Page 240 of Shadowman
“What are you writing?” I ask Trevel, attempting to distract myself.
“A poem,” he answers with a smirk, though he doesn’t even pause what he’s doing.
“No shit,” I grumble, and he chuckles. “What’s it about?”
Wet flesh and growls of thunder…
Like the storm, I felt him in my bones.
Trevel looks up from his writing, violet gaze darkened with the fire’s glow. “You.”
Slip between the trees with me…
Fall for me like rain.
Fight me back, sweet fury…
And I’ll fight for you.
I swallow hard. “Me?”
He nods slowly. There are way too many things littering my thoughts, but he’s at the forefront. He has to be… He’s all I have, now more than ever.
But the thing is, I’m conflicted, between wanting to keep this, hold on to it with everything I’ve got… And fearing it’ll smash me to pieces.
It’s just another thing I’ve been trying not to dwell on, because it’s a lot of pressure on a new relationship that I’m not even confident we’re actually having. We weren’t supposed to be a couple, but now it feels like we’ve been thrust together in this crazy fucking situation, and I don’t know what any of it means.
What is this?
What are we doing?
Whoare you, violet eyes?
Before either of us can speak, The Ivory appears at the entrance to the room. I’m instantly anxious as he stalks over to where we’re sitting, stopping to peer down at us.
His dark eyes take in my book, lips twitching. “Enjoying it?”
I glance at the book I’m gripping nervously—Beneficial Brainwashingby Dr. Melvin Strange. “It’s, uh… odd.”
The Ivory’s smirk widens, and he huffs. “I need to speak with you about something very important.” He turns without waiting for a response, waltzing away casually. “Follow me. Both of you.”
We jump up and scurry after him, apprehension eating at my insides with every step. He leads us down a long corridor I’ve never seen, into a large room. From the look of it, it’s meant to be a dining room—there’s a long table with lots of chairs, with chandeliers hanging above. Except it isn’t set for dinner…
There are papers all over the place, some like blueprints. A few men sit at the far-end of the table, their conversation coming to a halt when we enter the room.
The Ivory gestures to a chair. “Have a seat.”
We do what he says, sitting beside one another. As soon as my ass is in the chair, Trevel’s hand is on my thigh. It’s my only source of comfort, and that still worries me.Greatly.
But I don’t have time to think about it. Because The Ivory is coming up behind me…
Stiffening, I can’t stop picturing him whipping out a knife and slitting my throat. Not sure why he’d do that, but I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop since he allowed me, aprisoner, to stay in his home.
I feel him behind me, my skin hot and itchy all over. Fear, and memories of other sensations weave through me as his fingers brush my neck. I’m bracing myself for pain when he touches my collar. But instead, I hear a faint beep, and the collar loosens. He removes it slowly from around my throat, and my brow furrows.
Huh…?
The Ivory takes the seat opposite me, placing my collar on the table while I just stare. “I’m going to need you to do something for me, Byron,” he says calmly. “Officer Chevelle and his men are in the prison. They’ve hijacked the armory and are… making things very complicated for us right now. I need to know the extent of the damage so we can work on repairing it, but they won’t let us get close.” He pauses, charcoal irises boring deep. “I need you to go over there. I needyouto go inside the prison and speak to them.”
