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He let go of his collar, looking back down at me. He didn’t answer right away, and I assumed that was because he didn’t want to talk about it.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. It’s probably private.”
Nix shook his head slowly. “No, it’s fine. I don’t really talk about it much.”
This might be a shot in the dark, but I decided to take it, anyway. “Was it the Cobra?”
That got him to stare at me, his eyebrows furrowing. “What do you know about the Cobra?”
I shrugged. “Oh, not that much, not really.” Now it was my turn to look away and act a little coy. “Just heard some rumors that he went a little crazy. He hurt a lot of people, killed some. Piper’s family. I just put two and two together and wondered if he did that to you.”
It was a moment before Nix said, “He did. He didn’t succeed, though.”
“Wow,” I breathed out the word. “That must’ve been one intense fight. You seem like a guy who can take care of himself.” Even though I didn’t want to, even though the thought of touching him made my stomach churn, I lifted up a gloved hand and ran it down his arm. A soft, lingering touch, one that I knew instantly I shouldn’t have done.“Well, I’m glad he didn’t succeed.”
What was my father thinking, sending me after Shay’s guys? To go after any one of them, even the weakest link, would be to invite the Black Hand’s wrath.
Nix didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. I took a step away from him, dropping my hand to my side as I looked away. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t try to steal someone’s boyfriend, even if that someone had more than one.
Besides, why the fuck would anyone want me? If given the choice between someone like Shay Arrowwood and me, they’d choose the former every single time. Hell, even I would.
I would never choose me.
I opened my mouth, wanting to say something, but I knew if I said anything else right now, I’d only call attention to the flirting attempt, so I didn’t say anything. I closed my mouth, shook my head once, and took yet another step away from him.
“We should get back to the party,” I muttered, hating that I was like this. “I don’t want Zander storming all over these woods trying to find me.” Yeah, use Zander as an excuse. I didn’t say anything more, turning and walking away from him, knowing he still stared at me with those intense eyes.
Did he know what I was trying to do? Would he tell Shay or her other boyfriends that were here? I guess I’d have to wait and see to find out. At this point, I couldn’t turn back time, so the chips would fall wherever they may.
I was so flustered at what I considered a failed attempt at flirting that I stumbled through the woods, not the elegant, graceful girl I usually was. It was like my feet refused to work in sync with my body or something. Kind of annoying.
You know what else was annoying? This whole night. I couldn’t wait until it was over.
And when my father came to me in the morning and asked how the party went, if anything had happened that he should know about, I’d tell him that I didn’t get a chance to speak to anyone one on one. I was certain Zander would tell him that the twins and Nix had come, along with Piper, so keeping that under wraps wasn’t an option.
I took my time in walking back, and I noticed Nix was nowhere behind me. He must’ve remained back there, which was fine. I didn’t need to emerge from the woods with him at my side; that would make things too obvious.
Zander grabbed me immediately, although he didn’t so much grab me as he did gesture for me to go to him. My eyes were on Luca and Cade near the fire, noticing how they stood side by side. It looked like they were talking, which was a shock to me. Cade didn’t seem like the talkative type.
I pulled my gaze away from the pair and brought it to Zander. Thirty or so feet away from the bonfire, and yet it was still warm. I might have to take off my jacket if it kept up like this. “What?” I didn’t try to hide the annoyance in my voice.
Zander’s head bent, like he was trying to tell me to look in a certain direction without actually telling me. I threw a glance over my shoulder, finding that weird man—Damian, I thought his name was—near the snack table, munching on anything he could get ahold of.
“What’s he doing here?” I whispered once I pulled my stare away from the man. He was on the opposite side of the clearing as I was; I didn’t think he saw me come from the forest. But he would. Something about that man was unsettling, even though we’d only met in passing so far.
He shouldn’t be here. This was for us, not for them.
Then again, I supposed the same thing could be said for Piper and Nix. They weren’t heirs anymore. They were on the Black Hand, having inherited the positions from their dead parents.
“I don’t know,” Zander told me. “But it sounded like he was looking for you.”
“Me? Why would he be looking for me?”
“Maybe you caught his attention in that white dress,” Zander offered. That wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities; that had to be why my father was so adamant about me wearing white all the time. Draw all the attention to me, even if it wasn’t good attention.
I didn’t say anything, mostly because I didn’t know what to say.
“Don’t look now, but he saw you. I think he’s coming over here.”
