“You’re still having nightmares,” the shadow said.
At the sound of the familiar voice, fear gave way to rage so potent that it tasted like battery acid. I was on my feet before I knew it.
“Blake,” I spat.
Chapter 4
Katy
My brain clicked off and something a hell of a lot more primitive and aggressive took over. I felt the horrible, sinking sense of betrayal. Swinging out, my fist connected with what felt like Blake’s cheekbone. It wasn’t a girlie hit, either. Every bit of anger and pent-up hatred I felt toward him was packed into that punch.
He let out a startled groan as white-hot pain danced across my hand. “Katy—”
“You bastard!” I swung again, my knuckles slamming into his jaw this time.
He let out another grunt of pain as he staggered back. “Jesus.”
I spun, grabbing for a tiny lamp beside the bed, and without warning, the overhead light came on. I wasn’t sure how it did. If my abilities didn’t work in here, then Blake’s shouldn’t, either. The sudden glare caught me off guard, and Blake took advantage.
He sprang forward, forcing me to back away from the lamp. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he warned.
“Go screw yourself.” I swung at him again.
He caught my fist and twisted. Sharp pain shot up my arm, and I let out a surprised gasp. He spun me around, and I kicked out. Letting go of my arm, he narrowly avoided the thrust of my knee. “This is ridiculous,” he said, hazel eyes narrowed. Anger churned the green flecks.
“You betrayed us.”
Blake sort of shrugged, and, well, I sort of lost my shit again.
I launched myself at him like some kind of ninja—a really lame ninja, because he easily dodged my attack. My left leg banged into the bed, and the very next second, he slammed into my back. Air punched out of my lungs as I toppled forward, hitting the bed on my side, bouncing it against the wall.
His knees went down on the mattress as he grabbed hold of my shoulders, rolling me onto my back. I slapped at his arms, and he let out a curse. Rearing up, I swung at him once more.
“Stop it,” he growled, grabbing my wrist. The next moment he had hold of my other one. Stretching my arms above my head, he leaned over me, bringing his face within inches of mine, and spoke low. “Stop it, Katy. There are cameras everywhere. You can’t see them, but they are there. They are watching right now. How do you think the lights just came on? It’s not magic, and they will flood this whole room with onyx. I don’t know about you, but I don’t find that very appealing.”
I struggled to push him off, and he shifted his weight so that his knees pressed into my legs, trapping them. Panic was a slow crawl inside me, causing my pulse to jump. I didn’t like his weight on me. It reminded me of how he had snuck into my house at night and slept beside me. How he’d watched me sleep. Nausea rose swiftly, and the panic grew. “Get off me!”
“I don’t know. You’re likely to hit me again.”
“I will!” I bucked my hips, but he didn’t move, and my heart was racing so fast, I was sure I was going to have a heart attack.
Blake gave me a little shake. “You need to calm down. I’m not going to hurt you. Okay? You can trust me.”
Eyes wide, I let out a strangled laugh. “Trust you? Are you insane?”
“You really don’t have a choice.” Bronze-colored hair fell over his forehead. Usually it was styled in that artfully messy way, but it looked like he’d run out of hair gel today.
I wanted to hit him again, and I strained against his hold, getting nowhere. “I’m going to break your face!”
“Understandable.” He pushed down, eyes narrowing. “I know we don’t have the most stable relationship—”
“We don’t have any relationship. We have nothing!” Breathing heavily, I willed my muscles to stop trembling. Several moments passed as he stared down at me, nostrils flared and mouth set in a hard, grim line. I wanted to look away, but to do so was a weakness, and that was the worst thing I could show. “I hate you.” It seemed pointless to say that, but it made me feel better.
He flinched, and when he spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper. “I hated lying to you, but I had no choice. Whatever I would’ve told you, you would’ve told Daemon and the other Luxen. And I couldn’t let that happen. Neither could Daedalus. But we aren’t the bad guys here.”
I shook my head, dumbfounded and pissed beyond belief. “You are the bad guys! You set us up! From the very beginning. It was all leading to this. And you helped them. How could you?”
“We needed to.”
“This is my life.” Tears of anger swelled in my eyes because I had no control over my life now, partly thanks to him, and I struggled to keep my voice level. “Was any of it true? Chris? You wanting to get him out of here?”
Blake didn’t say anything for a long moment. “They would’ve let Chris go at any time. The story of them holding him against his will was just that—a story to make you sympathize with me.”
“Son. Of. A. Bitch,” I hissed.
“I was sent to make sure the mutation held. They didn’t know what my uncle and Dr. Michaels were planning, but once they knew that the mutation had held, they needed to know who mutated you and how strong it was. That’s why I came back after the night…the night you and Daemon let me go.”
Our compassion that night had been the final nail in our coffins. It was so ironically sad. I wanted to claw his eyes out.