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Unwilling to let him do anything that would only end in his punishment for her soft-hearted stupidity, she put a hand on his arm. “Nothing. I just needed a few minutes.”
He bent close, lowering his voice. “You can lie to me if you want, and no one’s worth your tears, but I can take you somewhere if you need a good cry.”
“The training room,” she whispered, blinking at the stinging in her eyes and wishing for the steadfast control she’d had over her feelings. She would need to leave Alexei’s house tonight, to take Josh and the witches up on their offer of sanctuary at one of the safe houses. Staying this close to him and any future bride would be too hard.
“I’ve got you.” Eddie put his arm behind her, wrapping her in the safety and support that he offered without encroaching on her space. He led her along the cement walkway that overlooked the main floor as each level did, winding around and around in dizzying lines and angles of steel and iron. Over the railing, the Humvees parked in a perfect line looked like one of the movie sets she’d spied on from her brother’s penthouse through binoculars—neat, orderly, controlled. Much like Alexei. No wonder Yulia had chosen to come back to him. The two made sense. Unlike anything else had since she’d met him and begun her little girl infatuation that had turned to full blown adult obsession.
Time to put that away.
If her childhood had taught Joelle anything, it was that real life wasn’t some fairy tale. She wasn’t Cinderella going to meet her demon prince at the ball or witch premiere party. No, she wasn’t a princess like Yulia. She couldn’t afford to live in a fantasy where everything might work out with Alexei. Rather, she needed to accept reality—no matter how much it broke her heart.
Remembering his touch made her shiver.
Eddie drew closer. “You cold?”
Why couldn’t he be the one she dreamed about wanting her? She seriously needed to get herself together. The worst had already happened when Alexei hadn’t chosen her, and gods knew that heartache wouldn’t kill her. She’d survived so much worse.
She simply needed to plan, to talk with Kyle when he arrived, and to figure out her future. But those things could wait while she hid in the safety of the training room.
After all, what else could go wrong in a warded, demon-filled warehouse?
ChapterSeventeen
The giant warehouse seemed to stretch forever even as Joelle put one foot in front of another, the slap of her sandals against concrete too loud, but the sting of the solidness under her soles grounding her. The hollowness in her chest, the lump stuck in her throat, and the heaviness of her body wouldn’t relent no matter how much she shoved the feelings down, down, down to the tiniest place she could find in her mind. Because Eddie—ever-observant, ever-present Eddie—watched her too closely. She couldn’t surrender to the sadness, not until she’d gotten far from here.
They passed the glass doors to Alys’s laboratory, with two long rows of countertops, the refrigerator that held samples, her equipment for DNA analyses, racks of supplies, and the microscope she’d promised to show Yulia’s son. The boy looked up through his long bangs and headed toward them.
Wiping at her face to clear any evidence of upset, she wondered if the kid had powers other than telekinesis. He hadn’t seemed particularly empathetic earlier in the short conversation she’d witnessed, but who knew what magic hid beneath his shy smile?
The double sets of glass doors parted with a swish, the electronic sensors and filtration system rigged to keep the lab sanitary beeping and humming in the background.
“Are you Joelle?” the boy asked, rushing ahead without waiting for an answer. “Alys said you had long hair braided in a crown and that you could fix this before my mom sees.” He held up his hand, blood smeared from a cut on his palm. “It’s not deep enough for stitches this time, but she’ll flip out. She thinks I’m weak. I’m not. Being smart doesn’t mean I’m not strong.” He hesitated as if waiting for reassurance.
Joelle’s chest ached at the innocence in his voice. Had she ever been so trusting as this child? Not living under the Order’s sadistic system of study, torture, heal, repeat. She wouldn’t let the kid suffer because she couldn’t hold herself together around a certain demon prince who didn’t want her. “You’re right about that,” she told him, eyeing the wound. It didn’t look too serious, a shallow but long slice. “I’m studying ancient languages later tonight. What’s your favorite subject?”
“Science, but Mom won’t let me have my own lab so I have to wait until I can play with other people’s stuff. Alys told me not to hold the beaker over the burner so long. I lost track of time without my watch. My grandfather, the king, gave it to me, but my dad took it. He keeps all my things.”
“I’m sure we can heal you and have you cleaned up before anyone else notices.” She held out her hands for his, waiting for him to initiate touch. “Ready?”
“It won’t hurt? Your magic, I mean?”
“No. Or if it does, no one has ever said so.” She thought back to what she’d heard from some of Noxx’s subjects before their deaths. “I’m told it’s a warm sensation, sort of a tickle.”
He put his hand in hers. “I’m not ticklish.”
She lowered her voice. “I am.”
His giggle made her smile, the sadness ebbing away. “I won’t tell anyone you’re ticklish if you promise not to tell Mom that I cut myself.”
“Promise,” she said. The hurt of what she’d thought that word meant between her and Alexei stung, but she could deal with emotional aches later. Tai needed her now. Pushing her magic into him, she waited for the usual flare of symbols, wishing she could’ve found the origin of her marks. Maybe she could borrow some of Alexei’s books when she left his house. A quick pulse of powers, and the skin of the boy’s palm knit together. “Better?”
“Awesome.” He flashed a dimpled grin, his hair falling in his eyes. “I can move stuff with my magic.”
Awhooshand the doors opened again, Alys striding out with a scowl on her face. “Hey Tai, an angelic healer won’t always be on call when you decide to cook Pop Rocks and soda with the Bunsen burner.”
Joelle wanted to ask about his concoction but figured now wasn’t the time. Not with his worry about his mom and now Alys. “I’ll be here a while longer,” she whispered. “In the training room if you need me.”
“Thanks,” Tai said and hurried back toward his lab teacher. “You’re right.” He glanced at Joelle. “She’s pretty.”
