Page 199 of The Midnight Order
“She came into the diner, asking for directions. She was lost. We thought for so long that fate lured her here. That she was our central bond, but if it did, I don’t know what the purpose was. Especially with how it all ended.”
I bite my cheek. “Do you think she came here on purpose?”
He shrugs, reaching up to tuck my hair behind my ear. “Why would she?”
“I don’t know. With how it ended, I wonder if she had an ulterior motive.”
“In our world, nearly everyone does, Silver.”
A shiver races down my spine at my name spilling from his lips.
“She could be vile, so I wasn’t surprised when everything went belly up.”
“Vile, how?”
“She knows Corvin hates to celebrate his immortality. Still, she lured Asher into baking him things for his birthday. Any weak points she found, she’d press her fingers into. It was like she was trying to create a fracture.”
“Why? It makes no sense if she loved all of you.”
“Again, I don’t know. It would make sense if she came here for an ulterior motive, but my mind can’t seewhyshe would.”
Turning on his side, he flips me on my back. A slick grin curls his lips, his dimples drilling deeper as he searches my face for something. “No more talk of other women tonight. You’re the only woman I ever want to talk about again.”
My mouth opens to argue that’s not feasible, not with all the things happening around us that tie to other women, but the piercing look in his eyes makes me compliant. I nod.
“Good. I heard you can be such a good girl when you want to be.”
I gasp. “Who told you that?”
A laugh falls from his mouth, and even he looks surprised. “You did, in a way.”
“I’m sick of all of you eavesdropping on my business.”
“Nothing you do in this manor will ever be personal again, Ms. Tenebris. You’re ours.”
“I like that.”
“Do you?”
Biting my lip, I nod. “I do. I should be worried about my life back home and what my associates could do right now to flounder all I’ve worked for, but that doesn’t seem real anymore. This world is all that seems tangible. It’s all-consuming. Before, it felt like a ruse. Something Soliel dropped me into to keep me chasing my tail. Like I was a mouse in a cage. Belonging to all of you is all I want. All I want to strive for. It’s like I’m burning, and only the love from the four of you can extinguish the flames.”
“Pretty words,” he whispers, running his nose along my throat.
I swallow. “I mean them.”
“I know you do, Sweet Silver. Your heart rate never faltered while you spoke. You’re always so honest with us. So perfect.”
“I’m not perfect,” I manage, my voice shaking as he hovers near my mouth, licking his lips.
The black lines of hunger slither through his face as he expels a breath, quelling them. “You are to us.”
“Oh God.” I look down as Jasper’s hand nips under my nightgown, his nails raking into the thigh where Asher fed not long ago.
“Are you sore?” he asks, prodding at the wound that only another vampire could find.
“Deliciously.”
With a dark chuckle, he takes my lips. His kiss is a distraction from every bit of information I’ve been trying to get out of him.
