Page 2 of Speak No Evil

“That’s twice I’ve had to kick you in the balls to knock some sense into you.” I stand over him, feeling zero percent sorry for doing so. “Quit being so fucking aggressive all the goddamn time, and I won’t have to do it again.”

I give it a five-count and move on. “Now, if you’re done being a baby, we can talk about this like fucking adults.”

God, for being so damn old, Vrahs sure acts out a lot.

He rights himself, jaw set, mouth in a thin line, and I take that to mean he’s open to hearing what I have to say.

And if it doesn’t?

Well, I don’t really give a shit.

I eye him, anger rising at his assumption. And despite myself, despite wanting to tell him exactly how fucked it is that he would presume my guilt without a second thought or probing question, I assert my innocence to him.

Aggressively.

“I have just as much to lose as anyone,” I say, staring up at him, finger an inch from his chest. “I want the city pulled out of nullspace and vulnerable to any Tom, Dick, or Harry strolling in and asking questions about us as much as I’d like a root canal in my ass, so get off your self-righteous, finger-pointing high horse and help me figure out what the fuck we’re gonna do about it.” It rushes out in one breath, and for a moment, the weight of his accusation falls away.

But relief is short-lived.

The barbed wire is back, but Vrahs didn’t put it there.

I did.

Because with my monologue came a revelation.

Safety is a luxury. One you can only recognize as such when it’s ripped away.

And I didn’t know how safe I felt here in Blackwood until now. Until someone started pulling us out of nullspace. Figures it would take me trying to convince Vrahs I didn’t do this to remind me how much Ireallydon’t want this. How much there is at stake.

And my snarky little diatribe turned this from just another problem to solve to something tangible. Something far more dangerous.

I can’t compartmentalize it.

And suddenly, I can’t get a full breath. I grip the counter next to me, sucking in over and over, but my lungs just won’t inflate.

“She’s hyperventilating,” Ryker says and guides me to a chair.

“Slow and steady breaths, Jade. Slow and steady.” Thorne’s calm voice hardly makes a dent in my racing thoughts.

If whoever’s behind this pulls the city out of nullspace entirely, then everyone is at risk.

Veruca, from whoever she’s hiding from.

AJ’s fae family might find her and drag her back to the fae city.

And...

Well, I only have two friends, but every supe in Blackwood is at risk.

Including me.

The second my coven finds out where I am, they’ll put me in front of a full court and...

And they’ll force me to take a...

My vision goes blurry at the edges as my chest fills with concrete, lungs refusing to bellow outward.

Oh god. I can’t. I can’t go back there.

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