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The charge inside Ryneth collapsed. The lightning didn't bounce off. It was absorbed and neutralized by the blond man’s very presence. Theo looked down at his chest with a flat expression. Then he reached for Aviel, who’d come running, and fainted in his arms.

Silence fell over the office. The only sound was the crackle of the fire and the heavy breathing of the men. The prisoner lay in a heap with his jumpsuit smoking. He still stared up with a dead, bloody grin.

Ryneth stared at his hands. He didn’t know what he was anymore.

Daven moved like a shadow when he wrapped an arm around Ryneth’s waist. Air encased Ryneth, making him feel like he could fly in a bubble.

Or perhaps that was the effect of the adrenaline wearing down and the opium in his system.

“So tired.”

“I know you are. Come on, now.” Daven held him upright as he headed for the door. “We’re leaving.” His grip tightened. “And you owe me answers.”

13

DAVEN

“Did you see that? Theo just…he was immune to the current,” Ryneth whispered as they sat in the hover car. He was completely out of it, his head lolling against Daven’s shoulder, thighs slack and spread. His erection pressed obscenely against the zipper of his school uniform.

Daven stared at it and licked his lips. “I did. Yet another mystery. But not the one I’m focusing on right now. Tell me, aethera. What did the prisoner mean?”

Ryneth made a small sound against his throat. Daven couldn’t tell if it was a laugh or a sob.

“If you won’t talk, you’ll be in trouble.”

A warm breath skimmed Daven’s skin. “Will you…spank me?”

Good Light, Ryneth was completely out of it. The question made Daven’s cock twitch. “Maybe, yes.”

“Will you suck me again like you did last night?”

Daven’s mouth curved. “Why? Did you love it that much?”

Ryneth looked up then, his silver eyes wide and blinking, white lashes fluttering. His face had gone pink. “I had my dick sucked once,” he mumbled. “We were sitting at the Ward, guarding it.”

“Okay…?” Daven brushed a hand through Ryneth’s blond hair, not sure where this was going.

“She told me it was her first time.” Ryneth seemed to smile at the memory, but had this faraway look in his eyes. “I didn’t dare say it was my first time too. I was so pent-up, so horny.”

“And then, baby? Did she suck you good?”

Ryneth blinked at him, then let out a breath that might have been a laugh. “Good Light, you’re so filthy. Yeah—I think she did. I mean, I don’t know. I had no reference. I came, if that’s what you were wondering. And then… right after I put my pants back on, there was commotion at the wall and then there was this sound, this popping sound, and she—” He stared outside the window. “She just fell over and hit the ground. That smile forever there. The arrow hit her right in the gut. She died in my arms. I didn’t even know her name.”

Daven watched his face change. Watched his irises glimmer as if the haze slipped.

“That was when I saw it for the first time, long before they started taking our people. The white spiral carved into the arrow. It was wet with her blood.”

“That’s awful.” Daven squeezed Ryneth’s shoulder, but it wasn’t enough. Nothing about this was enough. He wanted to drag Ryneth into his lap and hold him there until the shaking stopped, but wanting wasn’t the same as fixing it. He gave his shoulder another squeeze. “The prisoner’s last words. What did he mean?”

Ryneth stared out at the neon and obsidian streets of Zephyr through the reinforced glass. The longer he stayed quiet, the tighter Daven grew.

They were nearly back at his penthouse when Ryneth finally whispered, “I thought it wasn’t real.” He let out a breathy chuckle, then turned over his shoulder until their eyes met. “I’m so horny.”

Daven smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind Ryneth’s ear, trailing his ringed finger over the other man’s sharp jaw down to his lips until Ryneth shivered. “So am I. And I’m going to make you feel good… after you talk to me. You’ve been tense ever since class. Come on, aethera. Talk to me.”

Ryneth followed Daven’s finger with his lips again, slower this time. He caught it briefly between his teeth.

“Careful,” Daven murmured.