Page 26 of Twisted Desire

I swallow hard, hesitating. “Yes,” I finally say through my teeth. “We have a deal.”

7

Staring at the dark wood vault ceilings, I let my arm dangle off the edge of the front pew. The lights hanging from thick beams above me are dim enough I could easily close my eyes and fall asleep, but I don’t dare with the fae on their way here.

“You good?” Nikolai asks, having walked away from the group to crouch beside me.

“Yep,” I answer. “Just killing time.”

“You look like shit, kitten.”

I turn my head on the cushioned bench to face him. “Quit flirting with me,” I remark sarcastically.

He laughs and reaches over to brush the hair away from my face before I can think to stop him. “You need to rest is all I’m saying.”

I sit up, and Nikolai rises then sits beside me to ask, “Are we letting Jax run this show?”

My nose wrinkles at the thought. “I suppose we should. He knows these people, right?”

Nik nods.

“Then yes. We’ll share what we know, let Jackson woo them or whatever the hell he’s got planned to get them on our side, and then we’ll go over the plan.”

He mock salutes me, and I elbow him in the side.

“I know you’re not happy about the deal we made with Jax. Neither am I.”

“We didn’t exactly have a choice,” I mutter. “We needed that list. We’ll have to face the consequences as they come and hope to hell that it’s worth it.” We emailed the list to the other groups before coming to the church. As much as I want to kill Jax for keeping it from us, it’s going to save us a lot of time. Allison was able to work with the other group leaders and coordinate attack plans for a lot of the facilities on the list, some of which were ones we’d already shut down.

“You’re right. We—”

“What was that?” I ask with a smirk.

He gives me a look. “You. Are. Right.” He slowly leans in closer with each word. By the last word, his nose is almost touching mine.

My breath halts, but I force a confident grin. “Tell me something I don’t know,” I murmur.

“We’re going to have hot, mind-blowing—”

“Are you guys all set?” Allison calls from across the room where she’s been talking to Jackson and Monica while Oliver wanders around the sanctuary, looking at the old stained-glass windows.

I move away from Nikolai, sucking in a breath, and shrug. “Sure. How long do we have?”

She checks her phone. “About fifteen minutes.”

“Cool,” I say, getting up before glancing back at Nikolai. “Was there more to this conversation or what?”

“To which part?”

With a sharp glare, I turn back around and head for the door at the front of the room, hoping for a quiet space until this shitshow starts. Walking into what I assume is a sermon prep room of some sort, I start to close the door, but Nikolai manages to slip inside before I can.

“We’re not done,” he announces, closing the door behind him.

“I’m not sure what else there is to say right now.”

Nikolai walks over to me, lifting his fingers to graze my cheek. “Would you do it? Become human?”

My forehead creases. “I... Why do you ask? Wouldyou?”

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