Zion’s eyes widen slightly, and I cock my head at the tiny flame reflected in them. He blinks slowly, once, twice, and then says, “What if I want her?”
The man frowns. “Whatever for?”
Zion shrugs and then says, “Does it matter?”
The man glances at me and then at Cornelius and then back at Zion as he asks, “You think you can handle her, keep her in line?”
Zion nods. “I promise I’ll keep her out of trouble.”
I snort rather indelicately, and the man’s eyes shoot to me. Cornelius coughs loudly in what I can only assume is an attempt to cover up my obviously rude sound. I grit my teeth together, forcing myself to stay still though it’s actually painful for me to keep my mouth shut.
Zion glares at me, then turns back to the other man. “May I speak freely?”
The man gives him an assessing look and then nods, so Zion leans down, placing one hand on the table and the other on the back of the man’s chair as he moves in close and whispers in his ear. I can’t make out any of his words, so I’m sure no one else can either, and all I can do is watch the micro-expressions on the man’s face as Zion speaks whatever truth or bullshit he’s thinking of. Then the man pulls back some, meeting Zion’s eyes as he asks, “Are you sure?”
Zion nods, straightening and stepping back as the man sighs heavily and then replies, “Done. But if it backfires and becomes a problem, you’ll answer for it.”
“Don’t I know it,” Zion replies easily. Without any further conversation, he turns back to me, motioning for Cornelius and me to go back in the direction we came.
I hesitate, a shiver of familiarity rushing over me as, suddenly, realization dawns, my entire reason for being here crashing down on me. I don’t know what I thought was going tohappen here, but a sense of urgency takes over, screaming in my head that I'm not ready. I haven’t found what I came here for.
Panic bubbles up inside me, my fear and desperation letting loose in a broken shout that falls from my lips. And then I struggle for real, wiggling and yanking from Cornelius’s grasp as I mutter, “No. No, we can’t just go. I’m not done.”
Zion comes right up into the front of me, his chest pressed against my breasts, his face directly in front of mine, pushing me against Cornelius’s front as he says, “Shut your damn mouth and let's go.”
I shake my head, suddenly realizing that not telling him what I was after was a huge mistake, and panic rushes over me, my hands moving between us as I grip his jacket in both of them. “I can’t go. Not without her.”
“What are you talking about?”
Again, I shake my head, this time even harder, all that panic and fear a tight ball in my chest as I choke out, “Gemma. She’s here.”
What little sound there was in the room ceases. It’s as if that bubble I walked through earlier has settled directly over the room. All those eyes, all those mirrored faces, suddenly staring at me.
Zion gives me a shake. Cornelius is still at my back, holding me steady, as Zion hisses, “Stop it. Fucking stop it.”
“I’mnotleaving without her.”
A glance around the room now shows no one is looking at me. And all those mirrored faces are turned, looking beyond the man at the head of the table, who’s staring at me vacantly.
I follow their line of sight, my eyes adjusting to the variance in the lighting, where I make out the shape of a cage on a table.
Zion falls back from me slightly as he glances over his shoulder, following my line of sight. I use his moment of distraction to my advantage, driving my elbow back behind meinto Cornelius’s stomach, using his wince of pain to drive myself forward. Shoving Zion, I scoot under his arm, make a break for the far side of the room, for the cage and the darkness.
I don’t make it more than five or six steps when strong arms pull me from behind. While I can’t make out the scene clearly, I can see enough to know one thing.
That is Gemma.
She’s sitting on her side, one hand braced beneath her, her other hand gripping the bar of the cage, and those eyes, so much like my own, staring back at me pleadingly. I reach for her, but hands snatch me back as I shout, “Gemma. Gemma!”
Cornelius and Zion are both on me. The two of them wrestle me back, and I turn to see that the man at the end of the table is now standing, his expression furious. He takes a step toward us as Zion intercepts him, stopping him from closing the distance between us just as Cornelius hefts me over his shoulder, turns, and books it toward the door.
Just like Zion ordered.
I attempt to fight him, but it doesn’t take me long to realize it’s no use. I hang limply over his shoulder, watching helplessly as the darkness oozes, drips, regroups, a sudden swarm around Zion, who immediately squares off, his defensive stance quickly turning deadly.
Cornelius stops short, and I’m tossed about as he engages with an enemy I can’t see. I’m focused back on the end of the table, watching Zion holding court between the darkness and me, his strokes deadly.
Then Cornelius is moving again, racing toward the exit, and I will myself not to cry as first one, then two doors slam between us.
