It took a long moment for it to register that Graysen wasn’t cold. His body didn’t hold the subarctic temperature he’d projected within the Great Hall. And, strangely, Sage wasn’t baring his teeth or growling. My wraith-wolf lay down on the path, watching us both with bright silver eyes, more intrigued than anything else.
Twisting around on Graysen’s lap, I wondered who I was going to face. Both of us pulled back to look at each other better.
There was life back in his gaze and lingering wariness. My gaze bounced between his eyes, the thick, long lashes as he blinked. The blankness was gone, along with the cool indifference.
My braid slipped off my shoulder as I tilted my head to the side. I was genuinely curious. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Become so cruel and intimidating?” Because he’d terrified me, and so easily too. And like the snap of fingers, it had vanished. And here he was, the man I knew up in his tower.
He raised a brow, looking at me as if he couldn’t understand why I didn’t get it. “I’m an enforcer,” he said slowly, his tone rising as if he’d asked a question.
I frowned at him. I knew that. Upper House Novak sent in his family to deal with wayward crime lords who sought to free themselves from our reign. Often ending with him breaking bones and ending lives.
“My father raised us all in the art of violence,” he answered when the silence dragged on between us. “Our House terrorizes the crime syndicates. Sometimes it’s not the loud, angry face that scares someone so much. It’s the smile, the quietness of it all.”
“You’re so good at it,” I replied, as I scrutinized his relaxed features with narrowed eyes. “Switching between the two.”
“It is a talent,” he grinned.
I sharpened my tone because that slide into menace simply to intimidate me in the Great Hall was bullshit. “What are you playing at? What was all that in there? That performance in front of your brothers?”
His eyes widened a bit, and he sucked in a breath as if giving himself time to consider how to word it. “It will be easier for you to roam freely if they believe…”
“Believe what?” And then I understood. “That you’re doing what they think you are. Breaking me, so they won’t interfere.”
“IfIdidn’t, then one of them would try to step in.”
“You’re all fucking psychopaths,” I spat, thinking back to his brothers trying to intimidate me. Kenton telling him I should be locked away in the dungeons below the Keep.
He gave a pained sigh, his gaze dipping to the weeds daring to peek between plantings of hosta that edged the path. “Yeah, we are,” he agreed quietly.
A gentle breeze swirled through the garden, swaying leafy greenery and bringing with it a hint of jasmine and roses. I wriggled my hands in his grip, glaring down at his makeshift handcuffs. My wrists looked tiny and delicate with his large fingers banded around them. “Let me go.”
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he protested, sounding slightly offended.
“No.Youmight not. Not directly. But you’re taking me to the Emporium!” I couldn’t help how shrill my voice was. “Have you been there?”
“A few times,” he admitted reluctantly.
“So you know it’s a bordello for the Horned Gods.”
“The Houses attend too,” he added, frowning.
“Because they’re sick,” I shot back. An icy sensation slithered down my spine as what I knew about the Emporium flooded through my mind. “Theyeatpeople in there as fucking snacks.”
A notch formed between his brows as he slowly shook his head, deep in thought. “I don’t know… I don’t know what Jett’s up to.”
“Your brother is a psycho,” I snarled, jabbing an elbow into his chest to make my point. “If he, ifany of you, so much as plucks a wisp from Sage, I will kill you.”
“He’s just messed up.”
“You all are! And you,youmost of all, Mr. I-love-to-hunt.”
His gaze dipped to my mouth. “It’s the thrill of the chase, and your fight…” The last few words drifted apart, and he swallowed thickly as if he suddenly realized what he was saying.
And just like that, I became aware he was holding me. My side curving into a hard chest. Warm fingers forming a handcuff while his other arm banded my waist.
