us."
She narrowed her eyes at me. "Do you really expect me to believe you don't know what's going on down there?"
"Well unlike you, I don't have a habit of lying to people's faces."
She tsked, her eyes dragging down me in disdain. "I don't lie to the people who matter to me."
Shit. Her words hit me like a punch to the chest and I growled darkly at her, earning me another wave of pain from the curse mark. Being this close to her meant her blood was calling to me on a visceral level. I could almost taste the sweetness of it on my tongue as I remembered drinking from her.
"That's right, I'm just another pawn in your game," I said in a gruff tone. "But whatever it is you want from me, Twelve, you won't get it."
"Even if I let you hunt me?" she asked in a sugary voice, tilting her head to one side like she was offering her blood to me.
My throat tightened and my fangs sharpened as I gazed down at the pulse at the base of her delicate neck.
My eyes darted down the corridor and back to her, my mind spinning and my thoughts blurring as my base needs took over. By the sun, she was tempting. Would it be so bad to take blood from her? But even if I did, I certainly wasn't going to give her whatever it was she wanted. Maybe I could draw her back into letting me hunt her again, let her think I was offering whatever information she wanted, let her believe I would help her. She'd fucked with me enough, I was owed a little payback. But even as my mind worked over the idea, it moved onto what I really wanted even more than her blood. I wanted her mouth, her body, her fucking heart and soul. I wanted to make her mine. Despite all I knew about her, how deeply she'd fucking cut me. I still harboured feelings for her that wouldn't go away.
"We need to go somewhere else," I murmured then she laughed a cold and cruel laugh, her head snapping back up.
"As if I'd ever let you drink from me again," she spat. "Good to know how strong your will really is though, Officer." She ducked under my arm, dancing away from me in the direction we'd come and I turned, opening my mouth to bellow at her, considering dragging her back here by the hair and punishing her for what she'd done. My hand went to the baton on my hip and my thumb grazed over it, but even the thought of using it on her made me grimace. The curse mark apparently agreed as an injection of liquid fire tore up my arm and I cursed as I took a step after her with a growl, meaning to do something to put her in line. But what?
Hastings rounded the corner ahead of me and Twelve suddenly ran toward him, throwing her arms around his neck and loudly sobbing into his shoulder. What the fuck?
"Please, can you take me back to my group therapy session?" Twelve pleaded. "Officer Cain is so angry at me. He dragged me out of there after he refused to believe one of the experiences I told my therapist."
Oh here we fucking go. "Don't fall for that shit," I warned Jack, but he had the nerve to frown at me and pat her back.
"Sure, I'll take you to your session," he told her and she thanked him as he peeled her off of him, but let her clutch his arm as he led her down the corridor. He threw a stern frown over his shoulder at me and I swore under my breath. That girl. That fucking girl.
I paced the corridor while I waited for Hastings to send her back to her session, determined to set things straight. I hadn't done shit. I wasn't going to be painted out as an asshole to him. Since we'd shared a few beers in his room, it was actually becoming something of a habit and though I wouldn't exactly have called him a friend, I didn't want her turning him against me when he was the only guy in this place I even spoke to on a semi-regular basis outside of work.
When she’d headed back into the therapy room, Jack strode up to me, folding his arms. "What was that about?"
"Oh don't fucking look at me like that. That girl is trouble,"