right.” I stood up. “Do I still have a room here?”
“Always,” he said.
I ignored the caress in his tone. I took a step toward the elevators.
Vane caught my hand. “I haven’t given you permission.”
I tried to twist my hand loose. Vane held it in a manacle-like grip. Having taught me how to escape such holds, he also knew how not to let me. He tilted his head. “Why?”
I retorted, “Because I never want to see you again.”
Beside him, Leonora gasped. She watched us with avid attention. Leonidas gave me a bored look. The wizards at the computers gaped at us. Vane glared at them and they quickly turned back to their screens.
“Because you hate me,” he said mockingly.
I stared steadily into hazel eyes, saying simply, “Because I don’t care anymore.”
His eyes shuttered, a cold green covered them again. He stood up.
“Then, you won’t care if I do this.” He pulled Leonora to him and kissed her. It wasn’t a mild kiss or a small gentle peck. It was a full-on, mouth-to-mouth, not-coming-up-for-air kind of kiss. The Dragon’s Eye warmed with his desire and it washed over me. He yanked open the door between our minds. He deliberately juxtapositioned her with me. If I closed my eyes, I would have seen us back on the darkened balcony. Instead, I watched him kiss her.
The musty smell of desire filled the room. His. Hers. Mine.
It made me sick.
Leonidas, recovering from momentary shock, jumped up with a roar. He lunged at Vane. Vane flicked him away like a bothersome mosquito, but he released Leonora. She stared at him with a dazed expression, lips bruised in the same way I imagined mine had been just hours ago. Vane’s heated eyes turned to meet mine. He dismissed Leonora with a casual wave of his hand, disposing her as easily as a used tissue.
Leonora’s face crumpled. Tears springing to her eyes, she ran out of the common room. On the floor, Leonidas sat up with a furious expression. I pointed Leonidas to follow in her direction. “Go get her, idiot.”
Leonidas gave Vane a final disgusted look and hurried after her.
“How could you do that to her?” I demanded.
He raised a brow. “I thought you no longer cared.”
“I don’t care about you.” I turned on my heel and stalked off. “You’re not worth it.”
I made it down the hall and into the residence hall’s tiny elevator. I barely stepped inside when Doppelganger-Matt slipped inside behind me, a hulking form crowding me inside the small space. He punched a button and the door jerked closed behind him and the elevator creaked up. I faced the back of the elevator and refused to turn around.
Unfortunately it didn’t help. Mirrored panels all around the elevator box surrounded me with Matt’s calm reflection. The illusion didn’t fool me. Under the civilized expression, he couldn’t hide the monster. The Kronos Eye sat heavily atop my chest, inside the gown.
Doppelganger-Matt looked at me in the mirror. “Is Merlin worth it?”
“Yes,” I replied honestly.
“Why?”
I stared at his reflection. Matt’s reflection. “He doesn’t think everyone is collateral.” Blake. Gia.
He heard me. Doppelganger-Matt punched a hand against a panel. It cracked the mirror. I watched as blood streaked down from his knuckles into the mirror’s shattered glass. It was how I felt.
“They were collateral. And necessary. Everything I’ve done has been necessary.”
I stared at the red mess on the glass. “Necessary for you.”
“I’m trying to save you!”
“You’re trying to save yourself.”
He raked his clean hand through his hair. “I see you’ve started to believe my brother.”
“Isn’t he right? You got everything you wanted.”
“You know the answer to that better than anyone.” He leaned into his bloodied hand, digging it farther into broken glass. “When have I ever gotten anything I wanted?”
“It was a long time ago. I’m talking about now.”
“It will never be long enough.” His clean hand touched the nape of my neck. His palm flattened on the bare skin exposed by the sleeveless gown and a thumb traced the length of my spine. “Because there is only one thing I will ever want.”
He would never understand—there were lines you didn’t cross if you wanted to keep your soul. I asked hoarsely, “Is Gia alive?”
“She is.”
I could hear the truth in his words. He didn’t lie. He played games. He manipulated, but he had a core integrity that didn’t waver. No matter what it cost. It made it easier to forgive him, but I couldn’t. Still, relief washed through me.
I closed my eyes. “Why Grey? Why