Including himself.
“Knox!”My voice cracks through the room.
He stops.One foot from the box.His back rises and falls with each breath.The muscles beneath his shirt bunch and strain.His horns nearly scrape the hanging light above him.
I swallow hard.“If you break that,” I say, “they win.”
His head turns slowly.Black eyes find mine, and I force myself to stand straight.
“They sent it to make me afraid.To make you lose control.To remind all of us that they can reach me.”My voice trembles, but I keep going.“Don’t give them what they want.”
For a moment, no one breathes.Then Knox laughs.It’s not a human sound.It’s bitter, broken, and terrible.“They sent a collar for your throat,” he says.
“I know.”
“They have your blood.”
“I know.”
“They want you back.”
“I know.”
The words are sharp blades, each one cutting deeper than the last.But I do know.I know all of it, and I am still here.
His claws scrape against his palms.“I can’t stand here and do nothing.”
“Then do something useful.”
His eyes narrow, but anger is better than losing him completely.
I point at the box with a hand that only shakes a little.“Find out what it is.What magic is on it?What message did they hide in it?Who touched it?Where it came from.”
Aldron goes very still.Krishka’s eyes sharpen.Akasha steps closer to the bar.But Knox doesn’t move.
I look only at him.“Break it later,” I say.“When it has nothing left to tell us.”
His breathing slows by a fraction.Not much, but enough.
The horns remain.The black in his eyes remains.But the wild edge of the room lessens, as the whole building exhales.
Cruz murmurs, “Well, damn.”
Ari whispers, “I love her.”
Malichai says, “Of course you do.”
I ignore all of them.Knox stares at me like I have reached inside his chest and closed my fist around something vital.
“Useful,” he says.The word sounds strange in his changed mouth.
“Yes.”
“You want me to be useful.”
“I want you here.”That slips out before I can stop it.
The room changes.Not with magic this time.Knox’s gaze drops to my mouth.Only for a second.Only long enough for heat to flare low in my stomach despite the silver collar, despite the fear, despite every terrible thing waiting beyond the walls of this bar.
