Page 49 of The Devil's Weakness

“He’s… not happy. He and I nearly came to blows. I told him you’re mine. My responsibility, and I would make sure you know how this life works.”

I narrow my eyes at him again. I don’t like the idea of needing “training.” I feel like his pet all over again.

“He… said a few other things that I’m not going to repeat to you. More importantly, before we could finish our conversation, Iron woke up.”

“What?” I question in disbelief. “Wait, he’shere?”

Suddenly, I feel dizzy and very confused. I thought he was at the hospital this whole time, getting the care he needed. Why the hell isn’t he?

“He asked to see you. Is that something you think you’d be able to do?”

I get a choice?

“I don’t know if I can.” I get choked up.

“I get it. If it’s too much for you, then you don’t have to do it yet. It can wait.”

If I don’t do it now, does that prolong my stay? I’m relieved to hear he’s okay, but I’m scared to face him. I wanted to come back to Whispering Valley to make things right. This is my chance to do so.

“No. I told you I wanted to come back here and turn myself in. I wasn’t lying. I’ll see him now,” I agree.

I’ll bide my time with Blade until I can find a way out of his house and out of his life forever.

Taking me by the hand, he places a kiss on my injured palm before I get the chance to pull it away. He notices my irritation, but he doesn’t say anything. Nor does he force me to hold his hand. As he leads me up the stairs, I try telling myself I’m no longer a prisoner. It hasn’t sunk in yet.

Though, I’m still not free. Knowing Blade is going to hold me to my heat-of-the-moment, coerced agreement to be his makes me feel no different from when I was in the cell.

My stomach churns with anxiety the closer we get to the top. As we walk through the doorway into the house beyond, I see many people sitting around the table. When they notice me, all of their chatter stops. Forks fall onto plates, and the room grows dead silent. I shift my body behind Blade’s, making myself disappear. I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t getting confronted by a mob of people.

Our situation looks bad, really bad. Blade is shirtless; I’m wearing his clothing. There isn’t one person in this room that doesn’t know what went on between us. I go from terrified to embarrassed in fractions of a second.

Stupidly, I glance at the men sitting around the table as Blade leads me across the room. There are three who I haven’t seen before. The rest I remember from the bathroom incident earlier. None of them seem warm and welcoming. Not paying attention, the toe of my dirty shoe scuffs along the floor, and I nearly lose my footing. My eyes close as embarrassment paints my face red, but then I remember everything they think they know about me.

They think I’m an attempted murderer. They probably think I’m a whore, too.

I look down at myself, parading around in Blade’s t-shirt.

Adding klutz to the mix should be nothing.

Blade doesn’t stop walking as he glances behind him to see if I’m okay. When our eyes lock, I try like hell to put on a brave face, but it’s futile. I don’t care if Blade sees me cry—fuck, that’s pretty muchallhe’s seen me do—but I won’t letthemsee me do it.

We go through another door. This one is very thick, as though the room beyond is meant to be secure or soundproof. I look around at what appears to be an infirmary.

What in the world? Now I know what Hawk meant when he told Blade to bring me to the back earlier.

On the bed against the wall is the man that I hit with my car. The moment his eyes lock on mine, a wave of relief washes through me.

He’s alive.

I know Blade already told me such when we were downstairs, but I needed to see it with my own eyes. Blade pulls me to the bedside, and I go reluctantly. I don’t know this man, and if he has anything to do with Stone, I don’t trust him. When we get there, I watch as Iron and Blade’s eyes meet. A lot of unspoken words and understanding between the two of them occur. He places his hand over one of Iron’s, and I can feel the pain and tension that Blade has held inside, worrying about this man, leave him.

Not meaning to, my eyes meet Stone’s across the room. The hatred in his stare is like nothing I’ve ever felt before.

“Nice to meet you,” Iron says to me, taking me by surprise.

I can’t speak. My only communication is blinking while trying to swallow the ball of nerves stuck in my throat.

“I’m glad you agreed to see me. I wanted to thank you.”

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