Page 234 of Claim Me
"Yeah. Shoot yourself in the head," I growl.
Marcel chuckles. "You’re funny. I have to admit, I like this pissed-off version of you much more than the sheepish one you always showed."
Suddenly he leans in and presses his lips to mine.
I jerk my head aside with a sharp motion and spit, deliberately. "Don’t touch me. I havestandards."
I know what’s coming after, but I do it anyway. Marcel strikes me across the cheekbone with the barrel of the gun, but the hit is weaker than Edgar’s, so I do not react much, even though a thin line of blood runs down my cheek and along my jaw.
"I tried to be nice, but you’re forcing me into uglier things," Marcel murmurs, pursing his lips, then slowly flips the butterfly knife open, the blade catching a bluish-white sheen from the light filtering through the window behind Blue’s chair.
There is a moment of silence as I focus on the blade in front of my face, my mind running at full speed, and suddenly… I see it, a solution to the puzzle!
A chance, something that might work if handled carefully. It comes with a horrible cost, but this is about staying alive.
Snow said I wouldresist the idea, resist breaking this rule.
But I still need to go there. It’s awful, it hurts, but I just somehow know it’s the right direction.
"So you’re withdrawing that last wish?" Marcel raises his eyebrows.
"I assume the scope of what I can ask for is limited. So let’s do it like this. I want to fulfill a fantasy. I want to see you kiss Blue."
A heavy silence falls.
Yeah, this is theone rulean alpha like me would never want to break: allowing others totouchhis omega.
Edgar lifts his brows slightly, his mouth curving with amusement. Marcel studies me for a moment, at first with a frown, then he starts laughing.
Blue watches me closely, and I am certain he knows, just like I do, that I am not doing this at random.
One thing is a key factor here.
I know Blue has venom in his fangs, but could he actually use it? Nah. That would end badly. But there is one other possibility.
The one Blue mentioned once before.
Thetouchis the key.
If anybody touches him, he gains a massive advantage.
What is that supposed to mean?
I have to trust what he said, even if I don’t know the details.
But to reach this situation, many things have to happen first.
I hope… not too many.
My mind filters paths like an algorithm. It is almost like writing code. Some branches simply have a higher probability of execution.
And then it slowly clarifies.
The path with poisoned fangs is ruled out from the start, of course. Even if Blue successfully poisons Marcel, Edgar will run. He won't kill us, he doesn't have the guts. But he will leave us here at the mercy of even more unhinged NFH people.
This is a real problem to solve, a life-or-death one, not some abstract puzzle for bored third-year philosophy students.
But the correct resolution has been right in front of me the whole time.
