27. Reed
Chapter twenty-seven
Reed
Tanks of different environments, heating lamps, and magnifying glasses are everywhere.
In one of the closest glass enclosures, a praying mantis shifts from side to side using motion parallax.
Across the room, a case of planthopper nymphs feed on plant sap with their large hind legs kicked out behind them.
Another table holds an array of centipedes with their jerky movements and sharp hunting skills as they forage around the soil of their habitat.
She has butterflies, moths, different species of beetles, and Madagascar hissing cockroaches everywhere.
I step into the room, completely in awe of it all, and having no idea where to even start.
“Well, what do you think?” Thalia asks from behind me.
“I think I’ve died and gone to heaven,” I mutter.
She chuckles at me. “Do you want to hold someone?”
I whip around, my eyes wide. “Please?”
She goes to the tank with the centipedes before grabbing a thick brown glove and handing it over to me while she puts the other one on. “You’re gonna need that. Legolas isn’t friendly at all.”
“Legolas?” I muse.
She picks up a particularly thick one and turns him over in her gloved hand. “Because of all the legs. Corny, right?”
I snort as I shove my glove on and take him gently. He immediately circles around my hand, his antennae sliding along my fingers as he wraps himself around my thumb. I run a finger over his back, feeling his dorsal plates as he explores.
“This is fucking amazing,” I whisper.
“I’m so glad you don’t think I’m a freak,” Thalia says shyly.
“We’re bug nerds, baby,” I smile. “Nothing wrong with that.”
She shows me a few other species she has, listing off their names, which has me rolling with laughter.
Flutter Nutter—a domestic silk moth.
Chainsaw—a Madagascar hissing cockroach.
Absolute Unit—a massive Western Hercules beetle.
Widow—her only female praying mantis who cannibalized her partner to nourish their children. (Wish I could have been here to see it in action.)
Butterfree Loading—a Monarch butterfly with gorgeous orange wings.
We spend so much time in her study that we don’t realize hours have passed until her stomach growls with hunger. We both stare at each other for a beat before chuckling at how deep we’re lost in our work.
“I’ve never had anyone to do this with before…” she trails as she closes her journal and sets it aside. “It was nice.”
“Same time tomorrow?” I ask.
She nods quickly before taking my hand and leading us back downstairs. The whole time, my heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest.
How did I get blessed with someone like her?
I must have done something extremely good in a past life to afford something so rich now…
Thalia pulls the stuff to make sandwiches from the fridge, and I watch her the whole time we work beside each other to construct our meals.
My eyes brush tenderly over every curve and dip of skin I can.
She holds my whole fucking heart in her hands and has no idea that I would do anything for her. Anything.
We eat together, her sitting on the edge of the counter with me between her thighs as I stare out of the sliding glass doors that lead to the shed and the dense, heavy forest beyond it.
“Weird question,” I say past a mouthful. “Where are we, exactly?”
Thalia crunches into the chips of her sandwich (a touch I added for both of us) as she turns her chin over her shoulder to follow my eyes. “Columbus, Ohio. On my family’s compound.”
She’s staring at me as if she’s expecting a major reaction.
I surprise her when I only nod. “Where are Taryn and Emma?”
Her eyes roll up to the ceiling as her head tilts. “Pretty sure they’re staying with Bailey, Dom, and Theo.”
I connect the faces with the names, humming. “Are they all…together? They seemed rather close.”
Thalia’s eyes widen. “You get that vibe too? I’ve known Theo and Dom since I was a kid, and I’m more than certain they’re together, but Bailey has always been a weird topic for them.
She’s the South branch leader and the one Brooks is actually trying to kill.
She took over after killing her brother a year ago.
It was a whole mess, and since taking over, some of her team have made the decision that they would rather revolt against her. ”
My head is reeling as I blink. “Branch? There are branches to this?”
She waves a hand. “Oh, yeah. Our grandfather is over the Western Branch. Never met him and don’t care to. Addison’s…dad? Uncle? Whatever. Is over the Northwestern branch. Rowan, in all his overbearing glory, is the leader of the Midwestern branch. Yada, yada, yada…”
“Huh,” I say slowly. “That…makes more sense.”
“I could go into all the rules and stuff, but that’s boring.” Thalia snorts.
I scrub a finger over my chin, deep in thought.
“Well, I mean, we should probably know the rules and regulations of this since we are here. Wouldn’t want to go against anyone.
And besides, I’m sure we’ll have to know them in the long run—” I stop talking when I notice her shocked expression, her sandwich stopped halfway to her mouth. “What’s wrong?”
She blinks, lowering her food. “Reed, are you staying?”
My head rears as I scratch the back of my neck. Fuck, I haven’t even discussed this with her yet. “Well, um, I would like to—”
She grabs my cheeks, dragging me so close that our noses brush. “You’re staying, right?”
I look into her pale eyes, completely enraptured by the urgency and hope that surges in them. Clarity washes over my consciousness as I swallow. “Yes. I’m not going anywhere, Little Devil. I’ve told you this already.”
One moment she’s intense and begging, the next joy lights her features impossibly bright as she smiles. My chest constricts at her relief as she crushes me to her in a tight hug. “Oh my god! I don’t have to lock you in my basement after all!”
“What?”
“Shh,” she coos. “Don’t ruin the moment.”
Was she…planning to lock me in the basement? Now is not the time to be turned on by that.
“I feel like I still have so much to catch up on,” I say quietly into her hair as I rub a hand over her back.
She pulls away, taking my shoulders. “Then let me explain everything. You can help me with Sophia’s blanket while I talk.”
The corners of my mouth twitch. “I would like that.”
We finish our dinner before retreating to the living room.
Thalia drags a massive tote over that’s filled with an array of current yarns.
Her unfinished project, a baby girl pink blanket, resides on top, her crochet needles crossed over each other.
As I sit beside her, I swing her legs into my lap, kneading the heels of my hands into her feet as she begins to crochet and I watch every expert swoop of her fingers.
“What I’m going to tell you is hard for me,” she begins gravely, her eyes becoming distant as she continues to loop and pull.
“I started my training when I was eight, but I wasn’t treated the same as my brothers.
My parents were harder on me, my mother especially, because she felt the only good part about being a woman was what you could do with your looks—how to control men, lure them in, and then trap them.
She relied heavily on that tactic when she was in her prime.
Maybe it was growing up in a patriarchal society that warped her bird brain, but I knew I didn’t want to be like her.
I didn’t want anyone to have control over me. ”
My heart aches for her. The control. The reluctance to pursue anything. It all makes sense now. Her mother tried and failed to turn Thalia into someone she wasn’t meant to be. I’m proud of her for becoming so much more than what was expected of her. She’s perfect just the way she is.
She continues with a heavy sigh. “We fought. God, we fought so much while I was growing up. I was her problem child, and she was the bane of my fucking existence. I gave her hell for years. Until Brooks came along…” Her expression hardens with hatred as her hands fumble with the pattern before she regains her composure.
“My mom told me not to pursue him. Being the rebellious teen I was, I did the opposite of what she said. Unfortunately for me, the South branch has its own set of outdated rules that I didn’t know about.
” She takes a deep breath before lowering her needles to her lap.
“Sleeping with another assassin from a different branch is a lot like winning something in their eyes. It’s a pride thing and a way to show that you’re better than them because one of their own has voluntarily betrayed them… ”
“Oh my god,” I breathe. “What the fuck did he do to you?”
Her lips wobble as she tucks her head in shame, and I could fucking rip through the state to find Brooks all over again.
“It wasn’t just him. It was a whole group of his friends from the South Branch too.
They hung the bedsheets we had sex on from my dad’s flagpole and announced to the whole compound that I had lost my virginity to Brooks.
They shamed me in front of everyone. It was a humiliation ritual, but it might as well have been the signature on my death certificate.
My parents beat me so badly that Rowan was banging on the shed door and pleading with them not to kill me.
He and Atlas were the only people in my family who still looked at me the same afterwards.
Alana and Connor were banned from our house and couldn’t check on me while I recovered, but that didn’t stop them from sneaking into my window to bring me medicine or food.
They were the only ones who still saw me, and not the broken girl who had been humiliated by her past decisions.
Rowan wanted to kill Brooks; Atlas jumped him hours after the incident and put him in the ICU of the local hospital, and Alana kept me updated on his condition from her cameras.
We both hoped he would have succumbed to his injuries after what he had done to me. Luck wasn’t on our side.”
I reach for her, tilting her chin up. My heart shatters at the look of devastation on her face. She’s expecting me to pull away, to treat her the same way Brooks did, but all I can think about is how I owe him far more than a fucking punch to the jaw.
He deserves to suffer for what he did to someone so kind and compassionate. He deserves something slow and unforgiving for trying to break the spirit of the strongest woman I know.
“He’s a sorry fucker who has deserved every ounce of hatred, every punch, every fucking speck of karma he’s ever received.
There’s a special place in hell for people like him, Thalia, and I’m only glad you came out of this stronger.
Never let anyone take your spark, because it’s what’s making me fall irrevocably—”
She presses her fingers to my lips, her eyes wide. “Reed.”
I gently remove her hand, piercing her with conviction. “You’re making me fall irrevocably in love with you, Thalia.”
She gasps, her pretty lips parting in disbelief. “What?”
I chuckle, nodding. “You did this to me. You drugged me, kidnapped me, and wiggled your way right into my heart. And I’m not going to stop it, Little Devil.
I was wrapped the moment I met you and had no idea just how much you would consume me.
You don’t have to say anything, but just know, I’m not going anywhere. No matter what happens.”
She shakes her head slowly, blinking. “There’s no way…”
“There is a way,” I say quietly. “I got to know you and I fell. Hard.”
“I don’t know what to say, Reed.”
“Don’t say anything. I’ll wait for you, Thalia.”
She leans across the sofa, smashing her lips to mine in a heated, greedy kiss that leaves me breathless. Her taste dances over my senses, and I go pliant against her. This kiss feels so much more meaningful—more profound. As if it’s our promise to each other.
I would wait a lifetime if it meant calling her mine. Anything.
She pulls away, biting her bottom lip as her chest rises and falls deeply. Her cheeks are flushed a pretty red shade as she tilts her head. “I really want to play with you, Reed.”
Heat ignites in my lower stomach as I nod in agreement. “Please.”
She gives me a seductive, siren smile. “Would you put your trust in my hands?”
“Of course.”
“Then let’s play.”