AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“To be the first in line to say ‘I told you so.’ I honestly couldn’t wait. Nothing makes me feel better.” He discards the branch of my polished-off grapes and begins to unwrap a bar of chocolate at my bedside. “From Finlay, by the way,” he says, waving the large bar of chocolate in front of me. It’s the luxurious kind with dark packaging and classy italic text, the type of chocolate that boasts how ethically it’s been produced and the high percentage of cacao it contains. “Cute of him,” Rory says, snapping off a large chunk and popping it into his mouth. He moans around it, a disturbingly fascinating sound. “Finlay knows the good shit.”
As Rory’s eyes slide shut in sheer bliss, he makes several more obnoxious sounds about how great the chocolate is. My brows furrow — which, again, hurts. I raise my arm up to my face and an array of bandages greet my skin.
I pluck at one, trying to peel it off so I can move my face, but Rory mutters, “Don’t,” and my hand falls back to my side.
“You really have made a mess of this,” Rory says in an upbeat tone, looking like he’sreallyenjoying my chocolate. I can’t believe Finlay brought me chocolate. I’ll probably never get to taste it by the rate Rory’s happily munching on it in front of me, but I guess it’s the thought that counts. “I don’t know, sassenach. You’re so bad at telling lies. It’s why we called you a saint in the first place. Maybe you should start telling the truth again?”
My mind flashes to the image of my limp hanging body. Like it’s so easy to tellthatparticular truth. “You have no idea what I saw in the forest.”
“Does it matter?” Rory counters, snapping off another square of chocolate. “You failed to reach the loch. You didn’t collect a stone. The ritual wasn’t complete so now everything is fucked.” He chews hard at this, as though his words are making him angrier. “Besides, a leader should never be threatened by the demons inside their head.”
I blink at him, unsure how to take this statement. “You think I’m a leader?”
“All Lochkelvin students should possess leadership qualities. If you don’t, then why are you here?”
There’s a severe note in his voice that makes me want to turn away from him, but then he holds out the square of chocolate to my lips. I gaze at him through narrowed eyes, waiting for him to jerk it away, but Rory keeps his hand in position as I hold the square with my teeth. When I draw all of the chocolate into my mouth, Rory’s fingertips land on my lips and he gives me a small smirk.
I chew slowly as fire shoots down my core, the brush of Rory’s fingers still playing on my lips.
Part of me thinks this might be the most erotic moment of my life. It takes every effort to clamp down on my strange, submissive instinct to draw Rory’s fingers past my lips and into my mouth.
The chocolate is dark rather than sweet, thick around my tongue and slick around my throat. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything so good in all my life.
Rory watches me as I eat, that same smirk on the edge of his mouth like he knows exactly what I’m thinking. He slides his fingers away from my lips, a gentle, playful caress.
I’ve stopped breathing.
“Don’t play politics, Jessa,” he murmurs, and I’m reminded of Li telling me the exact same thing. I’m reminded ofLi, like a cold bucket of water. “I warned you: either play it well or don’t play it at all.”
“What if I want to learn?”
There’s a moment’s pause, as though Rory hadn’t expected this question. He gives me a look that borders on sympathetic. “Then you need to toughen up and become one of us. And that’s not going to happen in your current state, because no one’s taking you seriously. You’re quite the embarrassment.” His mouth quirks. “It’s cute that you want to try, when you have the lowest marks in politics. You know what they’d call you?”
“A scapegoat,” I murmur, pulling that word out from the recesses of my mind.
Rory almost laughs. “No. Fodder. Right now, you’re political fodder.” He swallows a final piece of chocolate with deep relish. “Make no mistake. If you want to be here, you need to stand up for your right to be here. Stand up for your rights or they’ll be taken away, little saint.That’swhat makes you fodder.”
