Chapter 13
“Come on, Jailbreak.” Amelia’s voice rang through the room.
I’d just emerged from the bathroom in nothing but a towel, and she stood in the open doorway, waiting for me.
“Cillian’s summoned you for breakfast,” she said.
“I wouldn’t keep him waiting. Not after yesterday.
” Amusement danced in her eyes. I swallowed a gulp of relief.
I’d thought for sure Amelia would hate me after I’d not only violated her order to avoid the West Wing, but had also tried to escape. And clearly, she already knew about it.
“Right, let me get dressed,” I said. When she didn’t move, I lifted an eyebrow. “Unless I’m supposed to go like this?”
“Your choice,” Amelia said, pushing off from leaning against the doorway. “I’ll see you later.”
“You’re not going to be there?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No, I’ve got to give the security team an extra debriefing, since somehow, a lone man managed to escape them yesterday.”
Embarrassment heated my cheeks. Right, that had been my fault. “I’ll see you later, then.”
She slipped away as fast as she’d arrived, and I shut the door behind her before I rummaged through the wardrobe.
I pulled on a pair of charcoal slacks and a white button-down that fit my frame nicely, then I ran a brush through my curls, spraying them to tame them a bit.
Even though my muscles ached from yesterday, no other signs remained that I’d bolted.
Yet a fundamental shift had occurred in me.
I was aware the situation was unethical—that my father and I shouldn’t be beholden to Cillian—yet I still wasn’t sure what my father had done. And if it was a matter of jail time or this, well, this might be the kinder solution.
I left the bathroom and slipped on some black loafers. Since I wasn’t sure if we’d head to a meeting right after breakfast, it was better to be prepared. At least, that was what I told myself.
My heart thumped a little harder as I stepped out of my room and made my way down the hall, and my feet dragged as though I waded through mud.
Just last night we’d been here, after a hellish day.
Today, it felt like a fever dream, even if my body carried the strain and fatigue from yesterday. Everything ached.
My footsteps echoed through the corridor, yet I didn’t have the same reservations as the last time I’d been summoned for a meal. After seeing Cillian at his most terrifying, I’d come to realize I didn’t fear him in the same way I had.
Because he could’ve aimed all his power and viciousness at me, but instead he’d come to my aid.
When I stepped through the door to the dining hall, I half expected Theo and Charles to be there as well. However, only Cillian sat at the table, waiting for me.
My pulse sped up.
He’d cleaned up from last night, and was now in the polished and professional attire I’d come to expect from him.
His jaw was freshly shaved, his horns gleamed like obsidian, and his black suit fit snugly, highlighting the man’s bulk.
He leaned back in his seat, facing away from me, and his casual sprawl ensnared me, the way his thick thighs spread and he dominated the space he was in.
I licked my lips, my mouth suddenly dry.
Even though I approached, he didn’t budge or look back, yet I had the feeling he knew I was here the moment I stepped up to the door. Something about Cillian suggested a predator’s level of attention, and nothing I’d seen dissuaded me from that.
“I’ve been summoned?” I asked, needing to break through the quiet.
I settled in the seat beside him on instinct, after doing so as his assistant so many times.
I regretted the proximity at once. This close, I couldn’t ignore the power radiating from him, the intensity in his sharp, golden eyes.
The scent of him, all brimstone and musk, threatened to overpower me, but I sucked in a shaky breath and focused on the food before us.
An array of breakfast fare had been left—eggs, bacon, and toast with a purplish spread that had a savory sort of taste.
Apparently a demon delicacy, which I’d tried a few times.
There was also a carafe of coffee and cups.
I poured myself some at once, needing the hit of caffeine if I were to survive this breakfast.
“Sore today?” Cillian asked with a light lift of his brow.
Heat rushed through me in a fierce torrent. He referred to the great escape I’d made yesterday, I was aware of that, but the sensuality in his tone was hard to avoid. “Remind me to start working out on a regular basis. My body was not prepared for that level of exertion.”
“You’re aware we have a gym up here, correct?”
“I suppose you spend hours a day there,” I commented, not thinking.
Cillian’s grin widened, a few fangs poking out. “Noticing my muscles?” The wicked glint in his eyes was unmistakable.
I choked mid-swallow of coffee. Placing the mug down, I did my best to recover even as I spluttered on the hot liquid.
Cillian’s coolness had been manageable, easier.
Cillian’s full attention? I was underprepared. My whole body charged like I’d been plugged into an outlet.
“Look, I was a librarian,” I muttered. “The gym wasn’t high on my list of concerns.”
“Ah, so you can’t be well read and work out?” he asked before taking a sip of his coffee.
I chewed on my lip. This was the chattiest he’d been since I’d met him, and I wasn’t sure whether he’d had a personality replacement in the span of time between my discovery of the West Wing and now.
As though last night a lightning bolt had struck him and bam, he was suddenly sociable.
“It’s possible, but I prefer to spend my spare time curled up with a book, not running laps like a madman. ”
“Did you look at the library here?” he asked.
I stared at him. “What?”
“It’s farther down this wing, around the corner,” he said.
“You’ve known I was a librarian from the very beginning, and you’re mentioning this now?”
Cillian shrugged. “I figured you’d found it already. You’ve spent plenty of time exploring, and I’m aware of your innate curiosity.”
My cheeks heated again. The fact no one had scolded or reprimanded me for yesterday affected me more than I realized. I kept bracing myself for a comment, for censure, for them to be livid with me for breaking the rules, for trying to escape.
Instead, Cillian and even Amelia were…kinder? I couldn’t for the life of me understand why.
“If I’d known you had a library, you would’ve had to pry me away from there daily,” I responded, a blip of excitement coursing through my veins.
While his collection couldn’t possibly compare to Peregrine City’s library, the chance to be around a large selection of books again, to smell the slightly sweet almond and leather pervasive in those spaces, was one I wouldn’t pass up.
“Tomorrow,” he said. “I can take you to the library tomorrow.”
“You’re assuming I won’t have the time to find it today,” I challenged. “You’ve told me where it is, so I’m not likely to let that stone go unturned.”
Cillian’s grin widened. “And you’re assuming I’m not going to keep you busy the entire day.
Yesterday was quite disruptive for my business, and you’ve got a lot of fires to douse—and apologies to security staff to draft.
” Even as he said the words, they were light, like a tease not a censure, and I couldn’t help but wonder if this aspect of him had been hiding there all along.
“Fair,” I responded, hiding behind another sip of coffee.
Cillian took a bite of toast, the delicate move almost comical with the way he clutched it in his claws.
Now that my sheer hatred of him had been stripped away, I couldn’t help but acknowledge how my attention strayed to him far too often.
How his appearance was arresting, and not just due to how formidable he was.
His golden gaze landed on me, and he winked.
I incinerated.
Playfulness wasn’t ever something I would’ve expected from Cillian Ashmore, to the point I wasn’t sure if I’d hallucinated it.
My whole body vibrated with tension from his presence, from the liquid-smooth gesture from a man who should loathe me.
And instead, he seemed to have not only forgiven me for my grand escape, but we’d also made some sort of breakthrough.
“You going to eat your breakfast?” Cillian asked, arching a brow. His gaze was knowing, as if he understood the devastating effect of a simple wink. “We will need to get going soon. The first meeting for the day will come fast.”
“Please tell me Chadwick won’t be there,” I muttered as I crunched down on a piece of bacon. Thinking about how the man who I’d been in plenty of meetings with had flipped on a dime sent a shudder through me.
“He’s not allowed to step foot in the Spires again,” Cillian rumbled. “He should’ve thought twice before double-crossing me. His life’s about to become hell.”
“Don’t tell me you have some underground operation to dispose of your enemies,” I joked, but the joke dried on my tongue because of the potential truth there. With his level of money and resources, that was likely a truth.
Cillian didn’t respond, but his lips twitched in amusement. Right. If Amelia, Charles, and Theo were innocent staff, I’d eat my hat. Each of them were deadly in their own way—even Charles, who masqueraded as innocent and friendly. I hadn’t missed the control in his movements, the honed grace there.
“So, I’m guessing Thorin did more than just piss in your oatmeal,” I commented. “Or steal a business from under you—whatever wealthy guys like you do to form grudges.”
“The lows he’s capable of have yet to be discovered,” Cillian said, his expression darkening. The mention of Thorin summoned storm clouds. “Trust me when I say he’s not someone you ever want to get involved with.”
I pursed my lips and leaned back in my seat. “Oh, I’m supposed to trust you now?”
“Clearly,” he responded, cracking a grin. His fangs poked out, his golden eyes wicked, and the breath rushed from my lungs.
The wildest thing, though, was that I did trust him. I’d grown up being beaten up, having to defend myself from assholes left and right. And the whole time, I’d wanted someone to step in, to stop them.
Yesterday, Cillian had done just that.
“Maybe,” I responded, meeting his gaze.
His eyes widened in surprise, but then his lips curled into a smirk. “Dangerous thing to do.”
I sipped at my coffee, not looking away from him. “I’m not as scared of danger as you think.”
“I’m well aware, Beau,” he said, the low rumble of his voice coursing right through me. The way he said my name, drew out the word, was pure danger. “Why do you think I made you my personal assistant? You’d be wasted in the Pits.”
“Then why was my father getting sent to the Pits?” I asked. My stomach soured at the reminder of why I was here, of the bone of contention between us in the first place. How quickly his actions had caused me to forget.
Cillian’s easy demeanor grew colder, and he finished his toast in a few bites before responding. “Because he was a coward. I can admit I will never understand your allegiance to him, even if I can admire your bravery in taking his place.”
My shoulders tensed. My father had tried to get me to leave the Spires. He’d told me not to take his place. This had been my choice. Which was an ever-present reminder whenever I got angry at my current situation. Because in a fucked-up way, I’d chosen it. “You don’t know him like I do.”
“I could say the same,” Cillian responded, his arrogance sliding right under my skin.
I bristled. I must’ve been under some spell to have found him attractive before.
I finished off some eggs and toast in quiet, following it up by crunching on some bacon, a little more spitefully.
Cillian polished off his coffee and dabbed at his lips before rising.
Of course he didn’t make a move to clean up after himself, he had staff for that.
I swallowed the few last gulps of my coffee before getting up from my seat as well, assuming the cue meant our day was about to start.
“Let’s get this first meeting over with,” he said. “They’ll be needing comprehensive notes, since they can’t seem to retain anything we’ve said in the prior meetings.”
I bit back the snarky comment rising to my lips.
Today would be long and wearying, and my body was still rundown from yesterday.
But I’d earned that on my own, and I’d get through the hours without complaint.
Cillian didn’t wait for me—no, he acted just as he had before, turning on his heel and striding out of the room.
I had to hustle to follow after him, and our footsteps echoed through the hallway as we headed for the elevator.
I hated that I missed the sudden ease that had emerged between us last night into this morning.
Given the amount of time I spent around this man, if our situation could be marginally less hostile—damn.
I couldn’t imagine what that might be like day in and day out.
Except, I’d caught a glimpse of where his charm, his teasing might lead me, and it struck me to my core.
Because Cillian was the exact sort of intense, powerful beast I feared…and craved.