Blakeshire (Insight #9)(63)
“You’re full of shit,” Aden bit out.
Britain sneered. “You want to watch that tone. You are one crack away from insanity.”
I stepped in front of Aden in a weak display of protecting Britain.
“I have nothing more to say to you. Do whatever you want. And for the record, I wasn’t in a committed, faithful relationship with Drake when he committed the sins you speak of. He didn’t have a girl named Anna in his bed when I popped in to say hi. So you are the bastard in this situation.”
“Are you committed now?” Britain asked as his eyes raked over me. At that moment, a wall of wrathful energy slammed into me.
“Never assume I am as low as you are,” I said with a sick glare on my face, hoping against all hope that he didn’t see the devotion I had for Drake in my emerald green eyes.
“I see…he’s just giving you the illusion that he adores you.”
“No, you taught me how to play that game. I’m a pro at spotting players now.”
“Never played you. I told you I adore you. If I didn’t, you’d be dead already.”
“Good thing I’ve got charm then, huh?”
“Listen to me,” he said with an uncharacteristic glare. “Stop asking questions you don’t want the answers to. If you were ever to see this room in reality, it would be because Drake is about to strip your soul and slide Willow’s right into that vessel. You need to leave with me now…the only way out of this alive is at my side.”
Nothing he was saying made any sense at all. I knew when I saved Monroe that my insights were jacked up; now I might have thought that something evil had stolen them from me that night if Monroe herself didn’t return all but a few emotions to me right after that. Obviously, Britain or whoever was informing him didn’t know that had happened. They thought I was an idiot. Shame on them. There may be a plot to drain me, but it wasn’t Drake’s, and he didn’t have anything to do with what happened to me that night—I would bet my life on it. Of course, I couldn’t say any of that to Britain. I wasn’t going to let him know what I knew—or tell him that betting my life was exactly what I was doing.
“Not happening,” I said as I raised one brow to emphasize my point.
“What? Do you want to spend a night in the room he made for Willow so you can pretend you are what he wants? Do that. I will forgive you, just as I have in your past lives.”
I grabbed the knife from Aden and charged forward. As I held the blade to Britain’s neck, I could see blood seeping out of from under the edge, sliding down his white collar. “You see, when he or whoever started to dwindle me down, as you say, they took my ability to grieve away. Hell, for all I know they took my humanity away—so if I slice you in two now, all I have to worry about is washing the blood off my hands. You think you know the game I’m playing? You’re not even on the right field. So back away, let me do my thing, or figure out how to live six feet under.”
He glanced down at the blade. “Sadly, precious, attempting to kill me would bring more harm to you than it would to me. Come with me.”
“Keep dreaming.”
“I’ve already seen the end, Madison. You are out of time to make the right decision.” And with that, he vanished.
“My knife,” Aden said as he took it from me. “If you want him dead, say the word.” I felt his rage as his eyes glanced over me.
“What?”
“Did you even bother to look into his mind?”
“Why would I bother with that? All I ever see is myself. It’s like looking in a warped mirror.”
“Not this time. In his thoughts, I saw him witness your death a hundred times over. The bastard was right about one thing.”
“Which was?”
“He was here when this happened the first time, Drake was. The only one that fought for your life was Britain.”
I tried to see it through Aden, but with my jacked up way of visualizing I could only glimpse fragments, pieces that did not tell me enough to take sides on this matter. But I trusted Aden. He would never defend Britain. What the hell happened here?
“He is right about the vessel, too. Britain witnessed a conversation between Alamos and Xavier. They are still focused on pairing Willow with Drake. You are a threat to some master plan they have.”
“Aden, I lack the ability to feel shock, grief, or fear. They can plot whatever they want. That is their business, not mine. I’m concerned with the mystery of my past at the current moment.”
Aden’s eyes were full of judgment. He was clearly wondering how much truth existed in my words.
I glanced down; the water was black now. The manifestation of this place had been damaged. The only way for me to see what was behind that octopus was by going for a swim, and I wasn’t doing that until I could see where I was going.
“Did you find what you needed?” I asked Aden.
“Yeah, let’s go,” he said as his brooding green eyes cascaded over the dark water.
Within the next breath, we were back.
Chapter Thirteen
Madison
I took in a deep breath. Once my soul found my body in the library Aden and I were sitting in, I let those nasty insecurities surface briefly. I could still hear Britain’s voice in my head telling me this wing, the room I was given, belonged to Willow. I hated having that boy in my head.