in her --
“Here. Man, I am so sorry about what happened. Do you need me to call a thera--”
“Shut the hell up and don’t even finish that sentence. I don’t need a therapist,” he said bluntly, walking forward to slap backs with a man that came from the shadows. Her eyes widened when she saw him.
He had been leaning casually against the bar, farther in the back so the darkness covered him. Stools were flipped upside down on the counter, just as the rest of the bar was. Chairs were on top of the tables and a broom was against the wall. Only three lights were on, illuminating the wooden floors and the steel poles in the corner. A shadow covered the room, and it really seemed as if they were going to meet a vampire or some other dark creature of the night.
But, after meeting Auro and Lyne, she couldn’t help thinking that way.
Lyne’s name brought her up short. Pain tore through her as she watched the two men, hands going numb. The puking job she had given the plants outside their house hadn’t soothed her soul in the least -- wait.
“Am I going to get arrested?” she asked, eyeing them. Lucian was tall, taller than Talon. He had dark hair, dark skin, and mesmerizing eyes that, even from her short distance away, she could tell swirled like water and smoke. A cold shudder ran down her back when he actually turned to stare at her.
“Why would you ask that?” Talon asked, even as Lucian opened his mouth to speak.
“He looks like a cop...and that...what happened...” Her voice trailed off as she stared into Lucian’s eyes. In them, she could see the secrets of the world.
His voice snapped her back to reality. “I’m no more of a cop than you are innocent,” he said drolly, looking at her hands as if the iron poker were still there. She put them behind her back quickly, feeling lightheaded.
“Knock it off,” Talon said, glaring. “No, Jamie, you aren’t going to get arrested. You didn’t kill anything, so don’t worry about it.” The look he gave Lucian said more than she wanted to see.
Her stomach turned again.
“But I did...” More confused than anything, she looked between them again and swore she was going to pass out.
“Jamie,” he said, like he was talking to a child. “To kill something, it has to be alive. Lyne wasn’t alive. Neither is Auro.”
“Let’s just explain all of this later when we aren’t so open. Go lock up the door again, and come back to our conference room. We open up in about two hours, so we have that much time for peace.” Lucian strode to the back of the room, not giving them a second look. He disappeared into a door.
“Just follow him,” he said, none of the earlier teasing in his voice. It was as if they were strangers, or at the least distant relatives who didn’t care for each other. Feeling torn, she followed Lucian slowly. Things were so much more different than they had been only a day or so before. The events blurred in her mind so much that she couldn’t even tell what was happening anymore.
Not in a million years would she have been inside of a bar. Not in a million years would she have ridden a motorcycle again. Not in a million years would she have had sex with a random man who she had seen be tortured. Her stomach revolted, but not at the fact that they had made love. What would happen now that it was over?
Talon acted as if the torturing hadn’t even happened, like it had been a bad dream that he had no plan on having again. He carried himself with a stronger gait, there was a different sort of anger within him, and he wasn’t staring at her with haunted eyes that begged for freedom and revenge. Her stomach clenched.
“Just sit down. I’m sure he’s going to put his bike out back,” the deep, resonating voice said. His eyes were shrewd, taking in her appearance and judging her for all her worth. Jamie sat in the chair slowly, looking around the room.
It was spacious, but not enough that you could throw a party or hold a meeting. Soft lights accented the dark theme of the room. A chair was placed behind a steel desk, the legs as thin as her wrist. She looked at the closed Mac Book Pro before looking away, eyeing the