“No one’s dying,” I say.
Cruz glances at the wall again.“Wall might disagree.”
Despite myself, a laugh slips out.It’s small, rusty, and barely there.But it’s real.
Both twins look at me.Knox looks like the sound hurt him.Cruz looks like he just learned a secret.
I clear my throat and crouch to gather the scattered supplies.“I’m going home.”
The words surprise me.Knox doesn’t stop me.That surprises me even more.He only bends, picks up the gauze I missed, and sets it on the bar.
“Briana,” he says.I pause near the end of the counter.His eyes meet mine.“Tell Aldron about the symbol in the morning.”
Cruz’s expression sharpens.“What symbol?”
Knox ignores him.I should be angry that he doesn’t ask.That he has turned it into an instruction again.But this time, his voice is different.Not controlling but trusting me to do it.
“I will,” I say.
He nods, and that should be the end of it.I should walk away.Instead, because I am tired and angry and apparently determined to make questionable choices around Minotaurs, I say, “And Knox?”
His entire focus locks on me.Dangerous and addictive.“Yes?”
“I’m still not afraid of you.”
His eyes darken, but this time they don’t go black.This time, something warmer moves through them.Something that looks too much like hope before he buries it.
“You should be,” he says.
“Maybe tomorrow.”I turn and walk toward the elevator before my courage notices what I have done and abandons me completely.
I feel Knox watching me the entire way.Not like cracked glass.Not like a victim.But like a woman walking out of the dark on her own two feet.And for the first time since the vampires took me, the thought of being watched doesn’t make me feel hunted.
It makes me feel seen.
Chapter Two
