Page 129 of Wicked Games

“Why?” He doesn’t try to stop me as I gently pull him to his feet.

“No reason.”

I don’t want to tell him it’s to get him away from the bullet holes and blood. We might be used to this kind of thing, but as far as I know, Felix isn’t.

He’s held himself together so far, but the shock is only going to last so long, and I don’t want him surrounded by reminders of what happened when it wears off.

“Thanks for fixing me up, kid.” Jace stands and smacks a kiss against Felix’s forehead. “You go with Killer, okay?”

He nods woodenly but lets me tug him away from the car. “He realizes I’m only a year younger than him, right?”

“Yeah, but think of it like someone else calling their friends hun or sweetie. It’s a term of endearment for him.”

“Yeah, kid is better. Hearing him call anyone hun or sweetie would be terrifying,” he says in that same faraway monotone.

“Look at me,” I say when we’ve stopped.

He lifts his gaze, and I see the exact moment he shuts down and all the emotion fades from his eyes and is replaced with that blank look that’s all too familiar.

Instead of trying to snap him out of it, I tug him against my chest and hold him.

He clings to me and presses his face into my neck.

“Don’t ever do that again,” he whispers.

“Do what?” I ask, my gut twisting.

I don’t need him to tell me I fucked up and we should have been prepared for this. We know someone is after him, and we got careless.Igot careless, and this is all my fault.

“Run into danger like that.” He squeezes me so hard he forces the breath out of my lungs. “Not for me.”

“Sorry, can’t promise that.” My voice is thin since he’s still squeezing me, making it hard to pull in a breath. “I protect what’s mine.”

He lifts his face out of my neck and glares at me, some of his fire back. “So do I, and in case you haven’t figured it out, you’remine. And I’ll kill you myself if something happens to you because you tried to save me.”

I can’t stop my smile, and that just makes him glare harder.

“You think I’m joking?”

“No,” I tell him. “I know you’re not. I’m just loving this side of you. My angry kitten.”

The corner of his lips ticks up a few times, like he’s fighting his own smile. “This isn’t a joke.”

“I’m not joking. I know you think me calling you kitten is some sort of insult, but it’s not.” I put my lips next to his ear and lower my voice. “I call you that because you remind me of a feral cat. You’re either completely indifferent and judgmental as hell, or you’re all claws and teeth and ready to tear into anyone who gets in your way. It takes a bit of work to get you to retract the claws or put the indifference away, but that just makes it so much sweeter when you do.”

“No fair,” he grumbles. “I’m trying to be mad at you, and you’re saying all these nice things so I can’t stay mad.”

I huff out a laugh and drop a kiss just under his ear. “Just calling it like I see it.”

Jax breaks away from where he’s standing with Xave and Jace and jogs over to us.

“Team should be here in ten,” he says.

I nod. I want to ask if they’ve figured anything else out, but I keep quiet. I don’t want to hide things from Felix, but he’s not in the right frame of mind to hear that conversation right now.

Jax looks between me and Felix, then gives us a quick smile and jogs back over to his brother and Xave.

“Team?” Felix asks and rests his cheek on my shoulder.

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