Steadying my stance, I looked to where he’d gone. He was leaning his ass against a table, arms crossed over the breadth of his chest. Blank. Emotionless.
He slowly blinked, and when his thick lashes parted, his gaze blazed with distaste. He crackled with tension, practically bristling.
All for me.
And then I heard them walking in, one by one, heavy footsteps upon stone that echoed through the cavernous Great Hall—Kenton, Caidan, and Jett.
20
Nelle
The temperature dropped several degrees even though I was standing near twin hearth fires radiating warmth. A chill swept through me, settling over my skin like morning frost thick on a lawn, and my heart hammered a thunderous beat against my ribs.
Sage snapped and snarled as the Crowthers drew nearer. Their footsteps reverberated down the length of the hall, and shadows slunk across the stone floor as if they’d brought darkness with them.
They all appeared casual enough, but for that prowling stride, the cunning that lurked within the various shades of their eyes, which ranged from the light amethyst of Caidan’s to the darker indigo of Kenton’s.
For one brief moment, I found myself wanting to run behind the man with black eyes and allow him to shield me. But what message would that send?
Besides, I couldn’t rely on Graysen for anything.
I was very much alone.
I pushed my shoulders back and met their indifferent gazes as they split apart and half-circled. Surrounded by their tall, imposing figures, I felt tiny and insignificant. Behind my back, I ran my fingertips together as if rotating through adamere beads.My roots are deep, my strength is stone, my breath the wind. I bow to none.
I was a Wychthorn, and I would never let them see me cower.
Snapping my fingers at my wraith-wolf, Sage took his sweet time but eventually drew back to my side, his fur hackled and fangs bared.
Kenton moved to my right. Wearing casual tan slacks and a crisp white shirt, he rolled up his sleeves, as if he were about to get down to business and not the kind that ended in an ink-stained signature and a friendly handshake.
The silence was deafening but for the soft crackling coming from the burning logs and the blood rushing in my ears. The tension in the room was thick and cloying, making my pulse rap faster. Graysen leaned against the wooden table, staring just above my head, bored, as if I were beneath his interest.
“Enjoying the tour?” Kenton asked me in that deep voice of his.
While I popped a hand on my hip, shrugging a shoulder, I paid close attention to Caidan and Jett’s movements as they drew a little closer. Shifting my position sideways, I turned my gaze upon Draxxon’s massive head, which jutted out from the wall and loomed over enormous oak doors, and then cast an unimpressed glance about the Great Hall. “Somewhat,” I replied with a bored sigh and waved my hand in a disdainful manner as if searching for the right words. “I am looking at extending my real estate portfolio. However,” I scrunched my nose. “It’s a bit…I don’t know…pretentious and cluttered.”
From the corner of my eye, I caught the amusement tugging on Caidan’s mouth, and how he tamped it down, shying his head away as he rubbed at his hair concealed beneath a beanie. A moment later, he smoothed his expression back to a blank slate as he adjusted his long, jean-clad legs and crossed his arms, the black t-shirt hanging loosely on his brawny build.
My gaze narrowed on him.
Both of us were aware of what he’d already done for Graysen. He’d purposely given away his brother’s secret, that he more than liked me,he…
And I couldn’t finish that thought because Graysen didn’t deserve me, not that way.
Kenton ignored me and turned toward his brother. “Why bother showing her around? She should be kept down in the dungeon until she’s needed.”
Darkness.
Sweat broke out on the back of my neck and coated my palms in tiny beads.
Part of me wanted to scream and shout. To strike out and hit them. To make them see that what they intended to by trapping me and selling me to those heinous witches was wrong. To unleash all my fear and fury and desperation upon them in words and violence.
However,I had to besmarterthan that.
I stuffed down the rage and pushed the wrath further into the quagmire that was my tattered soul.
I couldn’t afford to let the Crowther brothers suspect what I was up to until it was too late and I was free. I had to get them to agree to allow me to roam freely in their home so that I could come and go as I pleased. And the only way I could do that was to appear weaker than them and not a threat. As much as I wanted to incinerate them with my temper, I had to leash it.
