24
GAbrIEL
Present Day
Seven whistled low as he took in the Menagerie, but I wasn’t interested in a bunch of plants.
I only had eyes for one thing. We rounded a corner on the path and there she was.
Emersyn sat up against a tree toward the back of her enclosure.
She was naked, and her arms wrapped around her shins where her legs were drawn up against her chest. She turned her head and my heart lurched in my chest as those intense blue-grey eyes collided with mine.
I hadn’t been able to see her well out in the storm, but now I took my fill of her.
There was a beauty to the wildness about her—haunting, and cut from the same viciousness only nature could own.
The cell unlocked and Seven and I stepped inside. Emersyn watched us approach with a wary irritation in her eyes. I set the tray of food we’d brought down next to her and stepped back. She turned her head away with a sound of disgust.
Seven and I retreated back outside the bars and disappeared into the guardhouse.
It was a simple room that acted as a buffer between the atrium and the outside back gardens.
Inside was a kitchenette and a table with four folding chairs.
Seven poked around the space and eventually sat down in one of the chairs, but I couldn’t sit still.
I paced around the small structure—door to door, thinking of nothing but Emersyn.
An hour passed and in unspoken agreement, Seven and I walked back to the gate. She hadn’t touched the food and that was irritating. I unlocked the gate and walked inside where I nudged the tray with my foot.
“You need to eat.”
“I’m not eating that,” she muttered.
“Why not?”
Emersyn turned her head and looked up coldly. The calculation behind the disgust made a shiver race down my spine at the detachment there. She picked up the glass of water and while still staring, dumped it all over my boots.
I heard Seven choke behind me, probably on the laugh he was trying to hold back. She crunched the paper cup between her fist and let it drop back onto the tray in defiance. I slowly crouched down and her eyes sharpened, a flicker of something dark took over the blues.
“Wasting water,” I tsked. “I should make you lick it up.”
She leaned forward and pushed the tray forward slowly. “Do you think I’m stupid?” She asked, her words dripped with contempt. “I’m not going to willingly submit to round two.”
I heard Seven as he stepped closer. “Round two?”
There was a slight discoloring beside her eye and a cut on her swollen lower lip.
Without thinking, I grabbed her chin and tilted her head so I could see it more clearly.
I heard her breath catch and her hand whipped out to wrap around my wrist, but otherwise she stayed still. A nasty suspicion built.
“Round two of what?” I demanded.
My thumb barely brushed against the edge of her lip. Her lashes fluttered at the touch, although her face remained frigid with contempt. My pulse pounded in my veins as it rose at an alarming rate, both from her proximity and from the thought of someone laying their hands on her.
“Did someone drug your food?”
Confusion flashed in her eyes as she studied my face. She seemed caught off guard by my anger.
My grip tightened. “Answer me.”
Defiance solidified in her eyes and she leaned an inch closer. “Fuck. You.”
I abruptly stood and kicked the tray towards Seven. “Get rid of it.”
I turned back around and Emersyn had backed herself into a tree to put distance between us.
I stalked toward her and she scrambled to get to her feet.
I stopped right in front of her, inches away but not touching.
I was acutely aware of the fact that she was naked, and it took every ounce of will power not to commit every inch of her to memory.
But, I didn’t—I kept my eyes locked on hers.
“Did anyone touch you last night?”
Emersyn studied my face, the expression rapidly changed from defiantly standing her ground to somewhere between confusion and apprehension.
She was strung tight, caught between fight or flight.
I came another few inches closer until I towered over her.
I could practically feel her heart race across the inches that separated us.
“Did anyone touch you last night?” I growled, enunciating each word carefully until it sounded like a threat. She tried to look away, but I slammed my hand against the tree beside her head. She jumped but met my eyes again. “I need your fucking words.”
“Why?” She forced out between clenched teeth.
This time when my hand came up, she flinched. I thought I was going to explode with rage. Instead, I forced myself not to touch her like I did before. I only moved my hand inches from where I saw the bruising around her eye and then gestured to her lip.
“Because I want to know who I have to fucking beat the shit out of for doing that to you,” I said.
“I didn’t see who they were,” Emersyn mumbled.
I stepped away, no longer able to keep my anger contained. I swiped a gloved hand down my face and paced a few steps, careful not to spiral.
The gate clicked open and Seven was back. He had two water bottles in his hand and an energy bar. He put the two bottles on a rock next to Emersyn, then held out the bar and snapped the ends.
“It’s sealed,” he said, his voice tight as he held it out. “So are the bottles.”
Emersyn looked between me and Seven, but hunger won out and she reached for the bar. When she tried to take it, Seven kept a hold of it and made her look at him.
“Do not consume anything you don’t get from me, or him,” he ordered with a jerk of his head toward me. “Understand?”
She tried to yank the bar away, but Seven held firm. “I mean it.”
Her stare was intense, but Seven didn’t release the energy bar until she gave a curt nod.
Emersyn turned the bar over in her hands and inspected every inch of it.
Satisfied that what we said was the truth, she ripped into it and took a bite.
The look of surprised pleasure was all too brief and made my chest hurt.
“Good isn’t it?” Seven drawled. The mischievous sparkle was back in his eyes. “It’s my favorite flavor. Tastes like cookie dough.”
Emersyn acknowledged him with a look and quickly finished the bar in a few big bites. A bottle of water was next and after a similar inspection, she downed it with hardly a breath of air in between gulps. I heard footsteps on the path and turned to see Angel and Marcello at the gate.
“Looks like we get to keep each other company again,” Angel said cheerfully.
Marcello stayed silent. He hungrily leered at Emersyn in a way that made my fists clench at my sides. Seven stepped toward the bars, already prepared to run interference based on my mood.
He rubbed his hands together. “Perfect, I can beat you both at cards again.”
Amusement lit up Angel’s eyes. “Fine, but I’m giving you a handicap.”
I reluctantly followed Seven out of Emersyn’s enclosure and we all walked back to the guardhouse.
Angel jerked his head back toward Emersyn. “What happened there? That’s not her usual breakfast.”
I frowned. “She didn’t want the other food.”
Seven barked a laugh. “Actually, she dumped it all over his boots.”
Marcello scowled. “And you didn’t punish her for that?”
A dark wave of violence nearly had me lose control right then and there. Seven gave me an annoyed look and threw an arm around Marcello. He steered him towards the table and handed him a deck of cards.
“Deal us in, mate.”
“Mahoney won’t be happy,” Marcello took the cards with a frown. “He has her on a specific protocol.”
“A what now?” Seven took a seat at the table and rested his arm across the back of the chair.
“It’s in the schedule brief. She’s violent. She’s on sedatives for our safety.”
It took everything not to react, whereas Seven simply smirked at Marcello before he glanced at Angel.
“Tell me you can’t handle a woman without telling me you can’t handle a woman.”
Angel’s lips twitched in amusement, but Marcello took a provocative step towards Seven.
“Watch it,” he growled.
Seven didn’t budge, but the friendly look he swept over Marcello was edged with something much darker.
“What? You basically implied you’d get your ass kicked by a girl if she wasn’t sedated.”
The air in the guardhouse dropped to frigid degrees.
I gave Seven a look of warning even though he was fixated on Marcello.
He had an acute look on his face like he was locked on to his prey.
I knew he wanted a reason—any reason to explode.
We both walked a very fine line between our control and giving into the violence within us.
“Alright, alright,” Angel cut in and put a hand on Marcello’s shoulder. “Let’s just play some cards.”
“It’s your funeral,” Marcello grumbled and sank into a chair. “I saw what she did to Lial—”
My head whipped towards him. “What did she do?”
Marcello frowned as he shuffled the cards. “You didn’t hear? Stabbed him in the eye when he went to get her from the beach.”
Seven’s lips twitched. “Did she now?”
He studied Marcello for another long moment while he fought off a smile then locked eyes with me. We shared a long, communicative look. Our girl was dangerous, and boy did I want nothing more than to see her in action.