hand, staying him. “I did not invite you to sit just yet, soldier.” I stare at him. “You need to get over your resentment of Ember.”
His nostrils flare. “She killed my fucking cousin. Let me punish her and I’ll be over it.”
“She followed—fucking—orders,” I hiss. “Are you really going to blame a pet for their master’s commands?”
“So you agree that she’s a wild pet? Excellent, that’ll save us time.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “You should send her to the pound like a mouthy bitch and be done with it.”
“Do you want to die, Toby?” I ask conversationally. “I invited you here because I need your help, but keep talking aboutmy chosenlike she’s a dog, and you’ll get a bullet instead of a task.” I lean forward. “Don’t test me, soldier. I don’t fuck around when it comes to her. Now,unless you’re uninterested in walking out of here unharmed, you’ll follow my commands to the letter. Are we clear?”
Toby inhales a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut. After a few moments, he gives me a reluctant nod. “Yeah, we’re fucking clear.”
“Great. I need you to find out everything there is to know about a girl—I want a report on her entire life. Birth records, education, living and dead relatives—”
“Have you already decided to exchange Ember for someone else?” he asks snarkily. “Can’t say I blame you—”
“Tobias.” I shake my head slowly. “You’re testing my patience, and right now is not the time to test my patience. Do your task, or I’ll assume your value to the Nighthawk’s has been vastly overinflated, and I’ll react accordingly.”
Tobias stands from his seat angrily. “Fine,” he snaps. “I’ll get it done,today. Send me her name, and I’ll do the rest.”
With that, he storms out. I raise my fingers to my temples and massage them, understanding that bringing Ember here was a complicated, not necessarily well-advised move.
