He was the embodiment of perfection.In more ways than one.Everything he did was well thought out.Every move calculated for maximum impact.He always seemed ten steps ahead of everyone else.
“Don’t the forty-three consider me strange all the time?”Gus threw back at him, knowing if she stayed silent much longer, he would get suspicious.
Ryan’s gaze grew intent.“Not like this.This is new.”
Like he would know.Like any of them would.
She was their outcast.An outsider every bit as much as Kira and Jin.They didn’t know her.Most of them had never even tried.
“What are you hiding from me, Pityrodia Augustensis?”
“Nothing,” Gus protested.
She almost winced at the defensive tone of her voice.If he hadn’t been suspicious before, he would be now.
Sure enough, Ryan stalked forward, somehow managing to expertly avoid the unstable areas.As if he’d done this before.Not just once or twice but over and over again until he was an expert.
Gus didn’t like that thought.She didn’t like it at all.
Bad enough that he knew about the administrator’s office.The only thing worse was if he visited frequently enough to be aware of its dangers.
“You’re lying to me, Pityrodia,” Ryan exclaimed with an air of discovery.
He didn’t sound angry.Rather, surprised.
And maybe a little intrigued.
“You’re paranoid,” Gus said with a calm that would have been a harbinger of what was to come.
If he’d actually known her, that is.
Her expression smoothed out.Her anxiety and fear were pushed to the background as she made furtive movements under the cover of her cloak, careful not to stir its fabric as she brushed one finger over the third knuckle of her left hand.
Then she waited.
For him to come closer.For her chance to present itself.
She’d only get one.
If she failed, Ryan would kill her.He might do that anyway.
Predictably, Ryan closed the distance between them, wrapping his fingers around her throat.Not hurting, but holding her securely.
“My dear, Pityrodia, you’re not as inscrutable as you like to think,” Ryan purred, his breath brushing the sensitive skin of her neck, sending a shiver through her.“I gave you a chance to come clean, but you didn’t take it.Now, we’ll have to do things the hard way.Tell me—why is Belladonna making unauthorized moves?”
“So, you know.”
A cool sensation crept over Gus’s skin, originating from the place on her neck where his fingers were touching.
It didn’t hurt.Not yet.But it would.
Soon.
Ryan caught her hand when she went to grasp his wrist.“Ah, ah, we’ll have none of that.I’m familiar with your tricks, Gus.”
“Not all of them.”
Ryan’s forehead crinkled as a whisper of confusion stole across his features before it was replaced by understanding.
