Page 112 of Captive Souls

But my soul grieved through the impossible to ignore energy as he was saying goodbye.

“You’re going to be safe here,” he continued, never taking his eyes from mine.

My own eyes shifted behind him, to where Elizabeth was moving around in the kitchen, engrossed in her task. To where Lukyan was making no effort in hiding that he was watching us with a stare that could not be described asfriendly.

Prior to this entire situation, that stare would’ve almost made me pee my pants, avert my eyes and run away. But now, I met the gaze levelly, without fear, communicating that I had tamed my own predator and wasn’t scared of other housebroken ones. His wife was bakingcookiesfor fucks’ sake.

After a beat, Lukyan seemed to sense I wouldn’t scare like the general public did. The side of his mouth lifted, he nodded subtly to me, then he turned to his wife, pulling her into an embrace.

My attention went back to Knox, who had been watching me the entire time.

“There’s only one place I’m safe,” I told him. “And that’s with you.”

His gaze didn’t waver, didn’t so much as twitch, but his grip on my neck tightened.

“That’s the one place you’ll never be safe, Piper,” he rasped, all intense and foreboding.

I huffed in his face, rolling my eyes. “We’re going to agree to disagree on that. I’ve made my choice. It’s you.” I was determined to show him how serious I was.

He was still entrenched in the worry that he was going to taint me, ruin me. Not enough to let me go, thank God. He wasn’t that honorable.

I saw his jaw flex at my response. “In order for you to be safe, I need to take care of this.”

He didn’t elaborate as to what ‘this’ was. He didn’t need to.

“Stone… You’re going to kill him.” Why I repeated something I already knew, I wasn’t sure. I ached for him to explain to me what that entailed. Why I was being left there. How he could do it all alone.

“I’m going to take care of it,” he replied. I didn’t know if he wasn’t saying it outright because of Lukyan’s proximity or if he was trying to spare me from something.

“You can’t go alone,” I told him, worry suddenly clutching my neck harder than he ever could.

In my head, Knox was impenetrable. There was no way anything or anyone could hurt him.

But that was in my head. He was human, he’d shown me that much. He bled. Now that scared me. Knowing that he could be taken from me.

That simply wasn’t an option. I couldn’t be without him.

“You worried about me?” he asked, a very slight teasing in his tone. No one would’ve caught it but me.

“Obviously, I’m worried about you,” I snapped, mindful of Elizabeth and Lukyan within earshot. “I love you.”

Knox jerked as if I’d hit him.

I hadn’t previously said that out loud, I realized. I’d figured Knox was attuned to me, to every one of my small tells. I’d said it in not so many words a thousand times.

But maybe he truly didn’t believe it. Truly didn’t believe himself worthy of love.

Regardless of the audience, I moved my hands up to cup his face, clutching it as hard as I could, wishing I could fuse myself to him. Wishing I could will my need for him to live into his skin.

“I love you,” I repeated, going up on my tiptoes to brush my mouth against his. “And I am telling you that you will hurt me more than you could ever imagine, you wouldruinme, by dying. Or getting maimed. But I’ll deal with a maiming if your heart is beating.” I moved one of my hands to his chest, letting the thump lull me into some sense of peace.

I’d expected Knox to stiffen at this display of affection, especially in front of this man who I knew he considered an enemy.

But he didn’t. He completely melted into my touch.

He didn’t return the words.

He hugged me instead. A hug from Knox, in front of witnesses, no less, felt like the most precious gift in the world.

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