After a very short pause, Brone shakes his head briefly before looking at the glass.
“It’s the truth,” Briar defends, but not with much conviction.
“I actually believe you,” he admits. “Though I have to say it’s very…refreshing not to be bombarded with truths and lies.”
“Tell him to leave. Now.” I stand up, ready to walk right through the glass to get Briar away from him if need be.
“She’s perfectly safe,” Syrinx argues as Briar balls her hands into tiny little fists and scoots back in her seat to create nonexistent distance between her and the other male.
“She will always be safe, but he is not,” I warn. A second later, Brone stands up without another word. Briar watches him with open suspicion until he passes by her chair and exits the room.
“You don’t think it’s too much of a coincidence that a void shows up here, and only days later, a dead body is found, drained of their essence, in the same manner we know voids kill?”
“She didn’t show up here, you forced her to come to Ivy, but if you’re so concerned, we can leave now,” I offer.
“I’m not concerned she’s a killer, Ziv. I just need to know I can use her. Sociopaths need direction, an outlet. I can’t have her wandering around, draining my best novices.”
“She didn’t do it.”
Syrinx gives me a superficial smile. “Be careful, Ziv. Mate or not, your kind of power would be hard to resist.”
I don’t miss the way she said “mate,” as if she doesn’t believe Briar is mine, but the rest of her counsel is easy to ignore. I trust Briar.
I go to leave the room and collect my mate, but before I can, Syrinx says, “I want her with the other instructors tomorrow, just like the rest of the novices.”
I’m tempted to argue on principle, since I don’t like her thinking she can dictate anything I do, but I don’t. I know these games are one of the few things the gods take seriously, and I have more enemies among them than allies. There are a few who would sooner sever the bond between Briar and me than see me happy. What I don’t know is if Syrinx knows they wield that kind of power, or if she would be willing to call for it.
I settle on conceding. “She’ll be there.” And so will we. Kage will be her shadow.
BRIAR
When the door opens again, Ziv shoulders in as if he thoughtthe door was going to offer some resistance. I rise, feeling more relief than I have any right to at seeing his face. “Is that all?” I sound too hopeful and worried at the same time.
“Yes.” He motions for me to come closer to him. I resist the urge to face-plant into his chest, but it’s a challenge. When we reach the stairs that will bring us out of the underground, I let out a sigh. Coming down wasn’t so bad, but that isn’t going to be the case on the trip up.
A soft nudge against my lower back gets me moving. By the third flight, I’m winded and panting like a dog. My steps have slowed considerably, but I’m still moving…that is until Ziv wraps his arms around my waist and lifts me. I let out a little yelp when he sets me on his shoulder with his arm bound over my thighs to keep me in place.
“No stamina,” he mumbles dejectedly. I can’t argue with him, so I keep my mouth shut while he eats up at least two steps at a time until we reach the top of the winding stone steps in what feels like seconds.
A female who happens to be walking by does a double take when she sees me perched on his shoulder. I wiggle to get down, but he doesn’t release my legs, so I end up rubbing my ass on his chest. “I can walk,” I rasp out, keeping my voice low so I don’t draw more attention than we already are.
Ziv makes that grumbling sound in his chest and lets me slip down his body, grabbing me again right before my feet hit the floor. His lips are dangerously close to my ear when he says, “I know you can walk, little flower, but holding onto you is the only thing stopping me from bringing the walls down.”
I try to look over my shoulder to see his face, but he stops me mid-movement with a heavy exhale that warms much more than my neck. Such sinister words shouldn’t be so sweet, but they are to me. The one thing I have craved my entire life, other than freedom from my father, is power, and Ziv exudes it with everybreath. It must be part of the reason I can’t stop thinking about him. He could keep me safe from everyone, but am I safe with him?
He bends at the waist, placing my boots on the ground. His hand slides up my thigh, crossing over my mons, until he settles his palm, his fingers stretched wide, over my lower stomach. I try to ignore the feel of him behind me as he tucks me close to his much larger body, but it’s impossible. Every moment I spend with him, he pulls me deeper into his web.
“I need to feed you.” He flexes his fingers as if he’s struggling to remove his hand just as much as I’m warring with my mind and body.
“Okay,” I agree, but I stay rooted to the spot. We must look strange to the few people who have wandered past, but other than the first woman who did the double take, no one acknowledges us, like they are pretending not to see us, which is fine with me.
“I’m going to need you to move away from me,” he admits a second later.
The moment his words register, I almost jump forward. “Sorry,” I mutter, blushing.
“Don’t be sorry for not doing what I didn’t have the strength to do myself.”
I dart my eyes over to him, seeing the hard set of his jaw as he keeps pace beside me. “You easily have to be the strongest person here. You have the power to do anything.”
