I bit my bottom lip, then rushed to say, “I know where you can find Joshua. I’ll tell you if you let me go.”
Still staring at the ceiling, Poppy muttered, “Why do prisoners always try to lie their way out of their shit?”
“I’m not lying,” I argued gruffly, and scowled hard at her upturned face. “And if you kill me, you’ll be killing someone innocent. If you put your feelings aside for the dead, you would see that. Did I publish the article? Yes. Was it damning information? No. It was your choice and Theron’s and Cassander’s choice to follow me to King Western Province. Own up to your own shit, instead of throwing your pain on someone else.”
Poppy’s head dropped down; her calculating gaze ran over my features. “Theron, she may not be as dumb as we originally thought.”
The Ancient king hummed. “I think you’re right.”
Wolfe grunted and slowly stepped toward me, placing himself front and center. “Noelle, do you really know where he will be next?”
I nodded once. “I do.”
“And you’ll tell us in exchange for your freedom?”
“I will.”
Golden eyes narrowed into cold ruthlessness. “In the future, do you plan to write any articles about the shifter species?”
My teeth ground together. “If I do, that’s my right.”
Poppy shook her head in exasperation. “And…I revoke the intelligent comment.” Her brown gaze swept over my stubborn countenance. “Or, perhaps, someone took away her free will when she was younger, and she won’t let go of what she has now even to save her own life.”
My nostrils flared in humiliation. I shoved my way out of the bed, placing the monstrosity of a bed between everyone else and me. I hurled harsh words directly at her. “How the fuck did you find my file? I can’t imagine a little princess like you crawling into the hole where you’d have to go to find it. Color me surprised. You’re a little freak. What outfit did the owner make you wear to gain access to the file? The little pink dots or the yellow roses?”
Poppy’s features blanked completely, hiding whatever her true feelings were behind a pretty mask. She opened her mouth, and then snapped it shut. Her lips parted again, but nothing came out—except perhaps an odd gurgle.
Eventually, in the stillness of the room, with my hard gaze on her, she mumbled, “Actually, I’m not the princess. That’s Megan. I’m the soldier.”
What the fuck?
I bent over and screamed, “What the hell are you talking about, you fucking cunt?How did you get my file?”
The entire room turned ominously silent.
I needed to get out of here. I was losing my damn mind.
They were all staring at me with varying expressions.
I charged at the door, shoving Theron in his side as hard as I could and knocking the shocked man over a step. The doorway was so close. So damned close. I was almost there. One more step—
Solid arms I knew all too well lifted me up off the floor and crushed me to a muscled chest. Wolfe ordered against my ear, “Calm down, Noelle. Just calm down.”
“No!” I shouted, struggling like a wet cat in his arms. Fierce and cruel, I struck out at the wolf-man with every known defensive strike I knew. With my thumbs digging at his eye sockets, his eyes closed tight against the pressure, I roared, “Let me out of here! I can’t take it. Let me go!”
Theron barked in clear annoyance. “This is ridiculous. Knock her out again, Wolfe.”
“I won’t hurt her again,” Wolfe stated calmly, even as I attempted to knee him in the groin and tear off his left ear at the same time. He easily shook off each strike I delivered, his arms…hard…yet gentle in their hold on me. “Noelle, you need to calm down.”
The hell with that. I socked him right in his left eye.
Finally, I’d landed a hit.
Too bad it didn’t loosen his grip on me.
Theron muttered, “Why the fuck won’t you?”
Wolfe tipped his head to the side, evading another sharp jab to his face. I spat in his mouth when he opened it to speak, startling him enough that I almost had a chance to get free. Instead, he simply hoisted my struggling and furious frame back up, swallowed my spit, and groused in aggravation, clearly not wanting to speak, “Because she smells like damned pine needles, and, uh, sweet dreams to me. Okay? Now, fuck the hell off. I’m taking her downstairs and letting her go.”
