Page 24 of True Sacrifice
“Sometimes I forget that isn’t out loud,” he whispered. He didn’t bother to wait for me to catch up to him as he walked down the halls.
“Sorry Justice, I’ll see you later,” I called back apologetically as I hurried into a sprint to catch up.
Short Girl Tip: 2: Never Skip Leg Day.
It amazed me to find that I didn’t quite feel as drained of power as I had a few minutes ago. Guess my little make-out session with Justice was all the rest I needed to power up a little, although I still felt a little weaker than normal.
Jax didn’t slow, nor did he talk to me in either form, as he insisted on walking just slightly ahead of me.
“So can I only send words to your head, or can I send other things too?”Fuck this silence.
“Mostly just words, sometimes a few hints of an image. I’ve only experienced that with you. Usually, the person can’t talk back in their mind unless they have a similar power.”Jax seemed irritated. I wondered if he was, and I was feeling it through one of Justice’s powers or if I was just playing into the tone.
“I can talk back because we share the same power.” It was a simple enough explanation, but Jax didn’t seem thrilled about it.
“We share a lot more powers than just that. Which is why you need to be training, not fraternizing.” Jax took a sharp left into one of the hallways that only appeared at the last second. I believe these are the shortcut hallways Hell sends out whenever you really need to get somewhere else. Sort of like the doorways in the between.
“So, where are we going? Would we need to be in some secretdungeon?”I wondered.
“Justice is the one with the dungeon,”Jax responded.
I meant to keep the dungeon comment as ame onlythought. Ooops. I let mental silence stretch between us for a few beats. I thought about Justice having a dungeon. I wondered if it was more of a fun-geon or like a die-geon.
“Stop thinking thoughts like those,”Jax mentally growled at me. His body halted, and he turned to look at me, clenching and unclenching his fists. He looked like a man about to fall apart.
“Why does it bother you, Jax?”I asked softly. I wanted to know the answer. To have an explanation for the way he treated me since the moment I got here.
“Because I don’t need you flaunting your sex life to me for the next eternity when you should be focused on something.”Hearing his voice out loud made me jump a little in surprise. It was just barely not the same, but the difference was jarring.
“Maybe you can be a wonderful teacher and teach me how to shield myself, so you don’t have to get images unless I actually choose to show you just exactly what you’re missing out on.” His answer had been a cop out and we both knew it.
“Why would I care I am missing out on being with you?” His tone suggested boredom, and that really stung. Maybe he just didn’t want to be with me and the pull I felt was simply one sided.
“Never mind,” I murmured. My mood at once feeling damper.
“It has to be this way.”His voice was low and mournful. A stark contrast to the sharp bite delivered by his tongue moments ago.
“Why?”It was all I really needed. Just an answer. For him to tell me what was so fundamentally wrong with me that even when his entire society said I was the only one for him, he could look at me and say no.
“It just is.”His voice was resolute. He turned and started walking again. There was a doorway just before us. He grabbed the handle, opening the door wide. He was waiting for me to go first.
“That wasn’t an answer, and you owe me an answer,” I said sharply as I strode past him into the room.
It was a bedroom. Stone lined the walls, but they were black as night. The crystals that ran along the top glowed the same red flicking hue as the ones in the hallway at the ball. The bed was donned with black sheets and blankets. It wasn’t made; the covers were simply balled up and thrown onto the bed, along with the pillows.
“My room, my rules,” Jax said, coming up behind me. He was careful not to let any part of us touch, but I could feel him despite the distance.
I turned carefully, making sure not to touch him as I looked up at him. “Fine,” I smirked.
It caught him off guard and his face betrayed him for a split second. I could get under his skin and play his games. Maybe then he would tell me what was going on with him. But I had a feeling it would take some time. Touching was a big thing for him. He had touched me twice now. Maybe that was why he hated me so much, or maybe that was why he didn’t want to be in a relationship.
“Sit down on the bed.” He pointed in case I had missed the giant fucking thing in a room of nearly nothing else. Maybe Hell had like special rooms for all your shit.
I rolled my eyes and went to sit on the end on the bed.
“In the center.” I saw a glimmer of amusement in his eyes, and I figured at least that was progress. I moved into the center, sitting cross-legged on the enormous bed.
Jax smiled, and it felt like a bucket of cold water dumped over me. I didn’t have time to act on instinct before my arms and legs were ripped apart. Ropes were bound to my wrists and ankles. He tied the other ends of the ropes to separate bedposts. I was doing a forced starfish in the middle of this man’s bed.
