Page 27 of Failed State

I want to protest or tell him to shove it where the sun doesn’t shine, but his pretty face and pouty lip are making my stomach do weird things. Paired with thegoddamned hat, I find myself both dry-mouthed and surprisingly moist elsewhere. This isn’t fair; the Universe is just mocking me to my face now. I can’t give a damn about people; they leave and I’m destroyed… then I destroy. That’s the story he’s going to eventually hear and I don’t want him to be a part of my weird, potentially illegal secrets, even if he is more of an outlaw than a cowpoke.

“Huck, I…”

He pushes his hat up, hooking his other hand into his belt as he continues to pout and I’m a goner.What the fuck is in the air here? It’s like the men are exponentially hotter, even the ones I’ve known forever, and I’m having trouble forming coherent thoughts. “Please, Syd?”

Yep. Now I’m screwed.

“Okay,” I whisper as our fingers lace together. “One dinner, just with you, because I teased you. But that’s it, right?”

The beaming smile he gives me causes my heart beat to skip and I almost stop in place. “For now, sweet pea. For now.”

“Thank fuck that’s over. I was about to heave.” Elias stalks past us to get closer to the front, and I groan as I look up at the ceiling.

“Waseveryonepaying attention to us instead of the fucking tour? Huck, I’m going togutyou and wear your innards for garters.”

His smirk is wicked. “I’m a demon, darlin’. You can do that, and wear them to our dinner. I’ll respawn before the first course.”

“Gross.” Thad gives me a weird look, gesturing to the bank of elevators we’re standing in front of. I was so distracted by Huck’s bullshit that I didn’t even notice we’re all waiting for turns by team again. “Demons are so damned psychotic.”

Huck gives him a bright, easy-going smile. “We are, partner, but that’s our charm. You two are my besties and that means all my disgusting tendencies are on board with protecting you. Remember that when you’re being a grump, big guy.”

“IknewI got a whole ‘menage’ vibe from you three. Always room for one more, right?” Rory appears behind me again, his face clean and recovered from the blow I dealt him a few minutes ago. The benefits of being a damn magic user, I guess, but it doesn’t make it less annoying. “I’m a very generous lover and you’lladorewhat I bring to the table.”

“Get it under control, Stormbringer.” The dragon gives him an evil look, then he tilts his head at the other groups waiting. “If we overheard their little meet-cute, people can overhear this conversation. Thinking she’s important to us—even as a bed mate—will encourage the others to target the girl. She’s… got other issues to deal with.”

Like my erstwhile magic, perhaps?

My brows furrow as I remember the words of the centaur and what he did in our private examination. I have no idea when and where I’ll be able to test his claim, especially since we’re all rooming in a shared space. Cursing softly, I let go of Huck’s hand and cross my arms over my chest. Everything about this fucking event is trapping me in an ever-shrinking box, and I hate it.

“Come along, team!”

Krista’s voice breaks my train of thought, and I groan. “Oh, goody. It’s time to find our new cage. I can’t wait.”

Thad chuckles as he gives me a small push towards the elevator. “You’re a ray of sunshine, as always, Sydney. I can’t wait for your take on the accommodations.”

“Anything’s better than theactualcages I’ve been living in,” Elias says as he gives us judgmental looks. “So perhaps we can be slightly less snooty when our beds aren’t made of bags of straw, mm?”

My jaw drops and I turn bright red as I follow him into the car. Guilt sits on my gut like a stone as I realize that for all my complaints about life in Tempest Seven, I’m not the one who arrived trussed up like a fictional cannibal. Hell, I don’t even know how long they made him stay in that damn thing. I’m a fucking moron and I can’t believe it didn’t occur to me that someone in the lockdown definitely had it worse than me.

“I’m sorry,” I murmur to the dragon as I stand next to him. “I was obnoxious and insensitive.”

He looks at me for a moment, then laughs. His dark eyes are full of amusement as I frown again. “Don’t be. I was testing you and my theory was right on the nose. You havefartoo much connection to humanity and we need to work on it.”

Rage fills me when he admits to manipulating my emotions and I deck him without a second’s warning. He reels for a second as my fist throbs, and then gives me another assessing look. His grin is full of sharp, dagger-like dragon teeth this time and his eyes glitter with a deep sapphire. “Thatis more like it, little rebel. You need to channelthatenergy more often and we’ll have a much better chance at surviving.”

What the fuck is with these dicks pushing my buttons today?

I CAN SEE FOR MILES AND MILES

ELIAS

It’s beena long time since I’ve been free to move like this and I don’t intend to spoil it by getting involved with nonsense. The vampire and the mage are clearly hiding something, the bear and the demon are in love with the girl, and the girl is completely oblivious because she’s harboring some deep trauma. This bullshit is a recipe for a disaster that I want no part of.

I do want to win the fucking thing so I’m not locked up like a serial killer, though.

My eyes rove over the contestants and our handler as the elevator shoots up higher than I’ve been in years. The dragon inside rejoices in the change in altitude, but he yearns to be free to fly. I haven’t stretched my wings in the sky since I was caught in the Second Sweep while defending my people’s compound in the Pacific. I saved many sea dragons from being sent to these wretched prisons, but the sacrifice cost me mightily. I’m sure they’ve been looking for me, but the human government moves the strongest supes around often so they can’t be located and freed.

You’d think the larger populations in the sectors would notice, but they don’t.

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