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She twirled the pen between her fingers. “Which parts?”
“Us.”
She snorted. “Us? There is no us.” She waved her hand, her palm facing me. “The mark is gone. We don’t work together anymore. Remember?”
“Is that all I was to you? Work?”
“Listen, it was fun. We messed around, but it doesn’t have to be a thing. You know, I thought, given your history, you would understand?”
“My history?”
“You’ve had flings before. Remember? I’ve seen them.” She tapped a finger against her temple, smiling slightly.
Blood thrummed in my ears, my heart pounding tenfold. This was wrong. She was… lying. This wasn’t her. I knew it. I knew what we had, what we had both felt. The ache in my heart turned to blistering resolve. I had trained warriors to lock their emotions down and shut them off to prepare for battles that could cost them their very lives. That was what Dianna was doing, trying desperately to shove me away to prepare for war. Her war.
I folded my arms over my chest. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I know you. I know you’ll worry and get in the way, but I’m really fine. I just have to kill a few people.” She paused, a playful grin widening. “Or a few hundred.”
I took a step toward her, closing the space between us. “You know I will not let that happen.”
Dianna kept fiddling with the pen. “I know.” She took a step closer to me, her hands caressing my chest. I flinched as she nipped my chin, her lips curving in a smile. “That’s why I am here to warn you.”
The corner of my lips ticked up in a half grin. “Warn me? Dianna, are we back to threatening each other after everything?”
“It’s not a threat so much as a promise. So, you stay out of my way, I stay out of yours, and everyone goes home happy.”
“A promise? You can’t hurt me. You know this.”
That was a lie. Her words had done nothing but rip me to shreds, one after the other. I felt gutted by the way she looked at me, as if not an ounce of her cared. That was pain.
She spun away from me, dragging the pen across the edge of the long desk.
“I like the cleanup you all are doing, by the way.” She flashed another smile over her shoulder. This time, I noticed it didn’t reach her eyes. It was a faded shadow of her true smile, and I ached to see it again. “Do you ever tire of looking so pretty in front of all those cameras? I mean, I like the new hair. So dashing.”
“Dianna.”
“Also, going back to Samkiel, huh? Giving up on the whole Liam thing? Makes sense, I guess. Eventually, we get tired of pretending to be something we aren’t. I mean, I did.” She flipped through a few pages on the desk.
“Dianna.”
“Also, you won’t find them with research. They are probably gathered in their estates, hiding like cowards.”
I reached out and grabbed her arm, turning her toward me. “Listen, I know you are hurting, regardless of what you say. Let me help you.”
“I just told you how.”
“That’s not…” My words trailed off, the rational part of my brain taking over. The shock of seeing her had eased, and I finally registered the heavy scent emanating from her. My stomach turned. “Why do you smell of mortal blood?”
Her smile was downright venomous.
One second, I was in front of her. The next, she had flipped me onto the desk, my back hitting hard enough that the wood groaned and cracked from the force of the impact.
Dianna gripped my throat and leaned over me. I tried to sit up, but she held me with surprising ease. Shock was an understatement. Even when Dianna and I had trained, she had never been stronger than me or able to pin and hold me down. She had been feeding on mortals and a lot of them.
“Let’s get one thing straight. I know you. You’re nice and good and all those things we are not. You will want to help me, but there is no help. The only thing you can do for me is to stay out of my way. I came here to ask nicely. I will not ask again. You get in my way, and you will pay in blood just like them, just like him. So how about you turn a blind eye like you did a thousand years ago, huh?”
“You know I do not respond well to threats.” My hand clasped her slender wrist, but I didn’t try to pull her grip from my throat. I could feign submission if I must. I would let her think she had the upper hand as long as it kept her talking.
