Page 22 of Clash of Sin and Secret

I scrub a hand over my forehead. “Please don’t tell her I aired our private life with you.”

“I would never. You’re my son. Whatever you say to me stays between us.”

I draw a steadying breath and feel a little better. Okay, here goes nothing. “Last night, while we were having sex, that feeling of something building in her got bigger. It was more than arousal. It was like her powers were lighting up.”

Jack’s expression remains unreadable, so I continue. “We were enjoying one another, uh…more than once. But the build didn’t dissipate with her releases. I wasn’t really paying attention to it, because…well… we were both preoccupied with other things, and then…”

“And then?”

“And then I’m halfway across the room with Huntley kneeling over me and checking my pulse. The residence was dark and Zane was holding Scottie in his arms looking utterly wrecked.”

His brows pinch. “I heard the compound experienced a power outage, but what happened with Zane?”

“Scottie died.” Even saying the words twists like a dagger in my belly. “Huntley did some kind of blood command to get her heart beating again, but she was dead—for a time, anyway.”

Jack shakes his head, his confusion obvious. “What does a power outage have to do with Scottie? Son, I’m not following. You think sex stopped her heart?”

I shake my head. “It wasn’t a power outage. A blast of energy tore through the compound and knocked out all power.”

“And you think Scottie got hit by that blast?”

“No. I don’t think she was hit by the energy pulse. Shewasthe energy pulse.”

His eyes widen. “More words.”

“Her squire powers exploded. Something’s off with her magic. It’s unstable or overwhelming her, I don’t know, but I’m scared for her.”

Jack pegs me with a pointed look filled with so much fatherly concern it disarms me. “Lock the door. We need to go see our girl.”

Huntley

Last night was the first time I stepped foot in Scottie’s bedroom since the night of her twenty-first birthday—the night I took her virginity. It’s ironic how both times, I gave everything I had in the situation, both times I showed Scottie who I was to the depths of my soul, and both times, she missed the point completely.

She wasn’t the only one to have their heart crushed that night. She isn’t the only one who is angry and weighed down by betrayal.

But seeing her lying limp in Zane’s arms shattered what was left of my resistance. Hoping she gets it isn’t enough—I need to spell it out.

Whether she hates me or not.

Whether she loves me or not.

I need to clear the air and tell her what happened back then and why. After that, the past is behind us.

I access the Squire’s Suite, the heavily ionized air of last night’s energy pulse still clinging to the walls. It smells of magicand heartache, and I fight the urge to turn around and walk away.

Last night I killed demons and battled next to a dragon shifter. Surely I have enough courage to tell a girl how I feel—how I’ve always felt.

I find her curled up on the couch in front of the fireplace, a blanket covering her like she’s a kid hiding in a fort. She looks small and the acrid scents of grief and vulnerability permeate the air.

The anger I’ve carried toward her for all these years and the bitterness that churned in my gut finally fades.

She’s just as fucked up as Zane and me.

When things went wrong, all three of us made bad choices and ran away. And because of that, our love slipped through the cracks.

I step closer and sit on the coffee table opposite her. The crackle of the fire is the only sound in the room.

She must sense my arrival, because she lifts her head and pulls the blanket off her face. Her hair flies out in every direction, a golden halo gone wild. Her dark blue eyes are puffy and red when she blinks up at me, a mix of confusion and exhaustion etched in her features.

---