Page 90 of Glutton for Punishment

“Duval and Paris?”

Maddox shakes his head. “They stay in their lanes. Never challenge me. Never cause trouble beyond their own territories. So I don’t know for sure. The rumors are never credible anyway. Mine has to do with redirecting force. I'll show you sometime.”

Silence settles between us as I take it all in. It’s a nightmare.

“So everyone’s going to know about my power now. Once it gets out to your family, it could spill to other Councilors?”

Maddox doesn’t respond right away, but we both know the answer.

“Cleo…” My voice catches. “She looked so scared.”

The image flashes through my mind again. The knife at her throat, terror in her eyes, Amaya dragging her away…

“I couldn’t let her take her. And part of me feels like it just… bubbled over.” I hesitate. “But part of me thinks I wanted it to happen too.”

Maddox’s brow furrows.

“She kept talking about how useless I was,” my voice drops. I don’t enjoy being vulnerable, but the way he just opened up to me about his family… I have to put a little trust in him.

“I think some part of me wanted to prove she was wrong. Wanted to show her I’m not that person anymore. That I’m not useless.”

My fingers twist in my shirt, and he moves so fast that I don’t realize how close he has gotten until he is kneeling right in front of me, hands warm against my face, raising my chin up to look at him.

“You were never useless. Ever.” He says in a sharp tone.

I let out a small breath. “I know,” I say. “Or… I do now, mostly.” My eyes drop before I force them back up. “I spent a long time thinking my only worth was based on power.”

His thumb brushes against my cheek in the most gentle, un-Maddox like way. I lean into it.

“But I know now, it’s not all about sin power,” I continue. “I guess the old thoughts just break through sometimes.”

A humorless smile tugs at my mouth. “It’s funny, now that I have this power, I’m honestly more worried about how it might change me.”

Maddox’s expression softens into something almost painful. “Arwen, you walked into that classroom on the first day and put me in my place right away.”

Despite everything, I huff a laugh.

“You have this spark of fire. I watched you fight for yourself all semester. Watched you get knocked down over and over and stand back up, stronger than before.” His gaze searches mine. “You choosing Cleo today. Your loyalty. Your heart.”

His thumb continues stroking my cheek.

“No power is going to change who you are at your core.”

Something in my chest cracks open as he tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear.

“And never apologize for being who you are. If those old thoughts saying you’re useless break in again, you come to me and I’ll remind you just how wrong you are.

His words slide in and fill places inside me I didn’t know were still hollow. How does he always know what to say?

He goes quiet, but his expression shifts to something conflicted.

“Did you…” He glances away. “Did you feel anything about me before? Back at the academy?” He asks roughly, refusing to meet my eyes. I swear he has a little red in his cheeks, and it makes me want to melt.

I reach up and grab his jaw, forcing his gaze back to mine so he can’t avoid me.

“First of all,” I say in my most matter-of-fact voice, “you already know you’re hot.”

His eyes widen as he laughs in surprise. Rich and rough and so beautiful that I almost forget what I’m trying to say.