He growled, covering his ears. “Don’t say that.”
“But you held back,” I finished. “I know Apollyon forced that shift on you, and sure we scuffled a little, but you held on to enough of yourself to keep from really attacking me. It could have been so much worse.”
He ran a hand over his face. “That’s what I’m afraid of. The next time itwill beso much worse.”
“That day won’t come. I won’t let it.”
Sure, his shift had caught me by surprise this time, but I’d be prepared in the future. Maybe I’d keep tranq darts on me all the time now or something. We’d figure it out.
We stood staring at each other from opposite sides of the bars. With his guard down I could see so many raw emotions on Gage’s face. Guilt, regret, self-loathing, frustration. My arms ached to hold him, to show him with more than words how much I still cared about him, to help soothe his concerns and worries, but I wasn’t sure if he’d even accept that type of comfort right now.
“Sorry, I ruined our date,” he finally said, and I huffed out a laugh. As if I really cared about that right now.
“It just means you owe me a redo,” I said with a grin, and his eyes finally softened.
“Deal.”
The metal door to the basement screeched open, drawing our attention to the other side of the room as Drea and Dash entered.
Drea held a bundle of folded clothes and Dash carried a tray of food. There were no windows down here, but from the assortment of muffins, omelets, and waffles I assumed it was breakfast from the cafeteria. I must have dozed longer than I thought.
Wait, is that bacon I smell?
My hand darted out almost without thought, and I snatched two strips of bacon off the tray when Dash neared. He laughed and shook his head, then brought the rest of the food over to Gage.
“I know shifting burns a lot of calories and leaves hellhounds crazy hungry,” Dash said as he handed plates to Gage one at a time because the whole tray wouldn’t fit through the food slot in the bars.
The way Gage eyed the food on the tray, I didn’t doubt that was true. He dug in right away, eating the muffin in two bites before starting in on the omelets. Drea passed the clothes to Gage and then walked over to me.
“Girl, you look awful. Are you all right?” Her gaze stuck on my hair. I brought a hand up self-consciously and patted my head, grimacing when I felt a couple of particularly large knots.
“I’m fine,” I said through gritted teeth, shooting a side-eyed look toward Gage that I hoped conveyed to Drea to play it cool.
Picking up my meaning, she winced and then watched as I scarfed down the bacon.
“We’ll just toss what you’re wearing now,” she said, and then guilt swept over me when I remembered I’d borrowed the dress from her.
RIP cute mini-skirt dress. You were short and sexy, but no match for a hellhound.
“Sorry,” I said, but she just shrugged.
“So…” I turned toward Gage just as he pulled on a pair of boxer briefs. “Yikes. Warn a girl next time,” I said as I slapped a hand over my eyes. I mean, I got it, the boy wasfine. If I had that many muscles I might not be shy about my body either, but my poor little heart couldn’t handle the sight of naked Gage right now. It was liable to explode.
“Yeah.” Skye poofed in next to me, eyes wide as she watched Gage. “Warn a girl so next time she can catch the whole show.”
“Skye,” I yelped, and swatted at her. My hand ghosted through her shoulder, causing a chill to streak through me, but she didn’t take her eyes off my boyfriend. “Gage, cover yourself. Skye’s being pervy.”
I peeked through my hand when I heard Gage’s low chuckle. He’d already put on his pants and was sliding a t-shirt over his head. I was a bit disappointed Skye got more of the show than I had and shot her an annoyed look, which of course she ignored.
“Hey, Skye,” Drea said, and waved in the general direction of where Skye stood.
“Hey, girl,” Skye said back. “I’m loving the new do.”
“Skye says hey and she likes your hair,” I said on a sigh, hoping this wasn’t going to turn into another game of Telephone.
Drea smiled and ran a hand over her newly braided hair that ran to her mid-back. She’d said the upkeep was easier. They’d braided in lighter brown and purple extensions, and it did look awesome.
Skye clapped her hands together. “So, I hear the mission to find Tartarus is on hold while we find your sister. Where do we start?”
