Page 81 of Seducing Jenny
I nodded, feeling sick. “If I had told you that I was the one…” My throat constricted. “I couldn’t take it, if you had been truly afraid of me, Discord.”
She exhaled a breath, a huff full of old pain. “Mal, I was never afraidofyou, not even when you attacked Bandy. I was afraidforyou.”
I blinked at her. “What? Why?”
“I was scared Justice was training you to be just like him.”
It was a valid concern, especially at the time. Had things gone differently, I could have ended up just like him. I gulped, trying to swallow my regret and self-hatred down. “I’m not him. I’ll never be him.”
“I know that now.” She hesitated before daring to ask, “So you’re the one who executed the conduits?”
I couldn’t lie. “Yes.”
“Have you told anyone else? Besides Longshot, I mean,” she said pointedly.
I shook my head. “He only knew because he was the one who fitted me with the executioner’s suit, as a part of his royal court duties. It was too big for me, and he had to clip the legs shorter for my height. There hadn’t been enough time to get another one made before it was my turn with the axe. Don’t feel like you were intentionally left out of knowing this. And no, I haven’t told anyone else.”
“Not even your conduit girlfriend?” Surge asked in a surprisingly teasing tone. “Or her conduit queen sister?”
“No.” I rubbed a hand at the tense muscles lining the back of my neck. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”
“Maybe that’s one of those secrets people in loveshouldn’tshare until the time is right,” he said, sharing his wisdom with a mock twinkle in his eyes. “Save it for anniversaries or other special occasions.”
I frowned at Surge. “Are you giving me terrible advice because I didn’t tell you about all of this?”
He grinned, looking smug as hell. “Maybe.”
“Well, I’m sorry about that.”
“You saved my life today. We’ll call it even.”
Longshot chimed in, his tone dry as a bone. “Since the staff will not be cleaning this up, I believe the three of us have work to do.”
Surge began to sit up and groused, “Fourof us, I can help—”
Longshot poked the freshly healed skin on his neck, and Surge growled at him, before lying back down.
Longshot tersely ordered, “You will lie there and recover, Surge Footwick.”
Surge gave him a mock glare, but otherwise rested his case. The three of us cleaned for an hour, before Surge’s lab looked…well, not exactly clean. The room had never been what I would consider pristine. But it looked like his workshop once again—organized chaos, with no blood or viscera.
Longshot surveyed the state of the room. “I believe our work here is done.”
Surge’s tired smile was genuine. “Thank you. All of you. For everything.”
Discord gave his hand a squeeze. “You owe me a trip to the Yemerian spa, you greedy fuck.”
He laughed too hard and clutched at his throat, making all of us freeze. But after a tense beat, he waved us off.
“I’m fine, just tender,” he assured us. “And Discord, I will take you wherever you want to go, even if it’s all the way on Yemeria.”
“Good. I will hold you to it.” She yawned, exhibiting the exhaustion we were all experiencing. “I need the longest shower, followed by an even longer sleep. Goodnight, everyone.”
Longshot said his farewells shortly after her, and as he walked out of the lab, he checked his gauntlet driver. “Hells.”
“What’s wrong?” Surge asked.
“Back to the palace for yet another fucking meeting,” he grumbled. “Mal, I know Justice needs a lot of handholding for his comfort, but when things have settled and the new council is in place, he will calm down, right?”
