Page 27 of Draco

“Go ahead and think it over. It’s going to be a while. And I like watching you squirm.”

I ignored him, puzzling over everything, and came to a simple conclusion. “You don’t know shit. You’re a fraud. You’re making guesses and hoping something sticks, and I gave it away when I was so surprised you figured something out. But you don’t know all of it, you know one tiny piece based on my let minute ditch attempt and what my parent figured out about my escape plan.” I glared at him, meeting his dead eyes in the rearview mirror.

He didn’t say anything, but his anger tightened the muscles in his face and his brows slashed low over his eyes.

“Oh, you don’t like being called a fraud. You don’t like that I figured you out.” I sat up and leaned forward. “You want to be in charge, be the big man. But we both know you’re not. You play at being a leader, when in reality, you’re just a fraud.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Are you even a dragon? Or are you lying about that too?”

He hit a button, and suddenly a window closed between us, leaving me totally alone. My mind spun with the way things had turned and how I’d shifted everything back on him. I needed to tell Draco, to warn him there was more than met the eye going on. And I needed to do it before it was too late.

Are you there?I tried to call out to Draco, but there was no answer. I was truly, utterly alone.

Alone with a monster hell-bent on my destruction. Who knew what would happen to me in his care before I made it to the facility? Heck, he could kill me and say I tried to escape. I bet no one would blink an eye.

But unlike earlier when I’d been alone, yet so certain Draco would come for me, now I had a cold knot in the pit of my stomach.

No one was coming for me.

16

Draco

“So why are we still sitting here?” Stryker stared at me like I’d lost my mind, and Leif glanced at me like he had the same question.

“Let’s go get her.” Stryker stood up, obviously ready to go and bust Luna out despite the risks that came with doing so. He was the type to charge in, though. Leif, however, was not.

“Perhaps caution?” Leif lifted his chin, giving weight to my thoughts without even knowing it.

“Permission to intrude?” I asked him.

Leif glared at me a moment, obviously trying to figure out what I was asking while knowing, of course.

“Not digging for secrets. Merely to show you what I’m capable of.” I wanted to give him a taste of what I could do and why he should trust my plan to get Luna back. I’d offered for him to pass on this one since he owed me nothing, but he’d come along. Stryker didn’t think it was a good idea to include him since he could be a snitch that would warn Wrath, but I didn’t believe that for a second.

“If he’s too afraid, use me. I trust you.” Stryker nodded at me.

I took him up on his permission. I pushed the order into his mind, and he stood up, walked over to Leif, and grabbed the sides of his head while Leif froze up. Stryker pulled him in, looking both terrified and stunned, and planted a fat kiss on Leif’s cheek.

Then I let him go, and he stumbled back, spitting and glaring at me. “What the fuck?Why?”

I shrugged. “Had to be believable, and that was sure as fuck out of character for you.”

“So you make others act against their will?” Leif studied me, not seeming at all bothered by the show of intimacy.

“I can influence. Deep down, he wanted to kiss you.” I gestured at Stryker, who flipped me the bird while wiping his lips on his sleeve, obviously very bothered by the kiss.

“Make him do something involuntary.” Leif nodded at Stryker, who glanced at me, stunned.

“Wait—” His face froze up, and he let out a sneeze. Then another, and then another.

“Satisfied?” I asked Leif.

“Not exactly. Make him do something embarrassing. So I know the scope and power of your suggestion.” Leif’s calm, cool exterior didn’t fool me for a second. He was enjoying this.

“No, don’t! I revoke your access to my thought and actions.” Stryker glared at me, and I shrugged as Leif studied me.

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