Chapter 32 Jasmine
“Why do you look like that?” Sai snaps.
My fingers tighten around the tablet, the screen blurring for a second before I blink it away. I keep rereading the same information about each Lead Commander, the information Zeek provided me this morning. On his tablet.
After I left his apartment. After he pinned me to the bed and refused to let me go until I came again—
I shake my head clear, but I don’t look up, because Sai wasn’t speaking to me, and he doesn’t know I heard him.
Sai scoffs. “Don’t ignore me.”
Ezekial finally acknowledges him with a loud sigh, and I glance up in time to see him glaring at Sai.
“Look like what, Sai?”
“Like a cat that got a shit tonne of whipped cream.”
Julien, standing beside Sai, frowns. “I don’t believe that’s quite the analogy.”
Ignoring Julien, Sai points at Ezekial. “That’s the face of a smug bastard.”
The air hums violently, giving me another reason to look over, but Ezekial remains unfazed, staring right back. Calm and expressionless.
Sai goes quiet, too quiet, then his lips curl into a slow, devious smirk. “Don’t wanna talk? Fine.” He shrugs. “By the way, have you told our girl about the hotel yet?”
“Sai.” Zeek’s gaze narrows into icy steel.
His eyes gleam. “The cameras?”
What is Sai talking about? The hotel? What cameras—
“She was sleepwalking.”
I stare down, hard, at the tablet clutched in my hands. He swore he wouldn’t tell them. Promised—
“She was trying to open my door,” Ezekial says, voice soft with recollection. “Hammering on it actually, nearly broke the thing.” He laughs, but I see red.
I swear, if he tells them what happened after he opened that door, I’m going to—
“I took her back to Kacey’s.”
The air hums for a moment, then it explodes.
“She turned up at your door, asleep, tried to break it down to get to you, and you took her back.” Sai’s disbelief creates a crackle of lightning that flashes the room into blue. “You’re lying.”
I warily track the electric streaks, flickers fall from the ceiling and spark as they hit the ground, while trying to act completely oblivious to their conversation.
But I sense Julien watching me, and I know I have to say something, because normal ‘I can’t hear what you’re saying’ Jasmine definitely would.
“Are you guys talking about me?” I send my most stern look their way.
The three men exchange glances.
“Yes,” Julien replies with a soft, easy smile, like he thinks answering first will somehow gain him points, which it definitely does.
I arch my brow, acting all shocked yet slightly intrigued. “Well, go on.”
I place the tablet onto the coffee table, and wave a hand to indicate the three now had the floor. A very dangerous, fiery, perilous floor.
And if they dare try to lie, I will drag them over it.
“I told them about you sleepwalking.” Ezekial urgently follows with, “That’s it. I told them I took you back to Kacey’s.” He keeps a calm facade, but his gaze stays fixed with mine, as though trying to reinforce those final, secret words.
“Okay, so why is the air electrified?” I point to the ceiling where there’s currently thin branches of blue humming.
“Because I don’t believe him, Red.” Sai shrugs, slipping both hands into his pant pockets. “And I got excited.” He grins.
Do I dare ask? Do I really need to know?
But Sai knows what I’m thinking, sees my curiosity, his grin only widening until both dimples are on display.
I take a deep breath, bracing myself. “Why, Sai?”
“I’m really into sleep play.”
I blink. “What’s that?”
All the men release serrated sounds that send a current of heat rushing through me.
“Sai, time and place.” Julien’s gaze snaps to him, and I don’t miss the rumble of warning in his tone.
But Sai just leans back against the glass wall, hands in those damn combat pant pockets, eyes sweeping all over me.
“When it’s my turn to stay over, Red. I’ll be leaving the door wide open.” Thin branches of light line the space between us, leaving fine wisps of violet. “Then I’ll teach you all about it—”
“Stop.” Ezekial’s voice is sharp enough that Sai listens, but that feral smile never leaves his lips.
Is sleep play a bad thing? Is it because they all have difficulty sleeping? Maybe Kane needs it—
The shadows explode and Kane steps out, tendrils of inky shadow clinging to him until they can no longer hold on.
“What’s sleep play?” I ask.
Kane freezes mid-stride, then his black gaze meets mine.
“You couldn’t control him for five minutes?” Kane’s still looking at me, but he fires that at the three men behind him.
Zeek pinches the bridge of his nose. “I’m considering having a charmed muzzle purpose-made for him.”
Sai’s laugh is low, eager. “A muzzle? You say that like it’s a punishment, but now you’re giving me all sorts of ideas...”
“Should I not ask that?” I say only to Kane. “I know you struggle with sleep, so I just wondered if you need it—”
When Kane suddenly moves closer, lowering himself onto the balls of his feet right in front of me, I warily drop my gaze, feeling nervous.
Wisps of his shadows dance along my skin, over my arms, up to my chin, softly tilting it until my eyes meet his. “Sai was being… crude,” he explains.
My brows dart up, then drop. “Oh.” I scrunch my nose, open my mouth, close it. “I still don’t understand…”
“Do you want me to explain now, or after?” His voice is so soft. There’s no mockery, no dismissing my question.
“After.” I decide, and Kane dips his head in a subtle acknowledgement.
“Now, I need you to smile.”
“Why?” And just like that, my lips kick up into one.
“Because it’ll make Sai mad.” Then Kane honours me with one of his rare, genuine smiles where the edge of his top teeth show.
“We can make him madder.” I laugh, one quick burst.
A crackle of lightning sparks above our heads, and Sai’s sharp glare becomes fixed on Kane’s back. That only makes me laugh again.
But when Kane’s attempt escapes, a soft rumble emerging deep from his chest, I’m suddenly feeling a very different emotion.
He starts to rise, and I can’t help feeling… disappointment? Loss? But as he moves to his brother’s desk, his shadows stay with me.
“What did he say, Red?” Sai moves closer, his eyes switching between me and Kane’s back.
The brothers start talking, as Sai tries again, “Come on, baby, tell me what Daddy Darkness said.”
I cant my head. “You have a thing for saying nicknames you shouldn’t.”
The grin slides off his face, the soft glint of his eyes dulling. “Sorry. You’re right. You asked me not to call you that.”
Oh fuck. That feels… horrid.
A hollow pit forms in my stomach as Sai steps back to the glass wall, and his markings lose their colour.
Julien frowns, peering down at his friend.
“Well,” I say, needing to rectify this feeling, immediately, “maybe I’ve changed my mind about the nickname.”
His markings reignite, a smirk beginning to spread.
“Don’t get too excited. It’s just a nickname.”
“You know it’s more than that, baby,” he purrs, and damn it, I squirm a little. His eyes clock the action, darkening into an indigo storm. “If you’ve changed your mind about that...” His voice drops, a rasp curling at the edges. “Maybe I can change your mind about a few other things.”
I quirk a brow. “Like sleep play?”
“Fuck, baby.” He closes his eyes, thudding his head back against the glass. Once, twice, grimacing at the ceiling.
Julien’s frown deepens as he watches. “What have you done to him?” His low murmur amused.
“Played me at my own game.” Sai keeps his eyes shut. Shaking his head, he lets out a ragged laugh. “Now I’m so hard I can’t fucking move.”
The fact Sai says that, aloud, is… astounding.
The brothers immediately stop their conversation, Ezekial’s hand mid-hover over his screen as they both turn to Sai.
After a long, heated silence in which Sai slams his head back two more times, Kane restarts time. “Julien, what have you heard?”
“They’re concerned about the impromptu meeting,” he replies, catching Kane’s meaning easily.
Only then do I realise he’s been listening to the four Lead Commanders next door this whole time.
“How are they feeling?” Ezekial directs at me.
I stand and walk towards his desk. “Exactly how we want them to.”
Nervous, apprehensive, with a soft undercurrent of frustration. The exact emotions we want rushing through their brains. We need them on edge, second guessing everything.
His lips quirk, but his silver gaze was too busy tracking the sway of my hips, darting down to my skirt—the skirt—the one he warned me about wearing, before finally meeting my eyes.
“Good.” His voice holds a slight rasp. “Let’s keep them waiting a little longer.”
“Amon has confirmed his support,” Julien adds, his gaze sweeping the group before landing on me, catching my frown. “He comes from royalty. His family were among the first to support the creation of the enforcers and, by extension, the Council. His name carries weight, and fear.”
“He’s a royal?” I gasp, thrown by the casual reveal.
“A prince,” Kane interjects, stepping to Julien’s side. “Well liked, with a large and powerful army.”
“Why is he helping?”
“The Order, Green Cloaks, have been our common enemy for centuries. They’ve enslaved countless beings, including dragons.
” I swallow as Julien explains, but then his eyes soften.
“He also believes he owes us for keeping his bond safe. More specifically, he asked me to make sure you know he’s indebted to you. ”
“Me?” My gaze darts to each of them. “But I haven’t done anything.”
“You underestimate yourself, Jasmine.” Julien’s voice is warm, sincere.
“Without your encouragement, Amon believes he would have died in his dragon form. And if he had died…” He pauses, which means he’s carefully selecting his words, and the room seems to shrink.
“Kacey would have followed… or worse. When a bond dies, madness takes what’s left. Rampage is all that remains.”
“And Kacey is so powerful…” I murmur, imagining the devastation her ghostly beasts could unleash.