Certainly, I will maintain the peace for Striker’s conversation with Vanguard, but once that’s done…
I will be prepared for war.
17. STRIKER DRAVEN
Standing so close to Peyton outside the Tavern and not being able to touch her or even ask her permission to close the gap between us…
It’s more painful than I could have imagined.
I fight to regulate my breathing and contain my turmoil, focusing on everything I’ve gained during the last eight months.
The ability to remain calm.
The belief that I won’t break what I care about.
The knowledge that there may be a place for my beast’s brutality, but it is not here.
Not here with her.
Her crimson hair is tangled at the back, her figure leaner than the last time I saw her. Her back is to me, but she has half-turned her face, giving me her attention and allowing me to study the curve of her cheek, the length of her eyelashes, and the slight part of her lips.
I need to ask her why she was here tonight.Why this place? And why was she so restrained?
I had imagined that if I were to see her again, it would be in a situation where she was wreaking hellish vengeance on a target.And yet, she slid on into this tavern, swaying through a room filled with criminals, without spilling even a drop of blood.
Clearly, her wish to arrange a conversation with Vanguard was more important to her.But why?
Even as these questions pass through my mind, they’re nothing compared to what I really want to ask her, the questions that really matter to me.
Is she happy? Is she safe?
Is she okay?
I’m fully aware that she can read my emotions completely. Hunter told me so. But I’m determined to contain them as much as I can, determined not to inflict them on her.
My feelings are mine to own, not hers to bear.
“Fury,” I begin, and even though I’m controlling him, my beast’s growl taints my voice, his fiery thoughts pushing at my mind.
Her presence fuels him with an energy he hasn’t shown since she left us.
I take a beat to restrain him, and that moment of silence seems to be all she needs to step away.
“I will see you tomorrow night, Striker Draven.”
With that, she slips away from me, disappearing so quickly into the shadows that she might have been a figment of my imagination.
A fucking beautiful illusion.
But it’s time for me to leave, too.
I’ve learned that this part of the city is dominated by the dark entity, and I can’t afford to linger. Not that I’m concerned about my safety. Rather, I don’t want to risk breaking the truce Vanguard has offered me.
A truce that feels too easy somehow.
Vanguard wants something. He wouldn’t have requested Slade’s presence at our meeting otherwise.
I keep my steps unhurried as I continue four blocks east on foot, finally rounding the corner of an alleyway where Slade waits.
