Iniquitous (The Marked #3)(43)

Oh, God. The thought made me sob harder.

He sat us down on the couch, my body cradled on his lap and my face planted firmly against his chest.

“What the hell did he do you to?” he said quietly, his voice as heavy as my heart.

I wanted to pull away and be strong, to put on my big-girl pants and handle it, but I couldn’t seem to find the switch to turn this shit off. The flood gates had opened and right now, not even Lucifer himself could stop me from drowning us in an ocean of my own salty tears.

Seconds turned into minutes and the minutes blended into the wee hours of the night. Trace never moved an inch, nor did he say anything. He just held me in his arms and let me cry until I didn’t have any more tears to cry. Even after the tears had stopped, I remained there with my cheek resting against his chest—unable to face him. I could only imagine what he was thinking, what he was seeing when he looked at me.

I was beyond mortified.

“There’s no reason to be,” he whispered into my hair, his chin resting on the top of my head.

I pulled back a little and looked up at him. His electric-blue eyes glowed like two orbs, even in the dim light of the cabin. They were unearthly and staring down at me so intensely, that it jolted me upright.

He didn’t let me get very far from him though.

“Talk to me, Jemma,” he said, tightening his hold around my waist. “Tell me what happened to you.”

An agonizing stretch of silence passed between us before I finally nodded. Not because I wanted to talk about it, but because I knew I had to.

Time was up.

I owed him the truth and he’d waited long enough—much longer than I would have waited. It was time to lay my cards on the table and let chips go down in flames as they may.





20. BREAKING THE BOY


Nested safely in the comfort of his arms, I readied myself for the hardest story I was ever going to have to tell. I wanted him to know everything so that there wasn’t even a whisper of a secret between us, and so I had to start from the beginning.

“They were there the night of Taylor’s party—Engel and his men,” I began as an icy claw racked its nails down my back. “They were waiting for me just outside the woods. He knew I would be there. He’d made sure of it.”

“I don’t get it. How did he get past the Barrier?” He shook his head, trying to understand how this has gone so terribly wrong when we’d taken so many precautions. “That thing was fool proof.”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t double-crossing-witch proof.”

He stared back at me blank-faced.

“Nikki took it down for him, Trace. She set me up.”

His head jerked back. “Nikki? She’s the one who helped us put it up. She wouldn’t—”

“She did,” I cut in, my voice cold and unforgiving. “I saw her do it.”

He swallowed hard as though trying to digest the information.

“She only helped us put it up to make you think she was on our side—to make herself look good in your eyes, knowing I wasn’t going to make it out of that party to tell you any different. She isn’t who you think she is, Trace. I don’t think she ever was.” I let him sit with that for a minute. To really let it sink in, once and for all.

He needed to know the truth about her; about everything.

“She had some kind of deal with Engel, which meant that Barrier was coming down one way or the other.” I laughed darkly, though there wasn’t any humor in it. “If I hadn’t followed her into the woods, who knows what would’ve happened. She probably would’ve let them all into the party. Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past her.”

He cursed under his breath, his eyes hooded under dark lashes. “We were all just sitting ducks.” His eyes glazed over as though envisioning this alternate version. “I knew she hated you, but I never thought she’d do anything like this.”

That made two of us. “Trust me, she’s not going to get another chance.”

His eyes locked onto mine and he tipped his head knowingly. We didn’t need to say anymore. It was understood. Nikki was going to get her comeuppance.

“So what happened after that? Do you go with him willingly?” he asked, probably assuming as much since the Revenants never ended up crashing the party.

“No,” I shook my head. “Unfortunately, Nikki and Engel weren’t the only ones out for my blood that night.” I went on to tell him about the masked lunatic that attacked me from behind while me and Nikki were arguing. “She watched him cut my throat open and she just stood there and did nothing. Even when I begged her to help me,” I added, my tone surprisingly even given the topic.

His eyebrows drew together as his fingers grazed my neck. He was looking for a wound, but he wasn’t going to find one. That scar had already disappeared into my skin long ago, leaving no trace of its existence except for in my haunted memories.

“She wasn’t in on that part though,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady as my insides trembled under his touch. “At least I don’t think so. He came from inside the party, before the Barrier came down. Before Engel showed up.”

His eyes were pinned on my neck, his fingers entirely preoccupied with the soft skin below my ear.

“I never saw his face,” I went on. “But I’m pretty sure the Order sent him.”