Page 78 of Power
That causes his eyes to close briefly. “What is that?”
“Don’t be a dick,” I murmur with a soft smirk. “You are scared that what you’re feeling is real, and you want it. You want it so badly that you are prepared to run away from it just so you don’t get hurt if it doesn’t work out. Listen to me, Finn. Itwillwork out. She knows you. Tell me what happened in here.”
He looks back at Trish with narrowed eyes. “Bailey called for you. I was there, and I heard her. I came in, she was bleeding, and Trish was on the floor. She hit her head on the counter.”
We both look at the bloody countertop.
“Bailey asked me to help her. She took a step forward, but then she stopped. Something made her stop. I don’t know what. She just…stopped.”
“Stopped asking you to help?” My heart is pounding. This is the moment that I’ve wanted, that I’ve craved. She has been stripped bare. Skin, muscle, and bone all laid to waste, and her elite blood is showing through her darkening soul.
Finn nods. “You came in and asked her if everything was okay. She said it was.” He looks back at me, and I meet his gaze. “She said everything was okay. She watched me and said it was okay.”
“Because she gets you, Finn. Your soul is like an intricate tapestry, woven with the finest silk thread. She is plucking away at it, and soon it will unravel, and she will own your darkness. Let her in. Be brave, my sweet boy, and let her in. You want to. I know you do. You crave her like Owen and I do. You want her to take your soul, take your body, and ravage it with her own. You want to get lost in her, drown and be reborn in her image. It’s clawing at you, begging you. Tell me I’m wrong?” I grip his chin tightly, forcing him to look at me. “Tell me I’m wrong, Finn, and you want none of that.”
His bottom lip quivers. “I want that,” he whispers. “I want her. Just her.”
“I know,” I purr. “You’re so brave admitting that to me. I’m so proud of you.” I lean forward and brush my lips against his.
He neither stops me nor encourages me.
“I don’t know how…”
“You don’t need to. She will lead you, and you will follow.”
He nods, accepting that. It takes the burden off him and places it firmly onto Bailey. I don’t think she will mind me throwing this delicate responsibility at her. She is all in with him. If she weren’t, she wouldn’t have let him cut her, and she definitely wouldn’t have let him kill in front of her.
“Do you think she pushed her?” he asks, his eyes going darker.
“No. I think this was an accident, but a fortuitous one. It has brought forth the darkness that lurks inside her. She has accepted who she is and who we are. She is our Queen, and we will worship her as she deserves. Next time, she won’t hesitate to take out her enemies.”
“Next time,” he mutters and pulls away from me to push through the door, leaving me to follow.
Owen should’ve cleared the club by now and hopefully has Bailey halfway back to the penthouse.
We pass the Cleaner on the way out the door. He is methodical, efficient and can remove all traces that this ever happened here. Trish’s treason against Alice, our Queen, will be dealt with at Court, which reminds me.
I fire off a text to Dormouse, informing him that we are postponing until tomorrow night. Bailey is in no fit state to arrive at Court and pretend that everything is fine. She will need to process this. She will need…
I blink and take in the scene in front of me with suspicion.
Bailey flings her arms around a man, Gryphon, as it turns out, before she steps back and slaps his face so hard, I feel it from over here.
“Whoa, way to go, Bailey,” I mutter, trying not to laugh so hard my face will break. Finn and I exchange a look, where I finally see a speck of life in them, dark and amused, but he is letting Bailey pull that thread.
Now we can move forward and drag her under the surface of the vibrant city to reside in our underworld, where she will reign and have all the power.
ChapterForty-Four
Bailey
“You are a wanker,”I spit.
“I know,” he says.
I glare at him. I look exactly like him, except in girl form. Ugh! Ugh!
I fold my arms, feeling all my cuts pulling, but I don’t care. I’m mad. So angry with him, I could kill him.
