Page 29 of Crucible
Aurelia inhales deeply at that moment, unintentionally making her tits more prominent, and then she scrambles to fix her sleeve.
“What are you willing to do for our help?” Khalil asks before I can.
Fucker’s always copying me.
Thorin doesn’t try to stop him from setting his trap, either. He gave into his darker urges the moment Aurelia challenged him. He just isn’t ready to admit it yet.
“Fine,” Aurelia says with a huff. “I’ll sign whatever you want. Now, can I use your phone?”
“Sure.” We don’t have a fucking phone. Only a radio for emergencies that she’ll never get those dainty little hands on. “But you have to do something for us,” I say as I step away from the window and closer to the bed.
“And it’s not your fucking autograph,” Khalil clarifies. He’s growing impatient, waiting to end this interrogation so he can be balls deep inside her already.
Aurelia looks at us all in bewilderment. “I have to give you something just to make a phone call? Don’t you have an international calling plan?”
Khalil opens his mouth, but Thorin beats him to it just in case he tries to pussyfoot around it. Khalil has a weakness for the opposite sex, while Thorin is all brute strength and no finesse. He acts like women are God’s greatest insult to mankind. In my very limited experience, I’ve found them to be a bit tedious and wishy-washy myself, but I don’t hate them like Thorin does.
Besides, Aurelia’s different.
Her soul is as wonderfully grotesque as mine.
“Our help doesn’t come free.” Thorin lays it out sternly. “If you want to stay, you’ll have to earn your keep.”
“Who says Iwantto stay?”
“Oh, you’ll stay,” Thorin says. Aurelia withdraws, and rightfully so. It sounds more like a threat than the prediction he probably intended it to be.
Aurelia narrows her gaze, and Thorin returns the silent “fuck you.”
Khalil clears his throat, easing the tension a little. “So, check this out. Even if we could get the word out, the storm that took down your plane is just the first. We’ll be buried up to our eyeballs in snow for the next few weeks, long after whoever gives a shit about you gives up.”
Aureliareallylooks nervous now, and I feel my lips curve as she says, “So, what are you saying?”
“You’re stuck with us, Goldilocks.”
“There must be some way—”
“There isn’t.” It’s not until Khalil and Thorin both look back at me in surprise that I realize how harshly I spoke. My carefreenature is slipping with each reminder that she wants to leave. I can’t help it. It’spissing me off.
Leave?
No, she just got here.
She can never leave.
Ever.
I feel myself becoming a little manic, but I don’t realize how visible it is until Aurelia’s expression shifts, and she starts looking around for an escape route.
“Seth.” Hearing my name, I drag my burning gaze away from my heartless obsession and see Thorin and Khalil watching me warily. “Do you need a nap?” Khalil warns me on the low.
“No.” My jaw tightens as I turn my head, looking away from them…and her.
Aurelia’s watching me curiously now. She looks confused, but if we do keep her, she won’t be for much longer. I’ll have to share her with Bane and Zeke as well as these two assholes, whom I hate the most.
“Getting you down won’t be possible until spring,” Khalil bullshits her. I clench my teeth but force myself to remain silent. I’m all for trapping her here with us, but I know all too well what it’s like to be controlled with lies. Itsucks. “The mountain is too volatile this time of year. We can keep you alive until then, but—”
“Spring?” Aurelia sputters. “That’s weeks away! I can’t stay here with some creeps in a hovel until then. You could be murderers.”Definitely so.“Serial killers.”Not enough motivation. “Rapists.”Not yet.“No, you need to do better. I have to get out of here. I have alife. I don’t belong here.”
