Reluctantly releasing Gedeon’s hand, I slammed the glass shut. Although Ava’s mood was as sour as the weather was drab,as if the air itself wanted to unleash its misery, neither could douse my mood.
My strawberry had returned to me.
Now, if I lured my pretty birdie to perch on my palm once more, I could finally rest.
Hoisting her feet onto Gedeon’s desk, Kali shot daggers at me. “You look too happy.” She pushed her empty glass across the desk with her boot. “Take this before I hurl it at you.”
“Oh, no.” Jayla covered her mouth. The woolen blanket fell to her waist, exposing her oversized monstrosity of a sweater. “She said hurl. I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Jayla, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we’re here to discuss matters other than your food poisoning,” Ezra said, re-tying the bun sitting low on his nape. He’d had the habit for as long as I’d known him—since Gedeon’s contacts had rescued him from the city. He was one of the few city-trained soldiers we had living with us.
Tugging the sleeves down to her fingertips, Jayla grumbled, “You’re mean. But I don’t have the energy to search my brain for a comeback today, so be nice and quiet, and I won’t add you to the list of people who owe me favors. Because he”—she pointed at Gedeon—“owes me a dozen for the shit he pulled with his fake death.”
Gedeon crossed his ankles. “What if I promise to climb on stage at Vice?”
Jayla’s eyes popped out of her sockets. “You said you’d never do it.”
“I have conditions.” He raised his forefinger. “One, no one besides me, Zion, and Kali would participate. And two, the show would be up to us.No meddling.”
“Deal,” she rushed out. “I’m still mad at you, but consider your debt to me repaid.” But then Ava whispered in her ear, and she swiftly added, “Ifyou complete your partthisyear.”
Gedeon’s glower increased by a notch.
Ava beamed at him. “I know how you work, Gedeon. I won’t sit back and watch you trick Jayla. Vice might be her choice of payment, but it’s not mine. You’ll be hearing from me.”
“From me, too.” Kali pulled a loose thread on her pale-blue sweater. The cotton fiber floated to the hardwood floor, the string as long as the healing cut on her cheek. “Because, apparently, my agreement isn’t necessary for this deal to take place.”
Gedeon pushed off the windowsill. “It’s not.” The rolling thunder, so powerful it shook the sky, muffled his steps as he prowled toward her.
The loud rumbling seized control of my muscles, and I followed him, admiring how his long-sleeved shirt grew taut as he rolled his shoulders.
Kali lifted her chin, the filthy heels of her boots painting a picture of disobedience on Gedeon’s desk.
Seizing the armrests, he twisted the chair so roughly her legs flew to the ground. “I remember how you reacted that night at Vice when I proposed taking you on stage.”
Kali gulped, her attention bouncing between our friends and us.
Sauntering around her, I came to a stop at her back and inhaled the cherry scent wafting off her hair. “That wet spot on your panties looked delectable.”
The sharp intake of her breath ripped a chuckle out of Gedeon.
Locking her in place, he leaned into her. “We own you, Kali. Your body, soul, and mind. So no, I do not require your permission to strike a bargain with Jayla.” A flash of blue light lit up Gedeon’s face. Lightning had decided to attack our compound. “You have willingly given yourself up to us. Myabsence did not change that. Our rights to you still stand, and that includes your pleasure, by any means necessary.”
I clutched her chair’s backrest. “Imagine if we played a game calledhow many times we can make you come until you pass out.”
She crossed her legs, one on top of the other. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh, little death. I would make it my priority each evening.” Gedeon curled a dark lock behind her ear. “I can see it in your eyes—you are already trying to estimate the number.”
“I’m not,” she huffed, her squeak such a lovely shade of flustered I yearned to taste it. If voices were edible, hers would be a dessert.
He arched a thick eyebrow. “Is your memory in need of a nudge on how to answer me?” His lips ghosted over hers. “I spank the lies out of deceivers, Kali.”
“Ahm, guys? I don’t think Jayla meant she wanted a show right this second,” Ryder quipped, his elbow hooked on the couch’s backrest. “As much as I enjoy your dynamic, can we get back to business? I’m still not fully over the fact that Gedeon is alive.”
Gedeon moved to lean against the wall behind Kali, his knee bent and his foot resting on a gray coat of paint. “I told you my reasoning. Our people were splitting into factions. If I had done nothing, we would have had to fight two fronts: a rebellion against us and Ilasall’s military.” He paused, boring into our friends. “When Kali stabbed me—which was an unfortunateaccident—I realized we could implement a solution I had learned of in my father’s books. So I ran with it.”
Reclining in his chair, Eli rested an ankle on his knee. “You vanished.”
