Page 63 of Love Bites Extra Hard

“He would kill me—and that’s not a joke.”

I narrowed my eyes at her.

“You’re his mate,” she whispered. “I wanted him to tell you from the beginning, but he was afraid you wouldn’t give him a chance. You’re it for him. If I let you in there, he will literally kill me.”

My throat swelled.

My emotions were so thick and tangled, I wasn’t ready to pry them apart to find the bottom.

“Sylvester has never been like this before, has he?” I asked.

She shook her head, fear in her eyes.

She knew what I was going to say.

And she knew I was right.

“If we go in there, I can break him, and you can kill him. Someone else can lock us in, to make sure he doesn’t get out. Even if something goes wrong, your magic is too strong for him to get through it. I’ll be fine.”

The words felt wrong.

I didn’t want to break anyone.

But the alternative was letting him live, and I’d proven to myself long ago that I would rather watch someone die than let them hurt anyone else.

“He’s strong too, Avery. That’s what the cell is for.”

“I trust you,” I said, squeezing her hand.

It wasn’t true. Not entirely.

I didn’t trust her. I couldn’t. She’d kept the truth from me, even if she’d done so for her brother.

But I wasn’t going to tell her that.

Not when I needed her on my side. Hell, probably not ever. Somethings just didn’t need to be said.

She took in a steadying breath, and I saw it in her eyes before she admitted her decision. “Alright, fine. We go in together, with the door locked behind us. You seduce him. When he shifts, I kill him. It’ll be easy.”

“Easy,” I agreed, looking down at my outfit.

Shit.

Talon’s hoodie was definitely the wrong choice, and I wasn’t wearing anything but panties beneath it.

“I’m going to need to borrow your bra. I’ll have to try to make him think he’s dreaming.”

She nodded, and after some maneuvering, pulled it out through the sleeve of her tank top. She blocked the hallway behind me while I pulled Talon’s hoodie off, shivering violently as cold air hit my almost-bare body.

A pair of panties was far from enough to keep me warm.

And Stella’s bra wasn’t going to help.

I put it on anyway. It didn’t fit perfectly, but it was good enough for the purpose we were trying to achieve.

“He’s going to kill me,” she murmured, shaking her head as she took me in. But she didn’t tell me to put anything else on, simply yelling over her shoulder for one of the guards.

The woman came jogging down the hall, eyeing me with concern.

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