CHAPTER NINE
“Ugh,” I groaned as my eyes cracked open into semi-darkness. My hands grabbed my throat, the flesh extremely tender to the touch. I ran my right palm over my bruised skin as memories swirled through my mind—the choking and, apparently, being taken as a prisoner. With much trepidation, I tipped my head to the side where the sound of light breathing could be heard. “Who’s there?”
A shadow shifted on a chair next to the bed I lay on.
A littleclick, then sudden light blinded me.
I squinted at the person sitting next to me.
As their features came into focus, I hissed, “Shit.”
Poppy Carvene leaned forward and placed her elbows on the bed directly next to my head. She ran a single digit over the right side of my neck, pressing down deeply into the bruise there. I flinched and gripped the sheets underneath me, trying to hold still so I could figure out what I was going to do. I wasn’t chained to the bed, nothing physically keeping me here. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see an open door leading to areas unknown.
Poppy’s bloodshot eyes stared down into mine. Her voice was hoarse as she asked, “I’m told you know everything about us. Is that correct?”
I swallowed, the action pushing her finger on my throat up then down on my sore skin. “Yes.”
Christ. I sounded even worse than she did.
The difference between immortals and mortals, I supposed.
“Do you know who my mate was?” she probed.
“Godric King.”
“Do you know how he died?”
My slow blink was idiotic. “Um, no. It would have to be a seer or his mate, though. Joshua Striker told me he was a king. I believe he called him ‘the aberration king.’”
Poppy’s delicate features didn’t change, a solid void of nothing showing. Only her eyes that continued to fill with tears that never fell showed any of her inner turmoil.
She stated, “So you don’t know everything about us. Allow me to enlighten you on what Joshua fucking Striker left out. I can imagine the parts that he would so he could play nice with you. Stop me anytime you’ve heard this before.”
The redhead told me a tale so horrifying I couldn’tnotlisten to it, my heart in my throat from each one of Joshua Striker’s demented games played on the innocent. Poppy never stopped pushing down on my bruise the entire time either, rubbing harder and harder with each sentence spoken on a raw throat. Her tears finally fell as she spoke of Cassander’s death, the fever pitch emotion alarming on her pretty face.
If I hadn’t known any better, I would have said that she’d loved Cassander more than she’d loved Godric. Perhaps that was true. Her time with Godric was so short versus her time spent with Cassander. Either way, both men were dead, and it wasn’t my love to judge. She had lost both men.
Poppy eventually cleared her throat, her eyes still on my horrified gaze. She shook her head and leaned back, that prodding finger of hers yanked back from my flesh. Her lips parted, and she spoke no louder than a whisper.
“Theron, Wolfe,” she called out. “She knew nothing. She’s not on Joshua’s side. He only told her the basics.”
Two men instantly entered the bedroom I was in.
Theron and Wolfe.
In a flash, I scooted up on the bed, slamming my back against the headboard. My right hand immediately went to my throat, protecting my injured flesh. The air shimmered around me with tension—my own. I croaked a harsh demand, “Don’t come any closer!”
Theron stuffed his hands down into the pockets of a pair of gray sweatpants, a white shirt hugging his upper body. “Seeing as you are in my house, Noelle, I don’t think I’ll be taking any orders from you.”
Wolfe had lost his suit jacket somewhere. The sleeves of his dress shirt were rolled up to his elbows, his arms crossed over his chest. His biceps were tense and pulling at the seams of his shirt. His lush lips were drawn into a tight line, tension radiating off him as he blatantly eyed my person but kept his thoughts to himself.
Poppy rolled her head back and stared at the ceiling. “I still wish I could kill her.”
Theron shrugged his right shoulder. “I might let you. I haven’t made up my mind yet.”
Wolfe’s shoulders tensed the barest bit. Lips still shut tight.
I pressed harder against the headboard, truly understanding that the king shifter was serious, terror now rolling off me. Both shifters inhaled deeply, their regard not moving from my frozen form. My eyes flicked with fear back and forth between Theron and Poppy. I had to think of a way to get out of this mess.
