around on my seat. Cross has a notebook in his hands, and he is writing in it, but his eyes swiftly turn up to me.
He smiles, but it’s a tense smile at best. “Nothing for you to worry about. Perhaps you should get down to Maddox. He isn’t a patient man.”
“I think everyone on The Onyx knows that,” I point out, sliding off my seat. Hector pushes a picnic basket over to me, and I pick it up. “Thank you for breakfast and this. See you both later.”
“Have fun, madame,” Hector calls to me as I leave the room. Hearing Cross walk across to Hector, I pause by the door for a second, out of sight.
“Do you think she can be trusted?” Cross asks.
Hector instantly replies. “The only part of that girl I don’t trust is Maddox’s obsession with her and how clueless she is.”
“I doubt it is more than lust. Once it plays out, he will forget about her,” Cross replies. “The sooner the better for what we have planned.”
What the hell are they planning? And why does it have anything to do with me?
Hearing Cross move across the room, I quickly run down the corridor, something in the basket making a noise as I run, no doubt giving me away. Knowing I need to watch my back in this place, I make a mental note to dig for information on Cross and Hector, and what they could be planning. I’m not sure how I’m going to do that, but I will figure it out like everything else. Maddox is waiting outside the castle, next to a horse and carriage this time. He gives me one of those terrifying but sexy as sin smiles as he opens the door to the carriage and waves me in. I shove the basket into his chest, ignoring his outstretched hand, and climb into the carriage, sitting on one side. Maddox chuckles as he climbs in after me and places the basket on one side before sitting right next to me, his whole body pressed into my side.
The carriage takes off a few minutes after a man shuts the door, and I rest back, watching out the window at the red snow trickling down the mountain.
“Can vampires feel the cold?” I question. “I know you feel hot to touch, but do you feel that?”
“We feel everything humans do,” he answers. “Cold, hot, pleasure, and everything you can think of.”
He purrs the word pleasure.
I roll my eyes and cross my arms, which only makes me brush against him further. “What did my boring as fuck brother do with you the entire week?”
My lips twitch. “Nothing much other than saving my brother’s best friend and earning my respect.”
“Reign is always the saviour, and I am the snake,” he replies, and for a second I want to tell him he doesn’t have to be the bad guy all of the time. He could change. But then I think better of it, remembering vividly all those I’ve seen him kill. “This Arlo, is he your friend or your brother’s?”
“Both. We all grew up together,” I tell him. “And if you kill him, I will find a way to kill you.”
He looks down at me, a dangerous glint in his eye. “Don’t say things like that, my violent little human. You make it sound like a challenge. And I love a challenge.”
“Just don’t, Maddox,” I warn him.
“I find it amusing how you think you have power over me,” he replies with a cool laugh, and he looks away. My cheeks burn as I glare out the window at the mountain like it is the reason Maddox is such a dick. Of course, it isn’t, and I rest my head back as the carriage takes us down the mountain and through the forest. We stop suddenly, and Maddox kicks the door open, climbing out with the basket and offering me his hand once again. I laugh, pushing his hand away and jumping out on my own. My black jeans and light pink T-shirt do little against the cold of the air, and I almost wish I had the red cloak Maddox gave me.
“This way,” he instructs, pointing at a bunch of bushes and trees in the distance.
“Where are we?” I question as I walk alongside him. I don’t see where else I could go at this point.
“I found this place when I was a kid. I used to run through the forests a lot to escape my father and