Darker Days (The Darker Agency #1)(72)

“Aren’t you sassy?” Meredith grinned. “So how are you enjoying the shore leave, Lukas? Life out of the box all you remember?”

He crossed the room and grabbed her shoulders, pushing her back against the wall. For a second, I thought he was going to hit her. I knew that expression. The twitch of his lip, the flash of red-hot rage in his eyes, all signs that control was slipping. But he reined it in. “What are you doing here?”

“At the moment? Getting assaulted.” She wiggled under his grasp, never losing her smile. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind you assaulting me, but if you’ll kindly let me breathe, I can fill you in.”

It took a moment, but surprisingly, Lukas released her and stepped back to where I was. “Talk,” he commanded.

“I can understand that you’re not happy to see me. After all, the last time we met I wasn’t very…friendly.” Her smile widened. “But what’s done is done. I have an offer for you.”

“’Cause we’d want whatever you’re selling,” I said.

“You’re very rude,” she said, eyes narrowing in my direction. Lukas was right. She was beautiful. Meredith had that kind of dark, sensual look that guys went crazy for. Too bad all the rocks in her head were loose and rattling around. “I don’t much care for your attitude.”

I smiled. “I don’t have an attitude—I’m just spunky.”

“I’ll warn you once more. Don’t interrupt me.” She began to pace. “I don’t take kindly to it. They always interrupted me. Like the things I had to say were of no importance.” Sugarcoated smile back in place, she turned to Lukas. “I miss you and want to make up for what I did. Now that some time has passed, I can admit I was a bit rash.”

“Rash?” Lukas repeated, eyes wide.

Mom and I had gone up against some winners, but this chick took the cake. “You trapped him in the box with the Seven Deadly Sins and slaughtered your entire family. That’s a little past rash, don’t you think?”

Meredith sighed. She stopped pacing, head swiveling toward me, and frowned. “I asked you not to interrupt me.”

I met her gaze and smiled sweetly. “And last year, I asked for a puppy. Didn’t get it, though.”

She sighed and snapped her fingers. “On top of rude, you’re very disrespectful. I’ve wiped my ass with bigger, badder things.”

I bit back a laugh. “And that’s supposed to—”

At first, it was a tickle blooming deep in the pit of my stomach. In seconds, it turned into a sort of falling sensation. The feeling that comes as the roller coaster crests the hill and starts its downward plunge. My mouth went dry and the surface of my tongue started to itch. Suddenly, it was impossible to swallow.

Meredith giggled and waved her hand. It was like an invisible boxer walked up and sucker punched me in the gut. The air expelled from my lungs and I shot backward, crashing into the wall.

Head cracking hard against the plaster, everything swam for a minute. A muddy mix of colors swirled and danced as I struggled to fill my empty lungs. I tried to step away but found I couldn’t move my legs. Or my arms. My mouth opened to protest—at least it tried to—but that didn’t work, either.

Meredith winked at me and turned back to Lukas.

“What did you do?” he demanded, rushing to my side. I could feel his fingers clamp down around my arms, could feel their warmth and the pressure as he tugged, but he had as much luck as I did.

“Oh, relax. As soon as we’re done here, I’ll let the bitch go.” She snapped her fingers twice. “Now pay attention because I’m only going to say this once.”

He let go of my arm and gave her his full attention.

“As I said before I was so rudely interrupted—” She glared at me. “I realize I may have acted a bit rash when we saw each other last.”

“You condemned me to an eternity in hell—all for a man you’d just met.”

She laughed. It was an insane sound that reminded me of a cross between a witch’s Halloween cackle and shattering glass. “You think I locked you in that box because of Wrath? Silly, simple Lukas.”

“I did nothing to you,” he growled. “If not because I threatened to tell your father of your affairs, then why?”

“I’ll admit—your threats made me angry.” She reached out and stroked his cheek. “Very angry. You were trying to control me. Telling me what to do. Everyone was always telling me what to do. Poor, feeble Meredith. A simple woman. She needs to be coddled and controlled. It grew tiresome.”

The man bound to the chair was thrashing. Back and forth and side-to-side. Even plastered to the wall, unable to move, I could feel it. Lukas’ rage was starting to bleed into the room. Either Meredith was immune—or she was just too nuts to be affected.

“But that wasn’t what earned you the reservation. I did stick you in that box because of another man—but it wasn’t who you think. It wasn’t Wrath. He was merely a tool used to get my plan from point A to point B.”

This sucked. Not only was I stuck to the wall like a fly on paper, but I had to listen to this whack-job ramble about her skanky, multiple affairs? I was never going to complain about one of Mom’s punishments again.

Lukas was angry, but he was also confused. I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t get it either.