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Chapter Two
Watched
Eventually, Emily escorted me to a new set of rooms where I took a long, too-hot shower. As I stood in front of the mirror combing my hair, I could hear their muted voices from the next room.
“I tried to keep from hurting him,” Brendan was explaining, “but he wouldn’t stop. And Brianna,” he paused, and I could imagine him shaking his head, glancing toward the window, “I couldn’t let her fall.”
They might have been able to force Morgan to turn him, to release his sway and let the man regain his own will, but no one was sure he would come out of this. Healing could only do so much, and Morgan wasn’t willing to do anything from the position he was currently in.
I stayed there for a long while, staring at the dark marble countertop, the tiles inlaid with gold, until all of the voices quieted. When I finally came out, Brendan was waiting for me in the bedroom.
“I’m sorry about this,” he said, indicating the windowless walls around us. “As soon as the security updates are finished, we’ll be moving you to Council.” I could see the idea bothered him more than it should, and the rest of his explanation seemed to be more to convince himself than me. “It’s the best place for you. To keep you safe.”
I nodded.
“I had them bring up some lunch. It’s in the sitting room.”
My stomach turned. “Thanks. I’m not really hungry.”
He didn’t shift; he hadn’t taken his eyes off me at all. “If you’d like to sleep for a—”
“No,” I interrupted. “No, I’m not tired.” I was exhausted—my muscles ached, and my hands still shook—but I didn’t want to be alone.
He held out a hand. “Sit with me then?”
I walked past him toward the sitting room, and his hand fell to the small of my back. I could have sat in the reading chair, but I didn’t. Instead, I took the center of a small sofa where Brendan could settle beside me. His arm came around me, and I curled my legs up, letting him tuck my back against his side.
I shouldn’t have. I knew that. But Brendan cared about me, and it felt good to have someone there.
I stared at the wall across from us, a beautiful Wyeth painting centered over a narrow table. It was probably an original. And yet, I couldn’t bring myself to appreciate it. They had been attacking Council ever since Morgan was taken. We had thought it was in retaliation. We had thought they meant to rescue Morgan. But we were wrong ... because they were after me.
I closed my eyes, trying to force a vision to come. It didn’t work that way, but I wanted so badly to finally have this over with, to save my sister and myself. To save everyone. I just needed a clue. One small indicator of how, of what I was searching for in Emily, of what to do.
Brendan’s hand slid down my arm, and I became suddenly aware I’d sunk into him. My elbow rested on his leg, my back against his chest. His cheek brushed my hair, and I went rigid.
“Brianna,” he started, and I was on my feet, nowhere to go but the table across from us.
I could almost feel his presence behind me. I picked up a vase, examining the etched glass, and internally cringed.Nice, Brianna, run over to look at glass.
“Brianna,” he said again, and the hurt in his tone was clear. I had to say something.Dosomething.
I turned to face him. “I’m sorry.” He was too close. I sat the vase back on the table, stepped one leg behind me. Two would have been too much. Two would have injured him more. I looked into his eyes, so dark they were nearly black, and said, “I like you, Brendan. I do.” Before I could finish, before I could add, “but …” his phone rang.
He answered it. In the middle of our conversation.
After a brief exchange, he slid the cell phone back into his pocket. His gaze found me. “I’m sorry, Brianna, but I have to take care of something.” He glanced at his watch. “I hate to leave you alone, but Aern will be here shortly. There are two men at the door, and the alarms are always on.” He reached up to touch my shoulder. “We will talk soon.”
And then he smiled, clearly only taking the “I like you” from our conversation, before walking out the door.
I stared at it for several minutes, open as it was, before finally falling onto the couch and throwing an arm over my eyes.
I had bigger problems, I knew, so I started populating a list in my head for when Aern arrived. I would do everything I could to resolve our issue. I had a lot of work to do before I could figure out where to start.
“Brianna,” Aern said from somewhere beyond my feet.
I dropped the arm from my eyes, surprised to see him standing near the end of the couch. His face was tight, which I assumed was displeasure at Brendan leaving me alone.
I opened my mouth to speak, but my gaze fell on the other man in the room.
