His fingers stop stroking my hair. “He’s scared,” Jax says. “And he doesn’t believe slayers are real—thinks they are just a rumour to give us hope.”
I press my lips into a thin line. “Cole doesn’t know anything beyond this life.”
“You keep saying that, but you change the subject every time I ask how you two ended up here.” He tucks some hair behind my ear, then cups my cheek, lifting my gaze to meet his. Softened blue eyes take me in. “I’m right here, you know.”
A suffocating sensation grips my throat, and I can taste the mulch beneath the moonflowers. Fingers, like Jax’s, are weaving through my hair, tightening with enough force to keep me under him. Then, as quickly as the memory came, it’s gone.
Wiggling closer to Jax, I say, “I know, but this is something else I will tell you when we’re out. Just understand that Cole doesn’t truly grasp the broader world. He was raised here, learning everything he knows from the Praised and the Bleeders.”
Jax presses his lips to mine, tasting of mintytoothpaste, but while his mind seems ready to focus on us, mine is burning with questions. I pull away and ask, “Can you tell me how we’re going to escape?”
A bright smile spreads across his face. “I sent a letter to the Prayer Sanctuary near my settlement and?—”
“That’s where slayers live, right?”
He kisses the corner of my mouth and murmurs, “I love it when you interrupt me.”
“You’re a masochist, but go on,” I say blandly. “How did you send a letter?”
More excitement fills his words with each breath. “I crawled through the airshafts. It was tough at first because I had no fucking idea where to go until I realised we had those evacuation diagrams outside our rooms.” He takes a breath, his words too much for a single inhale. “I eventually found the delivery room and managed to open the vent there—broke it, actually—and slipped a napkin in the transport with a note saying we weren’t Feeders, and that they took us from the streets.”
My throat tightens as I drift back to the delivery room and to the nightwalker cloaked in shadows. That’s how it got in here—I mean, it could have broken in, but knowing that the vent was damaged makes a nightwalker crawling through the airshafts make sense.
“But would the slayers at the Prayer Sanctuary even care?”
Jax tilts his head. “Slayers sometimes join forces with the bloodsuckers for things like this—Serun has been known to hire slayers to help uphold his laws.”
I see. “How did you imagine the note would reach these slayers?”
He hesitates for a moment, and if anyone can wear an apologetic look well, it’s Jax. “They didn’t steal me. I willingly entered Darkovish Feeding Ground because Leon—a slayer from my settlement—had a hunch they were taking unwilling people, but needed proof.” His hand runs up and down my arm. “So, I agreed to go in. But I didn’t realise how fucking locked down this place would be…” Jax looks away and mumbles, “And I met you, which I didn’t plan.”
“Buthowdo you know the letter reached them?” I press.
“Leon handles the blood bags in Mire. I slipped the napkin into one of the chest coolers heading for Mire and, yeah…I kept coming back during drop-offs until I found a return letter tucked between the empty coolers.” The hand that had been stroking my arm slides down and settles on my hip. “Leon and his crew of slayers will break us out in less than a fortnight. I assume the delay is to give Serun some time to learn of their activity and order the bloodsuckers to keep their distance. Let the slayers do their thing, you know?”
I grip his shirt tightly, and a lightness spears my chest, clean and precise. “We’re really going to make it out this time, aren’t we?”
“Yeah, Saya.”
He leans in, and just as his lips near mine, I turn away slightly and glare at him. “More lies. You keep giving me reasons not to trust you with every lie that slips from your tongue.”
Jax bunches his brows together, and he traces his fingers across my exposed thigh. “I’m sorry…I wasn’t sure how you would react if I told you I came here willingly.”
“The same.”
“Sorry.” He leans in. This time, I allow him. Featherlight kisses glide across my cheek, skirting my neck and dropping to my collarbone. He journeys lower, lifts my gown and thoroughly apologises with his tongue.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ABERRATION
After Jax made me come,I sucked him off then left. Cock doesn’t taste great, and he never wants to kiss me afterwards, so what is the point of staying?
As I scramble through the airshafts, my mind races and heart flutters at the thought of escape. Jax had planned this from the beginning. But he lied to me.
Sure, I’ve lied to him, too. But his lie is something I can’t ignore.
He pretended.
