Before I can touch the kitten, Dredyn’s voice rumbles softly behind me. “I call him Ghost,” he says. “Cosmo was a shit name.”
The kitten—Ghost—leans into my hand as I stroke his head, purring like a tiny engine. I blink rapidly, because of course I’m not about to cry in front of him.
Ghost is here.
He’s safe.
He’s not rotting in a shelter cage like I’ve imagined every night since I left him.
“You… adopted him…”
“Yeah.” He’s still behind me, still close, but there’s no humor in him now. “You wanted him.”
“So, you do have a heart after all?” I ask, trying for sarcasm to keep my balance.
His jaw flexes, but his voice stays steady. “No. I decided what’s yours doesn’t end up in a cage. I don’t care about him. I care thatyoucared about the furball… He stinks, by the way.”
My grip tightens on the kitten, his tiny heartbeat fluttering against my palm. Ghost squirms, and I crouch to set him gently back on the chair, my hand lingering between his ears. “Guess I should say thank you.”
“You should, but that would mean you don’t hate me as much as you want to.”
I finally stand and face him. He doesn’t look away, doesn’t hide behind that smug armor he wears like skin. And somehow, that unsettles me more than any of his usual games.
“Kitchen’s this way,” he says at last, turning toward the archway without waiting to see if I’ll follow.
With a lingering glance at Ghost, who has curled into a tiny black ball on the chair, I follow Dredyn down the hall.
I hover by the doorway, not sure what to do with myself. Dredyn strolls to an old fridge plastered with faded band stickers. He pulls out a couple of water bottles and nods toward the table. “Make yourself comfortable.”
I perch on the edge of one of the wooden chairs, setting my bag down. My posture is rigid, knees pressed together, hands folded tightly in my lap. I can’t help it; every cell in my body is on high alert.
After a moment, he steps over and sets the second bottle of water on the table in front of me. Instead of walking away, he pulls out the chair opposite me and drops into it, stretching out his long legs.
Dredyn sprawls across from me. “So, how’s Daddy Dearest?”
I twist the cap off my water bottle just to have something to do. “He’s furious. But fine.”
“Furious, huh? I wonder why.”
“You know… I can’t stand you.”
“You could stand me just fine were choking down beer for me. Then you went and ground on Talon like our goddamn whore.”
My stomach lurches, heat crawling up my neck. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” His smirk widens. “Don’t remind myself how much it pissed me off to watch you on his lap? You think I don’t know how fucking wet you were for him?”
“Stop it.” I shove my chair back, the legs screeching. “That wasn’t me. You forced that drink on me, Dredyn. And Talon?—”
“And Talon, what?” He rises, closing the space between us until the table presses into my hips. “Talon got a taste of what I already knew—that you’re not Daddy’s perfect little princess. You’re ours. You’ve been ours since the second you let me touch you.”
My heart hammers. “My father told me to end it, with all of you. He said I’m done.”
Dredyn cages me in with his arms on either side of me, mouth just shy of mine. His voice is a low growl. “End it? Hellcat, you’re not ending a damn thing. We’re corrupting you, and you get off on it. You’re already too far gone to crawl back into that cage he built for you.”
My throat works, but no words come.
He dips his head closer, his breath hot against my ear. “You hate us for it, you hate yourself for it, but your pussy craves it.”
