Page 73 of Red

“Did Pratt know?”

My face drops for a second before I bite the inside of my cheek. “Yes.”

He leans onto his arms. “Well, he trusted you with me. Do you trust me?”

“I don’t.”

Do I? I’m not sure of anything. My whole plan’s gone to shit.

Those arctic eyes don’t meet mine anymore. He stands. “I’ll be back, and . . .”

“Don’t leave the room. Got it.”

The door clicks shut behind him, and I bring my legs all the way up to my chest and hug them tight. There’s so much I haven’t told them about my time with the Uprising. I wonder what Gretch is up to right now.

Stark returns with his arms full and heads over to the dresser. He places a bowl to the side, then lowers a huge box to the floor. He carries the bowl to me, and I find that it’s filled with a salad.

“Thanks.” My stomach growls at the first bite. A few days is a bit long without food, even for me. I eat, and he drags his chair close. If I kicked out my legs, I’d reach his.

“So can we go over what I learned when I left?” I ask.

“No, we’ll do that when you can leave this room.”

I scrunch my face at him but nod anyway. Intrigued, I have to ask, “What’s in the box?”

“I’ll show you when you’re done.”

I love being treated like a child.

I finish the rest of the salad, then Stark brings the box over. He places it between the two of us and I lower my feet onto the rug to lean in. When he unfolds the flaps, old books are lined up—some leather bound, a few with wood and string.

“Since you’re stuck in here, I thought you might want to read through these.” He gestures for me to look.

I start flipping over covers. They’re all about werewolf legends and magic. I swallow and look up at him. My body temperature rockets, and Stark looks at me with wonder.

“If you’re going to keep doing that, I’m going to have to start dressing like you.”

I laugh, blowing out all the air in my lungs to cool myself. “It’s not exactly in my control.”

“Wow.” I eye him as he smirks, his blue eyes dark in the low light of the room. “You told me something.”

I stick my tongue out and go back to the collection. “Where were these?” I looked everywhere in this house for books like these.

He shrugs, a smile on his face. “I get secrets too.”

“Fine. Thank you.”

He pulls out a book.

“Have you read them all?”

“I’ve read pretty much every book in this house.”

No drooling. This man has books and loves them. But he’s mated and is being nice because now he thinks I’m a freak who could hurt him.

I flip over another cover, careful not to damage it.

“What one are you going to start with?”