She stared at him, waiting for an answer.
When he spoke into her mind, she jumped.
“It may be that you’d always shielded against it. But it’s just the power of their kind, Vanya. It’s nothing unusual. I’ve felt it myself—and it’s nothing for you to feel shame over. You didn’t want him. It was your body reacting without your consent to something he did—you can’t be blamed for blinking, for breathing. It was an instinctive response, nothing to feel ashamed over, nothing to be angry over.”
Then he passed a hand over his face, shook his head. “Your powers have increased with your change—they often do. It never occurred to me that you were unfamiliar with what they can do since you’ve fought them before. If you’d had a natural resistance to them as a mortal, I would have thought it would carry over.”
He looked at her, his blue eyes troubled. He lifted his hands and signed.
I’m sorry.
Vanya swallowed and looked away.
Shit.
He was sorry—for what? Still squirming, still miserable, still fighting her own anger, she looked away. Her voice stiff, she said, “You expected me to think and I didn’t. You’ve been training me to think and I didn’t. I fucked up, for whatever reasons. Don’t be sorry. I’ll do better next time.”
She went to brush past him. His hand came down over her neck and squeezed.
“You had a right to be disturbed by that—I would have been if I hadn’t been expecting it.” His thumb and fingers lightly dug into the tight muscles, coaxing them into relaxing.
Vanya didn’t want to relax, though.
She couldn’t, not until she figured out a way to function with this shit.
Hell, she’d blocked the things before—shielded against it, a natural resistance, whatever. She’d figure it out again. “Disturbed or not, I’m supposed to think, right?” She moved away from his hand, heading toward the club. The farther she moved away, the louder the music got, the brighter the parking lot got.
“We’re done for the night,” he said a few moments later.
She briefly wondered what had become of the body, or if it was still lying back there.
“We’re not done,” she said. “You told me I had to do this a couple of times, damn it. I’m doing it a couple of times.”
She’d be damned if she let these things freak her out so badly that she couldn’t function—hell, she’d done better as a human.
That wasn’t acceptable.
“Damn it, stop being so stubborn,” Silence snapped, reaching for her.
But she evaded him, her body swaying to the side only a second before he would have closed his hand around her shoulder. That smooth, white shoulder left bare by the corset he’d provided for her to wear—what had he been thinking?
“I’m not being stubborn,” she replied. “I’m doing what you brought me here for, remember? And I’ll handle it better this time.”
She was still upset. He could see it in the tense set of her shoulders, in the pale, tight look around her eyes.
He wouldn’t risk this—
Somebody came around the corner.
A lithe, leggy blonde who took a look at him then Vanya. He recognized her about the same time Vanya did—saw the thing peering out from behind her eyes.
Vanya tripped. On purpose, he was sure, falling against the woman with a soft sob.
“Oh, shit. I’m sorry.” She gave a very convincing, completely fake sniff and shot him a dirty look. “Would you leave me alone? I told you, I’m not leaving. You wanted to come here—fine, we’re here. Asshole.”
She went to go around the blonde, but the woman caught her around the waist. “Are you okay, sweetie?” She shot Silence a smirk and added, “Let me guess. Your boyfriend here doesn’t want you having any fun, huh?”
Vanya curled her lip. “Only his kind of fun, the bastard.” She tried to push away from the blonde, subtly, putting some distance between them.
“Hmmm. Typical man.” She stroked a hand down Vanya’s arm.
Silence felt the prickle of her power roll through the air.
It was stronger than the incubae had been, and if he could speak, he would have sworn a blue streak. As it was, he was hard-pressed not to blast his voice in Vanya’s mind, knowing she’d be getting the full brunt of the succubae’s power, completely unprepared, and touching the demon as well.
“What’s he wanting, sweetie? The typical male-pig thing? Having two women crawling all over him?” She inched closer. Her eyes were darker now, the demon inching closer and closer to the surface.
Vanya swayed forward. “Um. No. He wanted…” She looked away, shot Silence another dark look. “Another guy. Wanted me to do it with another guy. And him. I didn’t want to—the other guy got mad and I…hell, I hit him. I think I broke his nose and he got mad, took off.”
Clever girl, Silence thought. That would explain any blood the succubae might scent on her if she stopped thinking with her cunt long enough.
“Broke his nose, did you? And you still want to stay?”
Vanya poked her lip out. “I want a drink. I want to dance. And…hell. I don’t know. I want to have some fun, but I don’t think I want to be with two guys. He won’t shut up about it and now he’s pouting.”
“Hmmmm…that sounds like a man. And two men, well, it can be fun. But still, you should get to choose your own games,” the blonde whispered. She had a hand on Vanya’s waist now, stroking upward to her breasts.
Vanya blushed when the blonde touched her. Blushed, shivered, turned away. “I…um…”
The blonde touched her mouth to Vanya’s shoulder. Silence watched, set his jaw. And called his shadows, wrapping them around them. As he did, he eased closer to Vanya, reaching out to touch her, his fingers brushing the tips of hers as he lowered his mouth to hers.
The succubae chuckled. “Well, maybe two women will work for him as well, sweetie. I think he just wants to see you having fun, really…look at how he looks at you. He’s completely gone over on you, I can tell.”
Silence stroked his hand down her torso. The succubae had slid her hands around, dipped them inside the top of Vanya’s corset to toy with her breasts.
Silence could feel her touching his woman and it bothered him—he’d played this game and it had never affected him before. It was an easy way to set up this kind of demon—they were so easily distracted with the lure of sex, all save the king or queen.
But he hated this because he could see the discomfort in Vanya’s eyes. Even under the impact of the succubae’s power, she was still herself—and she didn’t like this, at all. It infuriated him.
Stroking his hand farther down, he trailed his fingers over her thigh, catching her knee, bringing it up.
A few seconds later, he had her knife in his hand.
Vanya tensed as the succubae screeched.
Her scream ended abruptly, and Vanya jerked out from the little demon/angel sandwich she’d been in.
Staring at Silence, staring at the knife he held, she set her jaw.
“Damn it, am I supposed to be learning or not?” she demanded.
“Yes. But I’m not putting more on you than you need, and you’ve done enough tonight.” He cleaned the blade and handed it back to her. She took it, about ready to spin around, heading back into the club. But he caught her arm, his grasp too tight to break.
As he hustled her toward the car, she snapped, “Damn it, we can’t just leave. What about the bodies?”
He smirked. “We leave them. You’ve done that before, I know.”
Vanya winced. Yeah, there were a number of cops who really wanted her ass—hell, they’d probably branded her a serial killer. “I thought you all operated with a little more polish. Besides, this place has cameras. I saw them.”
A grim smile twisted his mouth. “Cameras don’t like me. The security people will find them all broken. Another gift of mine. Stop dragging your feet, Vanya. We are leaving.”
They reached the car far too soon
, but before she could climb in, he touched her cheek. “You are still unhappy with me.”
She gave him a flat look. “I’ve had a bad night. And since we’re not staying, can we just go? I want a damn bath.”
He sighed and dipped his head, brushing his lips over her brow. Then he stepped back, letting her climb in. The door closed behind her and she closed her eyes. She wanted a bath, and despite the fact that she wasn’t supposed to need sleep, she did. She actually kind of craved it, needed the oblivion it promised.
Chapter Six
“Why are we here?” Vanya sighed as Silence parked the car in front of a luxury hotel that she’d seen before, but damned if she had ever so much as stepped a foot inside.
She couldn’t afford this place.
She probably couldn’t even afford the soap in this place.
“I’m tired of that hovel. We’re moving to this hotel.”
She stiffened. “That hovel is where I’ve been living for several months. If it doesn’t suit you? Fine. Take me there and you can check your fancy ass into whatever hotel you like.”
Silence shot her a narrow look and shook his head.
“Fine,” she bit off. “I’ll fucking walk.”
She was so damned tired it wasn’t even funny. Tired, and more than a little embarrassed. Yeah, she knew the rundown little place wasn’t much, but hell, it was the best she could manage.
But when she went to get out, Silence’s hand closed over her wrist. “You are not leaving. You do not need to be alone, and you damn well deserve better than that miserable room.”
Flushing a miserable shade of red, she fought the urge to hunch her shoulders.
“That miserable room suits me fine,” she bit off.
He snorted. The look on his face said more than enough. “You’re not going back there.”
“My clothes are back there. My money. Every damn thing I own. And excuse me, but you don’t own me, do you?” Jerking against his hold, she tried to pull away, but she couldn’t. That just pissed her off even more.
Damn it, this night had sucked.
Her skin was still prickly tight with the remnants of that awful arousal she’d felt from the incubae then the succubae, although it hadn’t been as strong with the succubae. The female demon’s power had been stronger, but Vanya had worked harder to shield against it, and she hoped that had helped—maybe that was the key, just a little extra shielding.
She hoped so, because it was the one bright note she had to hold on to.
Glaring at Silence, she snarled, “Let me go, damn it. I want to go to my own room, not be bossed around by some commandeering, thoughtless bastard who doesn’t give a flying fuck about what I want or what I feel—”
“Is that what you think? You little—”
Then he cut his thoughts off, closed his eyes. Wide shoulders rose and fell as he took a deep breath before looking back at her. Slowly, his fingers uncurled from her wrist. He let go and she jerked her wrist back, went to climb out of the door, but he warned her, “You take off right now, I will catch you. Do not make me chase you.”
It wasn’t so much the words, but the look in his eyes that kept her in place.
Sinking back against the plush leather of the seat, she waited in sullen silence.
She saw his hands from the corner of her eye, pretended she didn’t.
Then she felt terribly small.
He wouldn’t speak to her mind when he was angry—it was as though he didn’t want her to see the things that would make matters worse. If she wouldn’t look at him…
Locked in silence…
Sighing, she looked back at him. “What?” she demanded, not caring that she sounded more than a little bitchy.
Come inside. Please. You’ve had a bad night and you should have a decent meal, a quiet night, he signed.
Something about the look on his face, in his eyes had her heart softening.
Damn it, she didn’t like that he could get under her defenses with so little effort. Especially when she wanted to be angry, when she knew she was even a little entitled. She didn’t like it that he could get to her so easily…didn’t like it at all.
Grouchy, she shot him a look from the corner of her eye and then looked back at the hotel. “I can’t afford this place—I can’t even afford to split it with you.”
He touched her arm as he said into her mind, “Another thing we should talk about…you’re not to be a pauper all your life, Vanya. You actually do get paid for this.”
Okay, now that wasn’t anything she’d been expecting.
“Um…paid?” She snorted. “And it’s drawn on what bank, exactly? Almighty God, Inc? Guardian Angels, LLC?”
He grinned. “Nothing quite so obvious, dear one. But Will and others have…well, businesses in place. And you’ll get money. If it makes you feel better, we can split the cost and you can pay me back once you do start getting paid.”
“And when is that?”
He gave her an enigmatic smile. “When you get out of training. For now…I’m responsible for you. I guess I should have explained that before now.”
“Responsible for me?” She curled a lip at him. “I am responsible for me.”
“For your actions, your neck, yes. But by our traditions? I am responsible for your way right now.” His hand stroked up her arm, curled over the back of her neck. “Stop being so stubborn, so proud for one night…let me take care of you…I owe you this after being an ass, at least.”
His fingers dug into the tight tense muscles.
She swallowed and looked back at the hotel.
Hell.
“One night,” she muttered. “Yeah, I guess you do owe me that much.”
If he’d manipulated her into the hotel, he couldn’t feel too bad over it.
He might feel bad tomorrow, when he manipulated her into staying longer. But he wasn’t taking her back to that squalid little box of a room, not tonight. Not after…
He closed a hand into a fist, forced the rigid muscles in his back to relax.
She was walking in front of him, her ass swinging in that short, snug skirt.
Too many eyes rested on her as they made their way to the check-in desk. He could see her discomfort rising—damn it.
She looked lovely, all that pale, soft flesh, but she was also a walking advertisement for sex and they both knew it. It had been ideal for the club, but not exactly ideal in the luxury hotel, something Silence hadn’t even thought of—he’d only thought of getting her someplace else, away from the darkness and despair that seemed to be her life.
The lady behind the desk gave her a blank look—professional but dismissive.
Silence narrowed his eyes at her.
If he could have…
But he couldn’t.
Each way he turned this night, he was messing up, it seemed.
He signed to Vanya, aware of the hotel employee’s gaze lingering on his scarred hands.
Can you check us in?
She gave him a worried look, but he reached into his wallet. She didn’t have any identification, he knew. He did, though, and it would pass anybody’s scrutiny—after all, Will had arranged for it. He gave her a license and credit card.
She arched a brow and then handed it to the woman behind the counter.
Reaching up, he rested a hand on Vanya’s neck.
Alone in a room, that was all he wanted.
And he’d make this miserable night up…
The hotel employee looked at them with a brilliant, beaming smile. “Mr. Marseilles, we were expecting you earlier. We’ve got your rooms all ready for you.”
Silence looked at the woman, lifted a brow.
Vanya blinked. “Waiting for us?”
“Yes. The reservations had you down to arrive today.” The woman looked at Vanya, her smile faltering a bit before she steadied it.
Silence sighed and signed to Vanya. Will.
Then…
His name was Will.
And he offered the s
ilent prisoner a choice.
“The time is coming when you will have a choice, Eustache.”
He curled his lip, sneering at Will. He did not care for that name, whether it was his or not. It reminded him of a time when he’d thought he had found something. When he’d hoped for things. When he’d been betrayed.
But because he was curious, he awkwardly used his hands to form the gestures that Will had been teaching him—that hands could be used to form words, he’d never imagined it. But a way to speak again that didn’t involve writing out the words.
What kind of choice?
“A hard one,” Will answered bluntly. “Men are coming—men who have learned of you and your secrets. They will come and put another man in your place. It’s a man who resembles you so it may not be questioned, at least not for some time.”
He smirked and tapped his throat, lifting a brow.
Will looked away. “I do not know if he will speak or not. I do not know all the answers. I just know that this is coming—and it will be dangerous for you. When they come for you, they will try to make you use your gift for them—Louis was foolish and let wine loosen his tongue. They don’t entirely believe him, but they want to see you for themselves. It will be your best chance to leave these walls for some time.”
There was something Will was not telling him. Secrets. He saw them lurking in those silvery eyes.
“Once you are with these men, you will have to make your own choice.”
He shook his head and signed, I will not be used. I will not use this…this evil for others.
“It’s not evil, son,” Will said, sighing. “And I know you will not. Just as I know what will become of you when you refuse.”
He reached down and touched Eustache’s hands. “They will try to convince you. They will beat you. They will torture you. Eventually, they are going to kill you.”
He flinched. Shoving to his feet, he started to pace. As he did, his thoughts spun in dizzying circles. Finally, he stopped and faced Will. Slowly, he signed, This is the choice you speak of? Either do something I know is wrong or die?
Locked in Silence: Grimm's Circle, Book 5 Page 9
