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“Eli Hart, you’ve been hiding your kinky side.”
I pick up a remote from the end of the bed and turn up the sound system. Claudia tries to push me into the St. Andrew’s cross, but I yank her down onto the bed, laying beside her and cupping her cheek to mine. I expect to feel the fizz of our attraction as our skin touches, and that giddy adolescent flutter in my chest I get every time I’m near her. But all I feel is a sick churning in my stomach. “If we talk softly, they won’t be able to hear us on the tape,” I whisper, trying to distract myself from this strange vibe. “What did you want to ask?”
Something’s gone wrong, I just know it.
“Oh, silly, it’s nothing so clandestine as all this.” She trails her fingers along my arms, the tips of her nails raising goosebumps on my skin. Something… something’s not right. It’s not a new threat. It’s something about her, but I can’t put my finger on what. “The Valentine’s dance is coming up, and I wanted to ask if you’d be my date.”
I blink. Valentine’s dance? Does she mean the one at school?
“Why?” I draw my arm away. My skin feels like it’s been scraped raw. “I mean, sure. Of course, I’ll be your date. But you shouldn’t have come here to ask me. Nero’s on the warpath. It’s all to do with Gabe’s father, but I can’t talk about it—”
She cuts me off with a fierce kiss. The minute her lips brush mine, a wave of repulsion rockets through my body. I know exactly what’s wrong.
I’m not kissing Claudia.
Her eyes remain open, that icy stare locked on me. She watches for a sign that I’ve seen through her disguise. Even though it makes bile rise in my throat, I kiss her back, giving her just enough to make her believe I’m taken in, that I’m just a guy hopelessly in love kissing his girlfriend.
She tastes like violets and bubblegum.
The gun digs into my thigh. My heart hammers in my chest. Can I reach my hand down and grab it without her noticing? What will Nero do if I blow her brains out in his luxury guest suite? If I kill her here, this girl who looks exactly like my Imperator, how will we prevent Nero from figuring out the truth?
Mackenzie’s tongue wraps around mine, like a witch trying to suck my soul out through my mouth. I swallow the urge to gag, and press hard against her as I angle my torso backward, trying to surreptitiously slide my hand down between us without her noticing.
Can I even do it? Can I look into my girlfriend’s eyes as I decorate the wall with her brain matter?
I loved you once, I want to scream into her open, moaning mouth. I would have gone to the ends of the earth for you, if only you’d asked. And now I have to kill you. You’re too much of an unknown to be allowed to live.
Just as my fingers brush the holster, she pulls back. The hunger in her eyes makes it clear she wants to kick things up a notch. She’s weighing up the chance to bounce up and down on my cock versus the likelihood that I’ll catch on to her deception.
I tuck a strand of golden hair behind her ear, trying not to flinch as I touch her. “As much as I very much want to continue, Nero’s going to come looking for me. And we probably shouldn’t be caught in here today.”
She pulls back, her eyelashes aflutter. She trails a finger across my jaw and down the center of my chest, leaving a line of fever in her wake. “Sure thing. We can finish this at home later.”
“You bet.” I fold my lapel back over the holster and give her a peck on the cheek. Do it, Noah’s voice echoes in my head. Take her out. We’ll deal with the fallout later. She’s too dangerous to walk out of here alive.
As soon as I escort Mackenzie outside and shut the door behind her, a wave of nausea slams into me. I double over and throw up.
“You okay?” Livvie rushes over. She rubs circles on my back as I cough and spit acidic bile. “You don’t look so good.”
I rest my spinning head in my hand. “I think I ate something bad.”
Ain’t that the truth.
“Go home. You’re in no state to work, let alone deal with Nero.”
I don’t go home. I peel out of the parking lot and head deep into the old industrial district of Tartarus Oaks. The acid taste burns in my mouth, but it can’t disguise the violet and bubblegum scent that clings to my skin.
I burst into Colosseum just as Noah and Antony begin a practice bout. They circle each other, their steps wary, before Noah throws an exploratory punch and Antony bursts into action. Within minutes, he has Noah in a headlock. From the gangplank above the arena, Claws cheers and calls down advice like an overbearing soccer mom.
“Hook your leg around him, Noah… no, not like that… argh, sure, that’s right, lie down and play dead, that will help… Eli? I thought you were at Nero’s—” Claudia’s face crumples when she sees me. “What’s wrong? What did that bastard do now?”
“Not him. Mackenzie.” I collapse into an empty table beside the stage, my head in my hands. “Mackenzie came to see me.”
“What?” Claudia’s screech could break windows.
“She did what?” Antony drops Noah, who lands on his face.
“What the fuck?” Noah cups his nose, which is pissing blood.
