CHAPTER THIRTY #4
Collin held my glass, his jaw tight, face inches from mine. “I’d like a word.”
“And I would like a drink,” I stated, diving far past speaking plainly, landing in dangerous territory.
“Come with me,” Collin bit out, passing off our glasses as he steered me toward a wall, practically pushing me from the room.
Two men in dark gray opened a set of doors.
A shock ripped up my left arm, my MIND having a strange reaction to something unseen, as we crossed the threshold into a comfortable sitting room.
I didn’t even take in the room before the doors clicked behind us, and Collin was towering over me.
“What was the one favor I asked of you?”
“Not to fight you.”
“And yet you are fighting with me. Nora had one job,” Collin growled.
I stepped toward him. “So I’m a job?”
“When you refuse to be sensible. When you refuse to think about the consequences of your actions. Yes—you are a job, Emeline,” Collin fumed. “I am an Illum. They are all watching—”
“Exactly, they are all watching while you do whatever that was on the dance floor.”
“You’re my Mate. It isn’t uncommon for Mates to occasionally show affection. Would you rather I let everyone see the power you let Vincent have over you? Would you rather I let all of the Elite see you like that, paint you as the weak Minor?” Frustration laced every word.
“I would rather not be here at all.” The words flew from my lips. “I would rather be on the surface.”
“You cannot have that now,” Collin said, his voice falling flat.
I whirled on him, everything from the night ripping through me. “Because you took it from me. I am now stuck in your damn clouds surrounded by my birth family while Elite men discuss me as if I were your property. You just stood there.”
“What would you have me do instead?” Collin whispered angrily, stepping to me—power and viciousness spilling from him.
“Would you have me throw them in blue? Eliminate them completely because they disrespect you? No, not that, you didn’t like when I had to eliminate someone.
Would you have me upend everything that is proper? ”
“I don’t need any more blood on my hands because of you.” My vicious tone matched his.
Collin’s breaths sawed out of him, his polish corroding. “What do you want from me, Emeline?”
My mother’s confession collided with that stupid dream of what I thought I’d find up here. My unending loneliness engulfed me and, in my petulance, I admitted too much. “To be cared for. To be saved.”
My hand flew to my mouth.
Collin stepped away from me as if I had shoved him. His crystalline eyes shattered and his composure slipped for a breath before he rolled his shoulders. The youngest Illum formed before my eyes.
“I am your Mate. Not a savior,” Collin said, his tone flat.
The doors opened, and Phillip entered the room.
“Tabitha has requested you. There’s an issue.”
Collin glanced at him. “How long?”
“Not long at all,” Phillip said, completely ignoring me.
“Lead the way,” Collin said. He didn’t look my way as he told me, “I’ll find you for the last dance. You can stay here. No one will come in.”
The doors clicked closed. My heart filled the empty space, frantically berating me. Maybe I was befuddled. When had talking plainly morphed into stupidity? Why was I determined to destroy myself in his presence? I hid my face in my hands, attempting to pull myself together.
“Tell me, does he always talk to you like that?”
I whirled to see the last person I expected entering through one of their concealed doors. A tall man dressed in dark gray, with a dimpled half smile and starburst eyes that crinkled at the corners.
Hal.
My heart exploded in my chest, and I blurted, “What are you doing here?”
“Working. Seeing you is an added bonus.” Hal smirked.
“What do you mean working? You shouldn’t be here,” I exclaimed.
“Just pushing the boundaries, testing how complacent the Illum are in their clouds,” Hal told me, leaning against the wall. His eyes raked over me—a hunger there.
“Collin could come back at any minute.”
“He won’t. Turns out they aren’t that complacent here. The Illum are having a rough night.”
“What did you do?” I asked breathlessly.
“Sent the Illum on a chase. How’s your night been?” Hal asked, crossing his arms like we were in my office rather than at a ball with hundreds of Elite on the other side of the door.
“Someone could see you or track you,” I said as fear ripped through me.
“Once you put on gray, no one really sees you. Plus, I don’t exist, remember?” Hal held up his wrist to flash his jagged scar.
“Someone could still see you. Gray won’t protect you.”
“You didn’t notice me when you danced with your Mate,” Hal informed me. “You dance incredibly well.”
“Thank you, but—”
“Your Mate seemed to enjoy it,” Hal said too quietly.
My breath quickened at his tone. “Are you jealous?”
“Of an Illum? Never.”
His head whipped toward the door as the soft clicking of heels headed our way. He extended his hand toward me.
“I heard you’re looking for a savior.”
I looked toward the doors as the heels stopped and the clink of the handles sounded.
I wanted to be far away—from my obligations, the judgment, my thoughts. The way Vincent’s words pierced my soul. My mother’s presence but lack of words. The way my mind and body waged a war over Collin.
Maybe it was seeing what Nora and Gregory shared, the envy it filled me with.
Maybe I didn’t care about my life.
Or maybe I wanted the simplicity of that dream and the way Hal was looking at me like he saw me. Maybe it was never an Elite who was meant to save me. Maybe it was someone in blue. Someone more dangerous.
“What’s it going to be, Moonlight?”
I placed my hand in his.
Hal smiled as the doors began to open. He pushed against the hidden door he had entered from, and I swore I heard my name. But we darted down a quiet hall and into a small closet.
As the door snapped closed, we were plunged into darkness.