you, the only immortals I was around were my family, and then at the center at E.V.I.E., where I knew I was safe. Here, I don’t feel safe. I feel like at any moment, everything is going to go crazy, and my life will become forfeited. Either by accident or because my family slighted another’s before I was even born or created. You expect me to sit and be a good pet, but I will run, and I will keep running until I am free. I don’t want to be caged.
“I agreed to work with you, and the first chance you got, you made it permanent because I am naïve, and you used that against me. Cole held me open for you to look at and play with because I’m easy to manipulate, and because every time you get close to me, all my inhibitions leave me. When your mouth touches mine, my worries slip away, and the world feels right. That alone terrifies me because, at the end of the day, you don’t actually want me. You want the magic I wield.”
The sound of clothing rustled in the room, and I silently fought the tears that threatened to fall. My throat tightened while I waited for his reply.
The door opened and closed, and I sat up, staring at the empty room. I frowned, pulling my legs up against my chest to drop my head to my knees. I’d just poured my heart out to Rhys, and he got bored and left. I was marking this one up as one of the biggest mistakes of my life, right next to running in to save him, and waking up on my knees with him between my lips.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Days went by where Nyx and I spent hours in the armory, charged to rearrange it, much to the horror of one knight. He would sigh, frown dramatically, or snort when I moved something. My babysitter, Acyn, would watch every single move I made. Either Cole or Acyn supervised me since the night I’d bared my soul to Rhys, only to have him slip out of the room like it hadn’t mattered to him. For the last three days, other than sleeping beside him, I hadn’t seen much of Rhys.
“You cannot possibly think this is right. There’s a system in place. How will we find anything in a hurry?” the knight groaned. Acyn’s lips twitched, and his stare landed on Nyx, who purposely bent over, showing him that she’d forgone to wear panties today. “I want to speak to the alpha about this before she destroys everything!”
“You have copper bullets mixed in with silver ones. If you were to shoot a wolf with copper, you’d end up with a dead knight assuming he’d made a kill shot, when in reality, all he’d manage to do is piss off that werewolf. You have bronze arrow tips in with the brass, and there are shavings everywhere, clinging to those tips. One single shaving on an arrow can mean the difference between life and death if it affects the arrow’s trajectory when released. A sharpshooter expects his ammo to be in firing shape. Yet your bullets are scuffed, tossed into freaking drawers, unboxed and unprotected. In short, you’re a shit weapons master who hasn’t mastered how to catalog, let alone store his ammunition properly to assist those in the field.
“You literally had one responsibility here. And in case you are unaware of what it is, it is to ensure everything is in top firing order and prepared for the men counting on you to ensure it is so. You have an assistant who orders for you when supplies are short, yet you’ve failed to utilize him since half the supplies are low or gone. There’s another knight who ensures weapons are stored properly, and he catalogs them in every night. They’re cleaned, reloaded, and restocked into the safe, stored in zero moisture because he goes above and beyond to ensure the rice and vapor barriers within the room are changed out every three days. You, on the other hand, are a mess. If they’re doing their jobs, and you’re doing a shit job, their jobs don’t matter. Weapons need ammo, and you are the one responsible for storing that ammo correctly. So either sit your pompous ass down and shut your whining mouth, or get in here and help me to fix your mess, sir!” I snapped crossly.