Unlike humans, the third species could control their peripheral nervous system. Always had been able to. The vampires were particularly adept at managing their heartbeat, speeding it up if they chose to, or more frequently slowing it down – the same as they could hold their breath. It was used often in attack so that the enemy couldn’t hear them coming. The lycans weren’t as efficient at it as the vampires, but were certainly capable of it to some extent.
Just as they all had accelerated healing. Nothing near the rate of the Higher Order – vampire royalty – though, who had secured their place in Midtown with their offer to help the human race. An offer as flawed as the Global Council’s intentions by writing their privileged position into the regulations – for as long as the Higher Order remained useful.
‘Have you been in this area since the beginning or were you one of the ones shipped in when the regulations came into being?’ she asked.
‘I was shipped in.’
‘Where were you from originally?’
‘Western region. Like many packs, mine were separated. A collection of us were sent here.’
‘Is it true that the Higher Order never consulted other third species over the outing? That they just went ahead with it?’
‘Yes.’
‘You must hate them. Especially with them subjecting you to all of this. I mean, it’s okay for your lycan buddies in locales where they’re in the majority, but you really got the short straw, didn’t you?’
‘We do okay.’
‘But you could do so much better. Still, it was a very clever idea of the Global Council – always ensuring there was a minority group in every locale: make sure none of you rebel against the other. Civil war in one locale and the minorities suffer in another, right?’
‘Ingenious,’ he said, his tone laced with sarcasm as he picked up pace with the ball again.
‘So, how come you assumed leadership when you came here? There must have been others vying for the position.’
‘One or two. We managed to work it out.’
‘Did you fight to the death? I hear that’s what lycans do.’
He glanced across at her. ‘Does Corbin look dead to you?’
‘He fought you for the title?’ she asked, unable to conceal her surprise.
‘Amongst others.’ He looked across at her. ‘You look shocked.’
‘Because you’re so close.’
‘We fought fairly. I won. Corbin had the option to leave the pack if he chose. Or he could be my second in command.’
‘And he doesn’t mind that you won?’
‘It’s not done for personal accolade, Phia. It’s done to decide who is best to lead the pack. It’s in all our best interests to choose the most suitable.’
‘I bet that was quite the battle.’ She paused. ‘What would you have done if Corbin had won?’
He frowned, clearly never having been asked the question before.
‘Because you wouldn’t have stuck around, would you?’ she said. ‘You would have chosen to leave.’
‘And what makes you say that?’
‘Some want to be leaders, some are born that way. You’re definitely the latter. I don’t think you’re capable of playing second in command.’
‘Is that right?’
‘Are you going to deny it?’
He bounced the ball against the wall again.
‘So do
you
think the right lycan won?’ she persisted.
He frowned. ‘What kind of question is that?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe I’m curious as to why you let those lycans set up for killing Arana hand themselves in when you clearly knew the truth. Why not tell them to go to a higher authority? Why let them stay inside for fourteen years?’
‘And what higher authority is that, Phia? The Global Council? Because they’re the only ones higher than the TSCD, as you well know. And even if I did have the ways and means to get direct communication with them, they’re really going to send one of their impartial investigators in here to interview two lycans with the sole purpose of exposing corruption amongst the very system they put in place, aren’t they?’
She shrugged. ‘Caitlin Parish exposed them and she worked for them.’
He continued to rebound the ball off the wall, but now he was doing so a little harder.
‘Do you think it’s true what some are saying?’ she asked, the perfect opportunity having arisen again. ‘That she’s sleeping with Kane Malloy?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘That would be really fucked-up, wouldn’t it?
Really
fucked-up. Them sleeping together – with everything her father, her stepfather, let alone her boyfriend did in setting up Kane’s sister. Come on, Jask. Spill. You were involved with him. You must know. What really goes on in Kane Malloy’s head, huh? Putting those agents behind bars just doesn’t feel right. It’s not his style, from what I’ve heard.’
‘Everyone’s got an opinion on Kane’s style.’
‘But you
know
, don’t you?’
‘
You
ask too many questions.’
‘I have a curious nature. It’s an affliction. And this isn’t your style either, is it, Jask? Tucking those responsible away with the very authorities you despise as much as the rest of Blackthorn does. I know you would have liked to have dealt with them personally.’
His gaze lingered. ‘Like I said – you ask too many questions.’
She hesitated, wondering how far to push it. But these were questions everyone was asking. Everyone who had watched the court case as avidly as she did. And the more insight she got into the psychology of those self-nominated third-species leaders, the better, especially with the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach – instinct telling her Jask still wanted retribution.
‘I’m right though, aren’t I? This isn’t over,’ she said. ‘Putting those agents behind bars
wasn’t
part of the plan. Not yours anyway. Why do I get the feeling it’s not just the TSCD who aren’t happy about Kane and Caitlin’s liaison? Why do I also get the feeling Kane’s not the only one who wanted Caitlin dead? But that agent stuck her neck on the line for you, Jask. She turned in her family, let alone her boss, to do the right thing.’
‘
Or
she did what she could purely to save the lives of those she cared about. Depends how you look at it.’
‘You think she played both you and Kane?’
‘I think we’ve discussed this enough.’
‘But aren’t you just a little concerned that now you’ve given evidence against the TSCD, now they know you knew all along about the set-up – that you disclosed the truth to Kane in the first place – aren’t you scared they’ll turn on you?’
‘With everyone knowing where to point the finger? No one wants an inter-locale outbreak. That’s what will happen if they come after us.’
‘Maybe they’re just biding their time.’
‘Maybe.’ He paused for only a second. ‘What were you talking to Rone about earlier?’
Her heart skipped a beat. ‘Just getting acquainted with the pack. Being friendly. Is that not allowed either?’
‘It didn’t look friendly to me.’
‘It’s very early days to be jealous, Jask.’
‘Considering you talk in your sleep, not at all.’ He glanced at her again, a glimmer of playfulness leaking through the only thing to ease her tension just slightly. ‘So let’s try again,’ he said, turning his attention back on the ball. ‘What were you talking about?’
‘I told him what I thought of him for not letting me go when I asked him to.’
‘So you won’t need to talk to him again, then?’
‘Is that a direct order?’ she asked, finding it hard to curb her indignation that he
still
thought he could control her. ‘Worried I’ll start corrupting your pack? Oh no, hold on – they’d have to be desperate, right?’
She surprised herself at how heavily his comment from earlier still weighed on her mind when it had no place holding any weight at all.
And, from the look in his eyes, the unintentional exposure of hurt had surprised him too.
‘I was tired earlier,’ he said. ‘Irritable. I shouldn’t have said that.’ He caught the ball as it bounced back, only this time he discarded it back onto the mattress. ‘You’re a beautiful girl. It’s just a shame about the attitude – and the whole serryn thing.’
As he caught her eye, her stomach flipped. Stunned by the lack of mocking in his tone, struggling to come up with a retort, she dropped her gaze.
In the sudden silence, she realised just how accustomed she had come to the beat of the ball. Its absence now created a sense of flatlining and all the panic that came with it.
She looked up as she sensed his approach, the shadows enveloping him. She tensed as he pressed his hand against the wall beside her shoulder.
‘Only you don’t act like a serryn,’ he added.
She dared to look him in the eyes. She had to. ‘Met one to know, have you?’ she asked, a question that hadn’t occurred to her until then.
‘No. You’re my first. But I know enough about them to know there’s
definitely
something not right about you.’
‘And what
would
make me right, Jask?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe a little less sensitivity.’
She raised her eyebrows slightly. ‘You think I’m over-sensitive?’
‘I think you feel far more than you should.’ He stared searchingly into her eyes. ‘I don’t think you’ve been at this very long. In fact, I’m fairly sure you haven’t.’
He eased her hand from behind her back. But until she knew his intention, she didn’t protest.
He held it up, palm facing him. With the same hand that held hers, he used his thumb to gently prise each of her fingers from their clenched position to expose the flesh beneath.
‘I hear that the more vampires you have sex with, the stronger you get,’ he said.
She’d read of it too. But she’d read many things about serryns she’d yet to test the theory of.
‘So, as I’d class your attempts against me on the wasteland, in the bathroom, not least on the way to the poolroom as futile, maybe that tells me something too.’
He eased back her ring finger, just enough to make her flinch.
She kept her defiant glare locked on his, determined not to show her panic at what she sensed was the pending torture she had anticipated.
She needed to get out. And not just because of that. He was getting too close. Far too close. And if that was the real reason he’d brought her down there – to interrogate her – then she was rapidly heading towards being screwed. Not least if he decided to drop the well-behaved lycan act fast before she found an exit clause.
Because if he did decide to turn on her, if he did decide enough was enough and he wanted answers, she had no doubt he knew exactly how to get them.
‘There’s one way to tell, you know,’ she said.
‘Which is?’
Before she had time to think it through, before she had time to regret it, she lifted herself onto tiptoes until her lips were less than an inch from his – those firm and shapely masculine lips that she had longed to taste.
Her heart pounded, a shiver raking down her spine as her mouth finally met his.
She wanted to run her fingers through his hair, plaster her other hand against that hard chest as she consumed him.
But this wasn’t personal.
She expected him to shove her away, to withdraw at the very least, but he didn’t.
But he didn’t respond either other than to take the pressure off her finger.
And she
needed
him to respond.
In the seconds that passed, as his lips gradually became more pliable, as he allowed her tongue to meet his, she almost forgot herself. His lips were surprisingly smooth, his mouth warm but fresh, his breaths enticing against her lips. And when he did finally reciprocate, her heart leapt at the connection.
She almost forgot everything as he eventually re-struck the balance, pressing her against the wall, both hands flat against it either side of her head. And as he kissed her back with perfect pressure, took control, his tongue overpowering hers, she
did
forget her intention.
But from the way she instantly sparked, from the heat pooling between her legs, she couldn’t risk lingering any longer than she needed to.
Mid kiss, she bit, puncturing his lower lip.
Jask winced, his fingers instantly meeting his bloodied flesh as he recoiled, allowing her to slip past him.
She backed up towards the open cage door as he spun to face her, his shocked gaze meeting hers.
But regret and guilt were the last emotions she needed to feel, despite them consuming her.
She spat his blood from her mouth. ‘
I’m
not that desperate either,’ she said, before turning away towards the open door.
She needed to stop shaking. She needed out of there.
But she’d barely pivoted 180 degrees before he caught hold of her upper arm.
She looked back at him as he too spat the blood from his mouth. Only there was something deeply feral about the way he did it – almost as feral as the look in his eyes.
Her stomach flipped.
He didn’t need to say anything. The grip he had on her arm told her all she needed to know. There was making a mistake and then there were almighty Phia-style fuck-ups. And this was most definitely the latter.
Yet as he glared at her, all she could ask herself over and over again was why she didn’t feel the slightest bit afraid.
Damn it if he didn’t press every single one of her lethal little buttons.
Her arousal surged as he licked the inside of his wounded bottom lip, his gaze unflinching. But no more so than when he tutted in a way that was entrancingly sexy, not helped by his eyes betraying something behind the anger.
‘Apologise,’ he said softly.
‘I’m sorry I didn’t bite harder.’
He exhaled off the back of a fleeting smile that should have chilled her to her core. But as Jask backed her up against the bars, all she could feel was the heat accumulating at the pit of her abdomen again, let alone between her legs.
As her back met metal, he clutched the bars either side of her shoulders, trapping her. ‘Apologise,’ he said again, his tone lower.
Her pulse throbbed in her ears, but she didn’t dare take her eyes off him. She lifted her lips to his. ‘I’m
not
going to apologise and I’m sure as hell
not
going to beg for mercy. So do something about it or walk away.’