Page 58 of Cast in Shadow
“Where else would I be, Sai?” His deep voice sent a rush of relief through me, even if it was threaded with ice.
I didn’t look up. I couldn’t. Instead, I sank back on my heels and rested my head on my forearms. A swarm of emotional responses were battling it out inside me, and I wouldn’t be able to find my words until I figured out which one was taking the reins.
It didn’t help that the silence in the wake of what just happened was deafening. Truly. There was no wildlife chirping or chittering in the trees.
After a few more heavy breaths, I pulled myself up, dusting the dirt from my knees as I straightened. Anger tingled along my neck and scalp, and I let it bleed through me.
Looks like fury will be running this show.
“Are you going to run off and tell your brothers?” I asked through gritted teeth.
The Brethren would never let me live knowing the level of power I possessed. Sending one of them back through the veil wouldn’t exactly be child’s play, but I could do it, assuming Icould keep my hands on one of them long enough. Proximity was still important.
Emerson just stared at me, studying me like a deadly new insect he’d only just discovered.
That twinge of anger worked its way down my spine. I rolled my shoulders, not to shake it off, but to settle into it. “I assume by your silence that we’re done here?”
Still no response.
I stalked forward and yanked the driver’s door open, but then I just stood there. It didn’t matter that the damned thing might not even start after an energy pulse like that. It didn’t matter that my brain was screaming at me to leave while I still could.
Instead of getting in and leaving him in that parking lot, I turned to face him. “You have always had the power to crush me. A flick of your hand, a single stray thought, and I would be dead. Do you have any idea how it feels to know the person who holds your heart can destroy you on a whim?”
His fierce expression faltered. Not much, but enough.
“I’m not the same woman I was, but I’m still me,” I said quietly. “All I did was level the playing field a bit.”
With that, I turned and climbed in the Jeep.
It took more effort than it should have to drag the door closed. Fatigue didn’t even begin to describe the sluggish weight of my limbs or the unbearable drag of my thoughts. I pushed the ignition button, expecting the worst, but the engine purred to life.
I stared out at the trees, kicking myself for the way the morning had gone. I’d accomplished nothing meeting with Emerson, other than showing him things I really didn’t want him seeing. And I’d put myself at risk, which meant going back to Lexa now was even more dangerous. Even if the Brethren hadn’t known where we were headquartered yet, they wouldthrow everything they had at unearthing the location once Emerson told them what happened between us.
Why couldn’t I just let him go? Why did I have to give him the opening to reach out to me?
Closing my eyes, I drew in an unsteady breath and held it for a beat, searching for some sense of calm. A knock on my window snatched away any hope of that.
It took me an unreasonably long time to choose between dealing with Emerson and kicking the Jeep into gear and taking off, but when I lowered the window, he was still there.
His blue eyes glittered in the morning light. “I have no intention of telling anyone anything. Yet.”
I searched his gaze. “Even though I’m clearly a threat?”
“Are you?”
“I’m a hell of a lot more powerful than I was when Theloneus ordered you to bring me in or take me out.”
He tipped his head. “Do you intend to use your power against me? Or the others?”
“On Phineas? You bet your ass.”
The corners of his lips twitched. “Fair enough. What about the rest of us?”
I sank back in my seat. “I have no immediate plans.”
It might not seem like it, but I would be the first to admit that the world needed the Brethren, even if most people had no clue they existed. They kept the lesser demons in order and destroyed or exiled those who failed to follow the rules. Not quite jailers, more like peacekeepers.
Demonic, deadly, immortal peacekeepers.
