I kept walking. Maybe it was childish, but I was hurt. Protecting Light Bringer was so much more important than my life. I knew that. However, it still stung. Phoenix had responsibilities too, and he’d still risked everything to save me.
None of my brothers tried to speak to me telepathically, which was smart. I felt them though. Felt their worry. Their anger too, because despite it not being my fault, they were still irritated that Phoenix was my fated mate.
Well, join the club. I was irritated too.
I headed down into the basement. It was mostly used for storage. So many years on this earth, and we’d acquired a lot of shit. But the basement served another purpose too.
A large cage stood in the center of the room. The walls were made of a special plexiglass, like a giant see-through cube instead of bars. The material had been reinforced by magic warding to make it unbreakable.
Strong enough to hold a blood-crazed beast with superhuman strength.
The existence of the cage was a somber reminder of Galen’s sin. It had been built specially for him. To contain him if he ever went full-blown Hulk on us and couldn’t be stopped. With Simon around now, it was less likely he’d ever reach that level of unstoppable madness again, but it was there. Just in case.
“Oh how the tables have turned,” Phoenix said, sitting against the wall of the cage. His words slurred a bit, an aftereffect of the sleep power. His normally smooth voice had a slight gruffness after first waking. I tried to ignore how much I liked it. “You were my prisoner. Now, I’m yours.”
“Touch,”Lust whispered.
“Relax,”I told my sin.“It’s only been two days since you’ve had him.”
“Want him again.”
“Deal with it.”
“I’d say your accommodations are much better than mine were.” I walked closer to the cage. He had a mat to sleep on and a blanket. “But I can always change that, so don’t test me.”
“It’s warded.” Phoenix touched the clear wall. “Clever.”
“You think I’d put you somewhere you could easily blink out of? Fat chance.”
“Blink.” He cracked a smile. “You’re cute, Bellamy.”
“Teleport is too much of a mouthful.” I returned his cocky little smirk. “I like to be selective with what I fill my mouth with.”
“Selective, my ass. You fuck anything that walks.”
Not since fate shoved you into my life, I wanted to say but held it back.
Two days since I’d been home and Lust hadn’t bothered me at all about hooking up with anyone. But one second with Phoenix and my sin had stirred inside me, begging to taste the demon.
Lust craved him unlike any other. As did I.
“Is that jealousy I hear?” I asked.
“Only as jealous as you were when you learned I’ve been fucking Asa.”
A low growl escaped me against my will.Touché.“Speaking of that dickwad, did he figure out you were the one to help me escape? Is that why you aren’t cozied up to him in bed right now?”
Silence.
“Why did you come to Echo Bay?” I asked, and when he still didn’t say a word, I banged once on the glass with my closed fist. “Answer me!”
More silence. Though, he averted his eyes this time.
“You’re not doing yourself any favors by refusing to talk,” I said, trying to put a lid on my mounting agitation. “Every male in this mansion wants your head on a silver platter. If you give us some valuable intel, maybe we’ll—”
“You’ll what? Let me walk out of here? Orblink.” Phoenix released a dry laugh. “You forget that Asa wants the location of this mansion. And guess what? Now that I’ve been here, I can pop in anytime I want. That’s how my ability works. Once I’ve been somewhere, I can find it again with a single thought. I couldn’t previously because you changed the coordinates with a magic spell. The human witch’s doing, I’m assuming, as well as the angel. But those protections won’t stop me now. So all the agony you went through to keep this place hidden would be for nothing.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Something burrowed in my chest. Not irritation, though I was plenty annoyed. Hope, maybe. “It’s almost like you don’twantto leave.”