The guard took a threatening step forward. “Lady, seriously. I can't make exceptions.”
She offered a false smile that made my spine prickle. “I’m only curious. We all know how rare these creatures are.” She trailed off when she lifted the cloth halfway. I couldn’t see what was inside, but the widening of Delilah’s eyes and the hard set of her mouth made me stand abruptly.
“What have you done to their wings?” she intoned hollowly.
“I saidhands off!” The guard aimed his gun at her in a final, stark warning, while the other man started to close in from the opposite side.
Delilah’s lips pulled back in a snarl. But could even someone of her prowess be faster than a bullet barreling towards her head?
A dark shiver of magic crackled through the air–but it wasn't the trademark singed rose petal scent I'd come to associate with her spellwork. This magic tasted bitter, like a bad dream.
The nearest guard abruptly turned his gun on the other, his face impassive.
“What the fuck?” the other snapped, staggering back and taking aim at his comrade.
Rather than shoot, the possessed guard knocked him out with an uncannily swift blow to the head with his weapon. Then he dropped the gun and calmly walked away until he was inches from the wall. He leaned his head back and threw it forward, smashing his face against the wallpaper once, twice—three times. The crunch of his nose made me whimper.
He sank to the ground, as unconscious as the other.
“Holy fuck,” Cliff muttered. I flinched at the nearness of his voice, realizing he had brought me closer protectively during the unsettling turn of events.
Overhead, Ben flickered into view, pale and shaking. His eyes found me first, his expression twisting with shame when I could only gape at him in wordless disbelief.
“I-I’m sorry,” he murmured, dropping his head and kneading his temples.
Compulsion is maddening, he had told me. His pained expression made my stomach drop—he had felt every impact of the guard he had possessed. He breathed heavily, looking like he might drop out of the air. Without a second thought, I bolted from Cliff’s hands and approached Ben, ignoring his attempts to shy away from me. I took his arm and supported him into a safe landing on the table.
“Benny!” Delilah’s voice was choked. She was upon him at once, gentle fingertips touching his arms and tilting his chin up to check his exhausted features.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she murmured. “Your glamour… If it’s depleted, you won’t be able to hide now.”
“They were going to hurt you,” he said weakly.
“I can handle being hurt. Lee would never forgive me if you went into another coma.”
Ben managed a smirk. “Oh, please. He has no backbone when it comes to you.”
“Well, I wouldn’t forgivemyself, so enough with the heroics.”
Ben’s smile widened into something crooked, almostdrunk,as he chuckled. “You do like me.”
“Of course I do, you idiot.”
“You never said it before,” Ben said. “Not out loud. Even after all this time.”
The exhaustion was untethering long-held inhibitions in him; I’d been in his place many times myself when stretching my magic to its very limit. But Delilah merely sighed—a fond, exasperated noise. Her long lashes fluttered as she scanned him once more, as though to confirm Ben would stay conscious.
“Didn’t think I needed to,” she said.
Stepping around the two of us clustered near Ben, Cliff hurriedly scooped up the fallen gun and checked the chamber. Satisfied, he kept a firm hold on it, glancing between the door and the tank.
A seed of satisfaction rooted in me at the sight of Cliff armed once again. For all the monstrous creatures housed in this building right now, I was fairly certain nothing was more deadly than Cliff Everett with a gun in his hand.
“Eros will be here any second,” Cliff muttered. “Doubt a guy like this travels alone. We need to get them out of here while we still have a clear path to the security room.”
He removed the cloth, revealing a pair of fairies who had sequestered themselves as best they could in the corner of the tank.
One stood in front of the other like a shield, making only himself visible. He was perhaps thirty summers old, olive-skinned with nape-length raven hair. He glared at everyone in turn with unsettling rigidity, waiting for someone to make a move.
