Page 49 of Lamb

“You look like you want to tie me up again.” Ash’s voice cut through my thoughts.

I looked back at her, a scowl sharp in her eyes, the slight fog clouding her irises. Small flecks of pale green would catch the light, but the scarring over her lenses made me wonder what true eye color was hidden beneath. Would it be darker than what I saw? Lighter? More of a moss green or a jade? Perhaps something else entirely.

“I won’t,” I said, shaking my head. “Not while we’re awake, anyway.”

Her brows jumped halfway up her forehead. “Oh, how gracious of you, kind sir.”

“You’re welcome,” I copped back, earning a sharp huff.

I loved the attitude on her. It brought forward all the emotions that had been simmering beneath the cold and distant surface. The first impression of the prickly, stone-clad woman I’d met was crumbling, and beneath was a person. I wondered where I had to poke and push for a little more rock to fall to reveal the new Ash beneath.

“In that case, I am just going to grab my shit and hit the road.” Ash smirked, jerking a thumb over her shoulder as she began to back out of the doorway and into the main living room.

I watched her retreat, only stepping into the vacated doorway. When I didn’t follow, her steps faltered, pausing in the kitchen, giving me a weary look. “Are you not going to stop me?”

I shook my head. “I won’t do that anymore.”

Ash frowned, her brows knitting together, chin pressing into her lips. “Why?” Her eyes searched my body, as if looking for a broken leg or if my head had disappeared entirely.

“I won’t stop you if you wish to leave.” I shrugged. “But”—I saw her ears perk up and her body straighten, anticipation burning through her eyes—“if you run, I will chase you. I will track you down to the far edges of the earth. To the tallest mountains or the deepest caves. You can run and run as much as want. I won’t grow tired.”

Ash’s jaw hit the floor. She stared wide-eyed, brows raised. I knew my face was a picture of calm and casual, but my words were deadly serious.

It took a moment or two before function started to return to her, her head shaking as if trying to physically slip the words loose from her mind. “You know what?” Ash grunted, throwing her hands up in the air in surrender. “Forget I said anything.”

She turned on her heels, stomping off to the stairs, and I heard the patter of her feet all the way up to the bedroom before silence filled the house.

I think she got my point.

Club music pounded in my ears as I got to work putting the display bottles back in the correct places. Dust gathered on the surfaces during the short time I’d been away, and I worked diligently to get them back to sparkling.

“Just get the prospects to do it,” Anna grumbled from next to me. She sat on the other side of the bar, holding a newborn infant, cradling it close to her chest as she scribbled away at some paperwork sprawled out over the bar. “They could do with some discipline. Things have been a little lax lately, and all they do is eat, shit, fuck, and repeat.”

I looked down at the comatose newborn then back up at her. “The prospects have been getting on your nerves?” I ventured, curious as to what had made our queen so upset.

“All of you have been getting on my nerves,” Anna grunted, shifting the child in her lap, frustration growing evident in her features. Her baby blue eyes were sharp as she glanced around the empty room. “People popping out babies left, right, and center. I’ve had work shoved down my throat since my maternity ended, and now I have a VP who’s as present as a fucking ghost.”

I ignored the last bit.

“So, who does that belong to?” I said, pointing my finger at the wriggling, thumb-shaped being in her arms.

“I don’t even know anymore.” Anna sighed, throwing her pen onto the bar, and dropped her head into her free hand. A painedgroan dragged from her lips as she buried her head harder into her palm.

I was about to go back to my work, done with the conversation, when her head jumped back up, her free hand striking out, a sharp, red fingernail aimed at the dead center of my chest. “Don’t ignore me,” Anna snapped, eyes too clear and focused on my own. “Where the hell have you been? Why haven’t I seen you recently? You pretty much only turn up for church, and that’s it. Got a new girl or something? Need me to run a background check? Actually, I don’t care if you want me to; I’m going to, anyway.”

“That’s”—I paused, not sure where to start—“a lot to unpack there. You good?”

“I’m not,” Anna seethed, flames flickering out of her ears. “But I’m not addressing that right now. You.Youneed to give me answers.”

The baby stayed snug asleep in her grasp, probably enjoying the warmth of the flames raging inside. I, however, did not feel like entertaining her attitude and was no doubt about to seal my own execution.

“I do not and will not,” I said with calm certainty. “Your attitude and fire may intimidate everyone else, but it won’t work on me. What I do isnot yourbusiness, your highness.”

Earning what felt like the wrath of a titan, a searing heat flaring across my face, I took a deliberate step backward. The bar between us was no shelter, but at the least, I had to thank the baby anchored in her arms for holding her back; otherwise, she’d no doubt leap for my throat and rip it clean off without even a splinter of remorse.

I put down the dusting rag, folding it thrice before tucking it next to the others, and walked myself out from around the bar and into the clubroom. Anna’s eyes did not leave mine, and her gaze tattooed into my skin, branding me with a markannouncing my inevitable demise. The next time Anna saw me would be the last I would see in the world; she’d do her best to make sure of it.

I wasn’t afraid. I knew she was capable, but we were a fair match.

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