Page 114 of The Midnight Order
I rub my temples, knowing I will need the entire bottle of bourbon before this is over. “Didn’t he tell you that you couldn’t come?”
“He did.”
“And you decided to damn us both and come anyhow?”
“He won’t do anything to you. I will be to blame. I’ll take his punishment.” She juts her chin up in defiance and misguided pride.
It’s cute, it truly is, but it won’t save her.
“No, he’ll kill me and burn the pieces and then punish you after he’s made you watch. I don’t think you know who you’re dealing with, Silver.”
Genuine fear finally enters her eyes, and it’s not misplaced. Lowell is far older than I am, and he’s my maker. I physically can’t go against him, nor do I have the will to.
But he’s well within his rights by vampiric law to kill me for disobeying an order.
“I should be allowed to go. It’s me you’re going to learn about. It’s my business.”
“While I sympathize with your plight, Silver, I have to uphold Lowell’s wishes, and he told me you weren’t allowed to go.”
“I’m not a five-year-old, Jasper. He doesn’t own me; I can go where I please!”
“Can you?!” A snarl rips through the jet, and it has my knees itching to bend in respect as I look over Silver’s shoulder to see Lowell prowling closer.
Silver turns, taking a step back into me as she takes in a form I haven’t seen in nearly a century.
We affectionately refer to this part of Lowell asSlayer. His eyes are black, devoid of emotion or even a drop of humanity. His fangs are fully descended, and every vein in his body thrums at the surface of his flesh, anger filling the room as it radiates from him.
“Did you bring her here?” he asks me, and I swallow thickly.
“No, sire. I did not. I hadn’t the faintest idea she was here until Tony brought her aboard.”
Silver glances over her shoulder at me, and the look could kill.
But it’s not as painful as what Lowell promises if I say one thing wrong, so I ignore her and keep my eyes locked on my maker.
“Silver, I forbade you from coming here. And yet, here you stand.”
She keeps silent.
It’s the first intelligent thing I’ve seen her do.
“You snuck out of my bed, replaced your warmth with a pillow, and disobeyed a direct order,” he continues.
Silver’s breathing hitches, but there’s an undercurrent coasting through her that I can’t quite put my finger on. Well, I can put my finger on it, but I can’t believe it.
There’s no way this little minx has caused all this and dares to be aroused by Lowell’s anger. Is there?
One deep inhale of her perfume tells me my assumption is wrong, and I don’t know if that will help or harm her case, but I hope for the former.
“You don’t own me, Lowell. I have the right to learn about myself. I only wanted to be there when Jasper was researching.”
Lowell ignores me behind Silver as if I’m not here, and I’m fine with that.
I’d love to keep my head, even if it has a cursed mask.
He’s chest to chest with her now, looking down at her through black eyes as his lip curls up over his fang. “I don’t own you?”
I hear her swallow, even though it wasn’t audible. “No. You don’t. I give myself to you four freely, but it doesn’t give you the right to boss me around.”
