Page 128 of The Never List
I bump into a few people on my way across the gambling floor, swiping at the traitorous tears on my cheeks as I head toward the stairs.
The overwhelming sense of failure threatens to swallow me whole, the oily sensation slicking beneath my skin in a suffocating way. If I can’t solidify some connection with Jax, I’m going to lose them all. In the beginning, I didn’t think that would be as devastating as it is to me, but itis.
I reach the stairs, prepared to run all the way down and out the door, then allow myself to break down in the carriage Mirren no doubt will have waiting for me. If I can just make it—
A hand on my arm jerks me off the first step, dragging me back and shoving me against a wall.
“Well, if it isn’t Rylee fucking Gray,” Turner says as he glowers at me from where he holds me against the black brick.
Icy terror spears through my veins, stalling my breath.
Turner grabs my other arm, clenching so hard I yelp. “Where the fuck have you been?” His eyes rake over me, taking in my outfit, and his lip curls in a sneer. “Have you been working here the entire time?”
Clearly, he doesn’t read the royal post. That answers that question.
“Let me go,” I say, finally finding my voice. I push against him, trying to break his hold.
His grip intensifies, and he pushes me back against the wall again. “You have some nerve, blowing me off that night,” he says. “Haven’t you learned your lesson by now? Don’t you know what I’ll do to you for disobeying me?”
Turner releases one arm, dragging his finger down my cheek, his eyes falling to my mouth.
I struggle again, hating that I can’t break his grasp—not without using my power.
If he holds me here much longer, I absolutely will.
He no longer has the same control over me, but he still knows one of my secrets. That alone makes me hesitate. My mind shifts from panic to strategy and back to panic again in the span of a blink.
His finger trails toward my mouth, and I cringe, turning my head. He grips my chin so hard it stings, forcing my face back to look at him. “You really are asking for it—”
“Get your hands off my mate.”
Jax’s voice is absolutely lethal as he grabs Turner and tosses him across the room like he’s nothing more than apiece of furniture standing in his way.
Turner lands atop one of the gambling tables and sends it crashing to the floor. All the patrons who’d been playing there scatter back, eyes wide on the scene.
Adrenaline makes my body shake, makes it tremble.
Jax steps in front of me, sliding his hands into his pockets like he’s prepared to talk civilly with Turner, who is scrambling to his feet. The second he notices who’s standing in front of him, he bows deeply before standing up straight again.
“Apologies, your highness,” Turner says, glancing from Jax to me and back again. “Did I hear you correctly?”
Jax tilts his head in his predatory way, sauntering up to him.
The crowd of gamblers has now formed a tight-knit audience around the scene, and I can’t help but be grateful that the Occuli aren’t here to witness this.
“What makes you think you’re allowed to touch what’s mine?” Jax asks, his tone low and icy.
Turner is shaking now, sweat popping from his brow. “How is she… I didn’t know—”
His words abruptly halt.
His body jerks against some invisible force that I can’t see. Eyes wide with terror, Turner blanches, and a low, wounded cry rips out of him.
I’ve never seen someone look so scared before.
And then the front of his pants grows darker. He’spissinghimself.
The onlookers gasp, and I, too, cover my mouth with my hand to stifle my shock.
