and sighed. Perhaps she realized I wasn’t about to back down. “Okay, so he would have done that anyway. But Muse, something is up with him. We…er… He and I… Look, can you try and talk to him?”
“Me?” I snorted a laugh. “That didn’t go so well last time.”
“Please.” Genuine concern pinched her features.
Oh jeez, she was into him. How had I missed that? “Fine, but you gotta do something for me.”
Her eyes brightened with honest relief. “Okay.”
“Tell me, has Val visited you recently?”
The change in her was instant. She shrank back, and her shoulders bowed. I watched a whole array of emotions flit across her face before she locked her teeth together and swallowed hard. “Yes.” She practically hissed the word.
“What did he ask?”
She cut her gaze away. A muscle twitched in her cheek. “The same as he always does. Where are the half bloods? Where’s the Institute base? I don’t know the answers, and Adam knows better than to tell me anything. I stopped giving your brother anything of use weeks ago.”
She wouldn’t look at me. I couldn’t blame her. I’d dragged her into this. Hanging around me had that effect on people. She’d followed me when I’d tried to save Dawn. Val had the same idea. He wanted Dawn back. Jenna was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and she still paid for it. Val fucked her in every way, because he could.
“He still comes though.” She bowed her head and bit into her bottom lip before dragging her gaze up to meet mine. “I still want him to.”
“I know,” I said softly. I felt for her. The small dose of power Val had given me had driven me out of my mind. He commanded lust the way Akil commanded fire. I remembered precisely how I’d have gladly screwed my own brother, but it wouldn’t have stopped there. Lust was a madness. I’d have torn myself apart in my need to have him. It was something primal, something in my DNA. Jenna was addicted. She hated herself, I saw that much in her eyes, but she didn’t want it to stop.
“Does Ryder know about Val?”
She nodded. “They all do.”
“I mean… Does Ryder know how you’re…intimate with Val, because you two are...y’know…an item?”
“Me and Ryder?” A delicate smile fluttered across her lips before she could trap it behind her steely training. “We’re not.”
“It’s none of my business. But if you screw him over, I’ll break your legs.” I smiled as sweetly as possible, which comes off as more of a sneer when it’s on my lips. Sure, Ryder and I had issues, but he was one of the only genuine friends I’d ever had. I was allowed to throw whiskey in his face because I loved him. If Jenna ruined him because of her addiction to my brother, I’d ruin her right back.
She blinked, mouth open. Yeah, she hadn’t expected that. A genuine warmth softened her face. “Thank you.” Now we were on the same page.
“My pleasure. Now, I have to stand within two feet of Adam without trying to kill him, so let me get that out of the way, and then I’ll talk to Ryder for you, but don’t get your hopes up. Ryder doesn’t do touchy-feely talks. He’ll work it out at a shooting range or on the streets. If there is a problem, I’m probably part of it.”
She nodded. “I appreciate it.”
“Sure. When Val next shows up. I want to know everything he says. Agreed?”
She nodded. “I report to Adam.”
“Well, now you report to me too.”
Jenna’s eyes narrowed a fraction. She didn’t trust me. She knew what I was capable of, and in her book, next to ‘unstable Class A demon,’ there was a picture of me. “Is something going on we should know about?”
I grinned. “Isn’t there always?”
CHAPTER NINE
The meeting with Adam went surprisingly well. Nobody got hurt. No blood was spilled. I agreed to have PC34 in my veins as long as he gave me the antidote when I left the Institute facility. And if they didn’t adhere to our deal, I had my own back-up antidote. I would be free to roam their base, but the location would remain confidential. I had to go in blindfolded. It was all very secretive. They’d already been burned once. And although I wasn’t responsible, I hadn’t exactly helped the situation. I might even have fanned the flames a little. Adam might be many things, but stupid, unfortunately, wasn’t one of them.
I would