Blakeshire (Insight #9)(62)
“Wouldn’t want to get you fired. Maybe you should give it your best shot. Let’s just settle this now so one of us can move on with our life.”
“I told you before that I couldn’t kill you. I adore you…you are my rush.”
I tilted my head curiously, trying to understand why the word rush seemed so familiar to me, why my mind was struggling to remember something that was right there in front of me. The word reminded me of the scent of peppermint, one that was stronger than Drake’s aroma. I breathed in deeply, still smelling the deep vanilla and rich cinnamon coming from Britain’s essence. “Adore—rush,” I spat back at him. Deep inside, I knew those words were powerful and that they were not the way he felt about me.
“Means more than you think it does. So does my word that it is not my intention to kill you.”
There was far too much seriousness in his stare, matched by the pull I could feel coming from his energy. He wanted me to run away with him right now and never look back. That wasn’t going to happen. I didn’t care what he said or showed me. No one breaks my heart twice.
He needed to know I was not a fool, that I knew exactly what I was to him. “You are here for spite, plain and simple. You’re mad because your little source of nutrition caught you cheating. This is your revenge.”
“Stop degrading yourself to that title. You didn’t catch me doing anything I didn’t want you to. And if anyone is keeping score, Drake has wronged far more than I have.”
I leered as if he were oblivious to what my intentions were. He needed to think that the last thing I cared about was the actions Drake had taken in his past to gain Willow’s devotion. I knew if I showed any jealousy, that would put Drake at an even greater risk. He didn’t need Britain on top of all the other evil he was fighting.
“Doubt me, do you?” Britain said as he raised his chin and looked down at me over his strong profile. “Have I ever kidnapped your friends—killed one of them for sport?” He paused. “Have I ever found you in a vessel that wasn’t yours and toyed with your mind to the point where you thought you were someone else and all your little friends were evil?” His blue eyes grew darker. “Have I ever pushed my soul into another girl while her adored was in the same building? Or better yet, have I ever invaded your dreams, causing you to fear sleep?”
Drake performed all of those acts he mentioned when he was trying to convince Willow to love him. It was everything I had managed to get over. Apparently, I wasn’t over them completely because that horrid emotion of jealousy stung my soul—but only for an instant; I was on stage right now.
“You do realize that I am Madison, right? Why would I care about any of that? Maybe you should be pointing out his flaws to Willow—though that may be a waste of time; she seems to be pretty much into Landen.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that…maybe she liked all the attention. Perhaps she misses his affections, no matter how sinister they were.”
It took all I had to hold in the rage of jealousy, to hold my ‘I don’t give a flying crap if he does’ expression, but I did.
“I’m sure Drake will be pleased. Why don’t you go give him the good news and leave me be?” I said as I crossed my arms and gave him a sly smile.
Britain stared blankly at me, clearly trying to see how long I could hold my expression.
“If you are waiting for me to cry and beg you to take me away from here, it’s not going to happen.”
Aden pulled his broad shoulders back. “I don’t care if you do cry; that’s not going to happen.”
Britain spoke over him as if he were nothing but an annoyance. “That would be the wisest decision that you have ever made in your life. Here is something you don’t know: they’ve already drained you to the point where you are common. You keep sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong, and they are going to pull the plug and take you down to nothing. Here is a thought: why would they want to drain your essence and leave your vessel intact?”
I wasn’t even going to bother engaging him. I knew what he was up to. We had done this a thousand times before, only in the past I would answer whatever question he proposed, and he would slowly lead me down another road to where in the end I walked away with no answers to my original questions and enough questions tumbling in my mind to distract me from seeking whatever I was after in the first place.
Seeing the resolve in my glare, he went on. “Fine. You don’t want to see the poor, misunderstood prince as the bad guy. I get it. But think about this: they knew from day one that Willow’s vessel could not be linked with Drake; some past spell cursed that union. So, they had a body waiting for her soul when she came to her senses, as they say, but the vessel was recently destroyed. They need another.”
“This one is taken,” I said with a carefree shrug of my shoulders.
“This one is in prison. An elegant one, I’m sure, but a prison nonetheless. He is locking you down so he can toy with your mind, so he can convince you he is broken and innocent. Once he does, I’m sure there will be some battle. You will think you are dying for him, but really you are the one dying. He will live on with Willow residing in your body. Fairy tale ending.”
“It’s all written out in that head of yours, isn’t it? You have the whole story.”
“That, I do. He’s killed you before.” He glanced around to the stone platform. “Here. Looks like history would have repeated itself if I didn’t show up and save the day.”