Page 20 of The Hero Within
He could breathe again, but it didn't help remove the weight on his shoulders. This was a bad idea. A terrible idea. "What makes you think I want your forgiveness?"
"CJ has a theory you won't hurt me," she said slowly, as she watched him tense. "He thinks you owe me a debt."
"You're betting an awful lot on a kid's presumption."
"Maybe. Why did you save Adam? He told me everything that happened between the two of you in Rust City." Eden's lashes obscured her dangerous green eyes. "You risked your own life to rescue him."
Fuck. Colton reached for the bottle and swallowed fiercely. He needed time to think. "McClain and I were locked in warg cages. We needed each other to escape. It had shit-all to do with owing him a debt. I was trying to get out of there myself."
"You're lying."
He slammed the bottle down. "Why do you even want to cross the Divide? No sane person would attempt it. Even the fucking reivers do their best to avoid it."
"Because I'm desperate! My niece has the salt plague. She's got around twelve days before it takes her life. You might remember the girl. You kidnapped her for Bartholomew Cane a few years ago to use as bait to draw Luc into Cane's trap. It's Luc's daughter. The one that sang your praises when Luc and Riley rescued her, and told everyone who'd listen how you'dpromised hershe wouldn't be hurt. At least that was one promise you seemed to be able to keep."
Lily Wade.Shit. All he could see was a little girl with blonde hair and big, scared eyes. He'd never been able to stop Cane when the psychopath set upon a course of action, but sometimes he'd been able to soften the blow and protect the ones Cane meant to crush.
Sometimes.
"If I can't find a cure to save her then Luc intends to infect her with the warg curse," Eden continued in a hard voice. "That kid out there—the one that presumes too much—just told me if they have to infect Lily, then he'll give her his amulet to stop her from turning into a monster. And so her father doesn't have to."
A virtual fucking death sentence for the boy. He wouldn't be able to stop himself from turning without it, and then he'd be the monster in the night every human sought to kill. The boy wouldn't be able to stop himself from craving the death of everyone he loved, and somebody would put a bullet in his head before he made it two steps. A muscle jumped in Johnny's jaw. "Kid's a hero."
"That makes one of you."
"It does."
"Fine. You won't help me? Then let's play it your way. All I have to do is tell the men in this bar exactly what they have in their midst," Eden continued in a low voice. "The whole town's full of bounty hunters who are used to hunting wargs. How far do you think you'd get if I stand up and start shouting you're a warg?"
Puta madre—He sat back down with thump, and leaned closer to her. "That's a dangerous threat to make, angel. Considering who you're traveling with."
"CJ's no longer in town. He's waiting for me on the outskirts, and he knows what to do if he starts hearing gunshots."
"Well, you have thought of everything. Except this...." Johnny captured her wrist with lightning efficiency and hauled her forward, until their faces almost touched. "If he's not here, then what's to save you from me? Think I can shut you up before you get a chance to even draw breath?" He let himself smirk. "Because I do."
"This."
Something nudged against his upper thigh beneath the table. A little electric whine began to hum.
The Taser.
It was a hairsbreadth from his balls.
He met those fierce green eyes.
Edendaredhim to do it.
His balls felt like they hitched right into his gut, as if to try and protect themselves.
"You won't hurt me," she said with soft assurance. "That's the other thing that stands out from the night you dragged me from my bed. You went to great lengths to make sure I wasn't scared."
Oh, so the little witch thought she knew him? Thought she could control him?
Time to turn the tables on her.
"I was a little younger."And you were an angel, taunting me with thoughts of everything I knew I'd never have. He flashed back to the night their lives took a dangerous turn, when Eden McClain sat up in bed, clad in a thin linen nightshirt, and for the first time in his life a young Johnny Colton knew what it was to feel longing for something he couldn't quite explain. "Maybe I'm not that man anymore."
"Maybe." She leaned closer, her breath stirring against his lips. "But maybe you want to be."
