I feel…Alive.
Heat still clings to my skin, electric and heavy, the ghost of their touch thrumming through me like a secret I shouldn’t want to keep. I bite the inside of my cheek until the taste of copper blooms there—anything to ground myself.
Thiswasn’tpart of the plan.
I wanted to manipulate them, to use their obsession, not…enjoyit.
God, that’s what makes it worse. The wanting. The way my body leans toward danger like it’s a language I was born speaking.
Rook’s calm control. Wraith’s reckless hands. The tension that binds all of us tighter with every line we cross. It’s madness—and I’m feeding it.
I drag in a breath, force myself to stand. My legs tremble, not from fear but from too much adrenaline, too much wanting, too much everything.
Let them think they won that round.
I’m not the one being played.
At least, that’s what I tell myself.
Chapter 26
Rook
The second she leaves the room, silence follows like smoke after gunfire.
The credits roll. No one moves, we’re all still as statues.
I can still smell her perfume—warm citrus and fear she’s learned to wear like armor. The way Wraith’s hand shifted beneath the blanket, how her breath caught, the way she tried and failed to hide it. He thinks I didn’t notice, but I fucking did.
“Interesting choice of movie,” Vale drawls at last, his grin slow, poisonous. “Didn’t know we were screening live entertainment.”
Wraith doesn’t answer. His jaw works, his eyes on the black screen.
I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “You want to tell me what that was?”
He looks at me then, brown eyes steady, unflinching. “No.”
Vale whistles. “Oh, this’ll be good.”
“Shut up,” I say, not taking my eyes off Wraith.
Saint chuckles quietly from the corner, swirling the last of his drink. “Don’t look at me. I’m as disgusted as I am fascinated.”
“Bullshit,” Vale mutters.
“Language,” Saint replies, all mock reverence, but there’s a glint in his eyes.
Ash shifts where he’s sitting, posture rigid, hands clasped tight. He won’t look at anyone. “This isn’t productive,” he says. “We all knew she’d test limits. Now we’re just proving she’s good at it.”
“She’snot the one being tested,” I say.
That lands hard. The room goes quiet again.
Wraith stands, shoulders squared. “You going to hit me for it?”
“No.” I rise too. We’re nearly the same height, but the energy between us is a hair trigger waiting for fire. “I’m going to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“You planning to chain her up?” Wraith asks, scoffing a laugh. “She’s notyours.”
