Page 18 of Bones

“No, sir,” I mutter and let go of Chainz, his ass dropping him back into the chair I’d pulled him from. Pulling my powers back, I refuse to look up at them, berating myself internally at theviolent display. The sour scent of fear is faint and there’s only one person in this room that would be afraid. It’s just another fucking reason why I need to stay the hell away from Sloan. No matter how much I want to claim her and make her mine in every way. I retreat back to my seat beside Stubs, who gives me a glare as he hands me the keyboard back. He doesn’t let go of it right away, and I roll my eyes but nod. Yeah, messaged received, don’t hurt the tech.

“Just testing something, sir.” The smugness in Chainz voice has me clenching my jaw. I’m this fucking close to losing it on the bastard, no matter what bullshit we’ve survived together over the centuries. “Nothing that’ll come up again.”

“Good. Ms. Davis, take a seat please.”

Like a damn addict, I only move my eyes as I keep my head bowed over the keyboard. Looking at her from the side like this isn’t enough, but it’s all I’ll allow. She’s wearing a gray t-shirt that is nothing special, yet it’s the sexiest fucking thing on her; fitting close enough to caress her breasts and flat stomach but loose enough to suggest modesty. Except I’m quickly coming to realize that Sloan could be wearing coarse feed sacks and my cock would be fucking hard and my mouth drooling. Her blonde hair is in a loose braid draped over her shoulder. My fingers itch to wrap the braid around my fist so I can tug her face back and let me get my next fix of her taste.

Reaper beginning the meeting snaps me back to attention. The knowledge of what she’s about to learn has that same protective anxiety sending jolts of energy through me. I start bouncing my foot on my heel, unable to contain it.

“We have confirmed that Father Xavius escaped the assault and later, Devil’s Haven. We’ve tracked him through multiplesecurities CCTVs to the city of Tyler, about 3 hours to the east. Before we go further, I need you to be honest with us. How much do you know about your abilities?”

The faint scent of fear grows stronger and I can’t help looking at her. The need to protect Sloan from anything and everything builds inside of me. When her trepidation filled eyes meet mine, nothing will stop me from going to her.

11

SLOAN

Deep breaths. In through the nose. Hold. Out through the mouth. I’m safe. I’m not there. I’m with safe people.

I’d been repeating one of the grounding exercises Dr. Grayback had taught me since I’d left Sydney’s. I was impressed with the Cerberus Securities building, with the large image of the Knights of Hades emblem on the walls--a three headed Cerberus within a circle of chains. I had expected it to be like the Justicar’s leadership building, a place where the powerful displayed their wealth and the legacies of the past. Instead, the headquarters was open, bright and welcoming. The open layout showed the building’s past as a warehouse but it didn’t make the place feel any less secure. At the back, directly across from the front doors, was the large black glass conference table where six other demons waited. Including Bones.

The grounding exercise worked right up until Reaper confirmed my worst, silent fear: Father Xavius is still alive.

My vision starts to darken around the edges and a tight band constricts around my chest. I can’t take a deep breath. I can hardly breathe at all. Dizziness makes me sway in the seat I’dtaken and I do the only thing that makes sense. I look at Bones, knowing in my soul that he will keep me safe. That he’ll keep the panic at bay.

The moment our eyes collide, he’s up on his feet and moving around the table. He never takes his bronze flecked eyes off of me. If any of the others say something, I don’t hear them. The world is too much for me right now, so I focus on Bones. Because he’s big enough to be my entire world. I shouldn’t trust a demon after everything I’d been taught about them, and maybe I don’t trust demons in general. But Bones?

I trust him.

He turns my chair towards him as he crouches, his hands gripping the back of the armrests so I’m caged in. Rather than making my panic worse, I settle down. Like he’s put his massive body between me and the rest of the world. In his arms, surrounded by him I can think.

“Breathe, Sloan,” Bones tells me, his voice not much louder than a rumble. “It’s just you and me here. Talk to me, no one else.”

I inhale deeply like he says, my eyes roving over his hellish facial tattoo. His warm, spicy scent wraps around me and the steely focus of his eyes gives me something to anchor myself to. He gives me another nod of encouragement, letting me take the time to corral my thoughts.

I try to look past Bones towards Reaper, but my stomach knots and my eyes snap back to Bones’. Talking to him doesn’t make my neck go clammy with sweat. I can’t bring myself to say Xavius’s name, but I’m not going to let myself freeze over that. Small steps forward is still moving on.

“He told me I was an amplifier,” I say, my throat dry. I swallow hard before continuing. “That I was able to make someone else’s gifts exponentially stronger.”

No one says anything and the band around my chest loosens and I’m able to keep talking. “It was a couple years after I first joined them because of Paul. After Fath-- -he- started paying more attention to me, Paul stopped spending time with me. I thought I was special. He started having me practice letting him and only two others use me. I hated how it felt, like something wrong was inside of me, how each time it made me want to do...whatever they were doing. Like when you’re strapped down and all you want to do is move but you can’t? That’s how my head felt. But he said it was the burden I had to bear. Then, after I tried to leave, it was worse. I wasn’t special anymore. I was just a tool for them to use.”

When I’m done, I don’t feel ashamed or embarrassed for the demons around me to know how pathetic I’d been. My shoulders lower, some of the constant tension slipping away like silt after a cleansing rain.

“Were you the one to establish contact with the other person?” Bones asks, his tone easy. “Or was someone else always in control?”

My brows furrow. “Amplifiers can’t connect. If someone never connected with me, I’d never even know I had the ability.”

Bones’ blackened lips purse and he darts a look over his shoulder at Reaper. I’m able to follow his gaze without the petrifying nausea from earlier.

Reaper’s face is no more harsh or upset than earlier as he studies me. Except I get the sense he’s trying to guess what theJusticar’s did through me. After a long moment, he asks, “Have you ever experienced someone else’s powers after they broke the connection between you? Like an echo?”

I swallow hard, cold flashing through me. I nod slowly. “The longer I was connected to someone, the longer it’d feel like I still had their powers inside of me. Sometimes, if I concentrated really hard, I’d be able to release it. But I stopped after Father Xavius locked me in my dorm for a week as punishment. He said I must want to steal their powers so until I learned to not give into the temptation of stealing, I’d be kept isolated.”

“Fucking hells,” someone--Blaze maybe?--mutters, disgust evident in his voice.

Reaper nods in acceptance of my answer. He leans forward over the table, both of his massive palms pressed flat to the top. “That’s inline with what I expected. Since the fight at the clubhouse, I’ve had a theory about you. I don’t think you’re an amplifier, not with you confirming your use of the powers outside of a mental connection.”

The knots in my stomach return with vengeance. I look between Reaper and Bones, eyes wide with confusion. “What else could it be? I know I’m human. The Justicars wouldn’t have let me stay with them if I wasn’t. Not even to use me.”

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