Page 28 of Wicked Chains
"So what's stopping you?" I challenge, tilting my chin up. "Why not just take what you want? You’re an incubus, right? That’s what you do, as you’ve let me know."
His eyes darken. "Because I want you to ask for it." His fingers finally touch my cheek, just barely. "I want to hear you say my name when you're ready to surrender everything to me."
I should step away. I should walk out the door and never look back. Instead, I find myself leaning into his touch, drawn to him despite everything I know about what he is.
Testing him.
Tempting him.
Then, abruptly, he pulls back, putting too much distance between us, and I blink at the suddenness. It feels like a rejection.
"You should go," he says. "Before this goes somewhere we'll both regret."
"Will we?" I ask. "Regret it?"
He turns away, smoothing his dark hair. "You're not ready for what I am, Rose. Not really. And I'm not in the business of hand-holding."
It stings.
I turn to leave, my hand on the doorknob.
"Rose," he calls after me. I look back to find his expression serious for once, the mockery gone. "Be careful around Ash. He wants more than just your magic."
I don't ask what he means. I'm not sure I want to know.
Thirteen
Rose
I leave Soren's office with my head spinning. His words follow me down the hallway. What does he mean, I’m not ready for what he is? The worst part is that he might be right. Between Ash claiming ownership of my magic, Drake vanishing again, and Soren's cryptic warnings, I'm starting to feel like I'm no more than a plaything to all of them. I just need one person—one single person—in this whole damn academy who isn't playing games with me.
I turn down a corridor that leads to the administrative wing, taking the long way back to the dorms to clear my head. The halls are quieter here, most students and faculty avoiding the area where the Blood Moon leadership has set up shop.
Voices drift from around the corner, and they are hushed but obviously angry. I slow down, pressing my back against the wall as I recognize the menacing tone of Ash as he speaks, and the clipped precision of Lucien's response.
"You do realize you’re painfully obvious," Ash is saying. "The way you look at her? The way you hover around her like some pathetic dog?"
"I'm following your directive," Lucien replies, his voice tense. "You wanted her watched. I'm watching her. Just as I did for Victoria."
Ash laughs. "Is that what you tell yourself? You've been alive for centuries, de Lacroix. Do you not know devotion when you see it?"
I inch closer, careful to stay hidden. Through the gap between the wall and a column, I can just make out their profiles. Lucien stands with his back straight, hands clasped behind him, while Ash leans casually against the wall, every inch the conqueror at ease in his new kingdom.
"Your entire existence here is a joke," Ash continues, his tone almost conversational now. "The great Lucien de Lacroix, vampire nobility, serving the covens for what? Not for power. Not for protection. Certainly not for revenge." He pushes off from the wall, stepping closer to Lucien. "No, you're here for a girl. A broken, orphaned little witch who doesn't even want you."
I watch a muscle twitch in Lucien’s jaw, but he says nothing.
"You could have fled with the rest of your Crescent Moon allies," Ash says, circling Lucien. "But you stayed, knowing I could kill you at any moment, all to protect her." He shakes his head. "It's almost sweet. Pathetic, but sweet."
Could it be true? Could Lucien have aligned himself with Ash just to protect me?
"Are we finished?" Lucien asks, his voice cold enough to freeze hell.
"For now." Ash adjusts his cuffs. "Just remember your place, vampire. And remember that Rose Smith belongs to me."
"Her magic belongs to your coven," Lucien corrects, and there's something dangerous in his tone now. "That's all the Accord provides."
Ash's smile widens. "We'll see." He glances toward where I'm hiding, and I shrink back, holding my breath. After a moment, he turns and walks away, in the opposite direction from where I stand.
