Page 20 of Inside the Wicked

Not the little bird. She belonged to Rhett and always will.

Jacob smiles, and it’s all intrigue and desire. “Don’t rush, darling. It makes for reckless decisions, and I won’t be able to save you if your master finds out about your double agency. It may take a bit of time to locate Kaiser.”

“You claim to be better than Alistair, yet he can find a person in days.”

“Don’t provoke me, Anastasia. It won’t work. I’ll find Kaiser tomorrow just to lay his body at your feet and prove a point.”

Jacob is evil incarnate in the prettiest form. He’s younger than Alistair, which gives him an added air of innocence, as if someone with less than thirty years on this earth can’t possibly be so corrupted by it. That’s because he wasn’t. Jacob was born this way, with a silver spoon in his mouth and nothing to blame but sinister taste.

What I’ve come to learn about Jacob Forthson is that he likes nothing more than a tango of fire.

I stand, leaning my hands on the table as I say, “If I can get Silas to agree to an alliance with you and you don’t have Rhett’s location by then, I’ll make sure he knows you’re a man of hollow promise.”

As I move to walk away, Jacob catches my wrist. His smile shows bright teeth, and he stares up at me with a spark in his eye. “What if I have another offer?” he says, tracing that hand up my forearm.

I don’t give him the satisfaction of balking, but my cold eyes pin him.

“Abandon this pitiful Lanshall family feud. Forget Silas and be with me instead. We could bow empires and move mountains together. I would give up D.C. and a very powerful prospective partnership with Balenheizer for you.”

I discover that Jacob has everything a person could ever want; he can gain anything. Control everything. But he’s never hadlove.I wonder for a moment what his version of the word translates to in a person, in actions, but it doesn’t matter. For all his heinous crimes, I condemn him to always be wondering about the one thing he’ll never truly feel.

“You could have bought me yourself at your gala,” I say.

“There’s no satisfaction in that. I want you towantme.”

“You look at me and you see a sparkling ruby. As soon as it’s in your possession, you’ll realize red isn’t your preferred color after all.”

“What if I said it is my favorite color?”

“I’d say there aren’t enough rubies in the world to make you feel the power you do when youwin.Giving up this alliance to have me is a forfeit to your enemy.”

Jacob lifts my hand to his mouth, planting a chaste kiss there. “I think you know me too well in too little time, Anastasia. It’s what makes you so tempting that I’d contemplate giving it all up.”

I smile. “It’s only to my benefit to know you, Jacob. Double agent, remember?”

As I try to pull away again his grip tightens, shooting adrenaline through me.

“I remember,” he says with an edge of warning. “As I hope you won’t forget that if I get one hint of suspicion, one reason to believe you’ve betrayed me, that you’ve been telling Lanshall about me, I’ll make you watch as I kill every person you hold dear. I’ll start at the beginning—your parents, Liam Forbes, Riley O’Neil, Adam Sullevan, Rhett Kaiser?—”

“You’ve made your point,” I snap.

His stare is made of steel now, nothing of finesse and elegance. This is the monster that lurks within.

CHAPTER 8

Anastasia

Idon’t attend my graduation. Riley makes her best attempt to persuade me, and I think I might for her sake, but I can’t go through with it. I can’t watch as my parents and Riley sit in such close proximity to the man I loathe more than I thought myself capable of. Alistair wouldn’t miss it if I went.

Though I can’t get out of thecelebratorydinner my parents insist on. It’s strange, being in the White House. It will never feel like home, and when I come here it doesn’t feel like I’m visiting my parents’ home. So it’s as good as fine dining out at any fancy restaurant in the city.

Better, in fact. The staff around the banquet hall are here only to serve us. We don’t have to stare awkwardly at a menu and then wait for food. We’re waited upon like royalty, and though I’m used to a certain degree of this from our old home, it’s intimidating as hell.

I’m already eager to leave when we’re served our starter of the smallest and fanciest rendition of what I believe to be a Caesar salad.

“Have you thought about what you plan to do with your time now? What field you might pursue with your degree?” Dad asks.

The diploma has barely grazed my fingers before the wrecking ball of a question comes swinging. I expected it, but it doesn’t make me prepared with an answer that will satisfy the President of the United States.

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