Page 124 of Drown Like Heaven
“I don’t like it,” I lied, adjusting my hips on the seat as my cock thickened.
“You used to be such a better liar.”
“Maybe I just don’t care about how well I’m lying right now.”
“Right.” His hand fell to the armrest of the chair, palm smacking the leather. “Because when do you give a fuck about anything other than yourself? When do you doanythingother than chase your next high?”
“Fuck you.” I stood up. Micah stood up, too. We were almost exactly the same height. His chest was rising and falling quicker now, his pupils expanding.Yeah, I know you’re still affected by me, you piece of shit.“I was being nice by coming here.”
“No. You weren’t.”
“I wasn’t?” Livid darkness clawed at my mind, crackling on my skin.Dangerous. “I could’ve just let him kill you. Unaware,unobservant, living like a human. You’re a sitting duck, Micah. This warning was me being generous.”
“You’re gloating. You want me to beg you for something,” he growled, stalking towards me. I held my ground.
“It might be nice. Like old times.”
“Like old times,” he scoffed. “Because that turned out so well for you.”
“Not my fault you can’t handle real shit.”
“Is that how you feel?”
No. “Strongest Sigeian still can’t touch a Thrausian.”
“You think you’re so fucking tough, don’t you.”
If I’d been expecting what he did next, I would’ve done anything to stop it.
But, unfortunately, he knew that. I didn’t get a second to prepare.
His fist swung out fast, connecting with my jaw so hard I swore I heard the crack of my bone.
The instant the wave of ensuing rage surged in my mind, fractures splitting through my consciousness, blackness stealing my thoughts, electricity spearing my veins, I felt him.
In my fucking skull.
My eyes shot to his.
“I hate that you’re making me do this,” he gritted out, chest heaving, pinning me where I stood with his glare. “I fucking despise it, Mason. I chose my life, and I didn’t choosethis. I left my aspect behind for the life I’ve built now. But you’re so goddamn predictable. Anything canset you off.”
I couldn’t breathe. His control was like a fist grabbing onto the threads of my mind, holding me together. I was raw, exposed, furious. He wasguttingme.
“You—”
“Kill Aamon or I’ll push you over that edge so fucking fast you won’t be able to ever claw your way back up.”
Kill Aamon or I’ll make you kill yourself.
Micah wasn’t as bad as I’d remembered him. He wasworsethan I’d remembered him. So much worse.
And he’d just crossed a line neither of us had ever dared to touch before—using my own aspect against me.
His deception had only grown, thickened, over the years I hadn’t seen him. He was the picture of control, of sharp morality, of cold knowledge. He’d always been like that, but it was more honed now, his image more perfectly curated to deceive. But underneath that cool, sleek exterior, was something evil.
A predator.
I shoved past him out of the house, breathing hard and heavy as I felt his control slip away from my mind. The fractures from earlier were still there, and I shut my eyes, thinking of Dakota with every molecule in my body, feeling for that thread of her soul. It wasn’t nearly as reliable as having Micah reach into my brain and hold me together himself, but I wantedherto be the one to do it.
