Page 96 of Claim the Light
Her forehead puckers in apparent confusion, but her hand eases off her weapon a little. “Why would you surrender?”
I sigh. “Because running is exhausting.”
Running from the past. Running from things I can’t change. But running toward my future… well… that’s fucking liberating.
The crease in her forehead doesn’t fade.
I wouldn’t trust my answer, either.
Now that she’s standing closer to me, I can see the faint smudge of ash across her left cheek.Tyler’s mark.She’s wearing long sleeves to her wrists and a turtleneck, black shirt that reaches all the way up to her chin. If the skin on her left side is gray in tone, then I can’t see it.
Her irises are flecked with pink and they’re rapidly changing shape, becoming more reptilian with every second it takes the elevator to reach the balcony floor.
For a second, I wonder what kind of dragon she might be with eyes that pretty. A cotton candy dragon, maybe. The kind that leaves you with a nasty stomachache.
“I don’t know your name,” I say.
“Niah,” she snaps. “I’m Gisela’s cousin.”
“So you’re a full-blooded Scorn, then.” And could have been in the line-up of potential alphas before Tyler took control of the clan. “It’s surprising to me that you would follow Tyler.”
“Opposing him is futile,” Niah retorts.
A moment later, the doors open, and I prepare to face a small army of Scorn.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE
Itake a step toward the elevator doors, but Niah’s hand wraps around my arm, wrenching me to a stop.
“You will submit to restraints,” she snarls.
“Of course. Slap them on me.” I look at her expectantly. “Unless you don’t have any with you right now.”
She huffs as she pulls me into the little foyer immediately outside the elevator. It’s lined with glass walls, which leaves the room ahead fully visible while also creating a barrier. Callan had it created to provide a protective boundary if his fire was accidentally triggered.
I let Niah push me around, deliberately acting as if I couldn’t fend her off if I tried, as she propels me through the foyer and onto the balcony beyond it.
I snatch a moment to study my mother where she sits close to the glass wall on the far side of the loft.
Her tall frame is slouched, her silver-streaked hair spread out in a tangled mess across the back of the chair. She was always well-dressed, but now her silken shirt is creased and there are visible sweat stains around her underarms and neckline. She used to be dripping in gold, but now she isn’t wearing any.
She’s staring in my direction, but it doesn’t feel like she sees me. It’s hard to tell for sure in this light, but her emerald-green eyes appear glazed. The glass dangling in her hand across the armrest could be filled with anything.
Anger and pity war inside me.
Thisis the life she’s chosen for herself?
The Scorn dragons around me have all risen from their chairs. Half of them—about nine, at a quick count—are dressed in black up to their necks and have faint smudges on their cheeks. They stand at tables laden with swords, daggers, and guns, along with a variety of drinks.
The other half are also dressed in black, but their faces aren’t marked and their forearms are visible. They’re the ones who appear tenser, holding their weapons tightly in their hands, an intriguing difference with the marked ones.
“Sit,” Niah snaps at me, pushing me into the lounge chair opposite my mother’s. She snatches up a chain of dragon’s gold from the nearby table, whispers to it, and then she wraps the rope around my wrists.
While she works, she casts an order at the man with the pattern shaved into his scalp. “Gordon, message Tyler that we have Sophia.” Then she raises her voice at my mother. “Hey, Martha, I’ve brought some company for you.”
“Huh?” My mother’s voice is slurred. She squints up at Niah before her gaze falls to me.
It’s like she’s seeing me for the first time since I arrived.
