Page 64 of Seducing Jenny
“Don’t do it for us. Do it for yourself.”
He grew quiet, seemingly contemplating that, and it wasn’t much longer before we broke atmo on Orhon and arrived at his estate. Reverse navigating the ship through his underground tunnel system was easy enough, but I had questions.
“Why did you build this hidden hangar? What did you think you would be fleeing?”
He exhaled a sigh. “When you grow up the way I did, there are things you just know. Trust breaks easily. No one is everas kind or generous as they pretend to be and everyone has an ulterior motive, especially in Justice’s world. When I had the estate built, I made sure I had an escape route ready, just in case.”
“When you met Justice, did you trust him?” I asked curiously.
“I was so young at the time and had been through so much, so I wanted to trust him.” He scrubbed a hand along his jaw, seemingly thinking back. “He was this great and powerful man who wanted to take care of me for reasons I didn’t understand. Part of me still doesn’t. He brought me to the palace, gave me all the best tutors and treated me like, well, royalty. After he brought me there, I had a relatively charmed life—”
“Didn’t he have you tortured when you first got there?” I asked skeptically. “To make sure you weren’t a spy?”
“Well, yes, butafterthat—”
“Mal.” I caught his gaze and held it. “You don’t need to brush over that. What happened to you was a fucking nightmare. You can talk to me, if you want.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. It happened. What is there to say?” He gave a slight shrug of his shoulders, clearly dismissing the issue.
My heart ached for everything that had happened to him as a boy. “It’s okay to admit you were scared or hurt or abused. I’m not here to judge you.”
His throat worked around a hard swallow. “No point,” he muttered, then said, “We’re home.” Another dismissal.
“Mal—”
“Tiger. Don’t.” His voice was barely a whisper, like asking me to stop was also painful for him.
I nodded, not wanting to make him feel worse. After I parkedCheesecakein the hangar, Mal left to get Jade while I shut everything down. Jade was groggy and quiet as the three of usleft and hiked from the wooded acreage in his backyard toward the house.
It was late, so we didn’t expect anyone to be awake. I thought we would all just head straight to bed. Until we heard music inside the mansion.
We followed it until we found Surge, Discord, and Sam having a dance party. As we stood in the doorway of the ballroom, we kept glancing at one another, wondering whether they would notice us.
But Jade perked up and finally said, “Screw it, I’m going in,” and joined them.
It was then that the other three realized we’d returned.
Sam squealed in excitement. “Oh my god! You’re back!”
Surge eyed me happily. “Hello, Escaped Prisoner,” he teased.
Discord frowned at us. “You kept us waiting long enough. And who isthat?” She stared at Jade as she grabbed Sam’s hands and began dancing with her as though they were the best of friends.
“That’s Jade/Jenny, in Ladrian form,” I explained as Surge and Discord joined us at the doorway.
Mal glanced around. “Is Longshot in bed?”
Surge shook his head. “At the palace. Some big meeting.”
Discord glanced at the pair dancing, then back at us. “We have kept Sam from knowing too much, rest assured.”
Mal gave her a wry smile. “And yet, you’re having dances with her?”
She looked down her nose at him. “As you should well know, the latest steps could come in handy for the girl, Malice.”
Mal’s eyes glimmered playfully. “It’s okay to admit you’re having fun, Discord.”
Her mouth twitched. “I wasn’t having fun. I was positively beside myself with worry, since I’d not heard from anyone regarding your situation.”
