Lead Heart (Seraph Black Book 3) (31 page)

“Why didn’t we hear anyone screaming?” I asked, trying to keep my voice as low as Noah’s.

“Well… probably because nobody has been hurt yet,” Cabe replied, rubbing at his temple. “They won’t actually shoot anyone. He called them hostages, so he must be after something.”

“Probably,” Noah affirmed. “The news team is going to call you soon, Cabe. Silas is finding out what he can. He said we should stay hidden. We’re likely the only non-hostages with access to this building right now. They’re going to need us at some point.”

A shiver caught me unawares, and Noah looped his arms around my front. “Don’t worry, little ghost.”

I nodded wordlessly, but I still startled when Cabe’s phone lit up. He answered it quietly, communicating with someone I guessed to be human, as he steered clear of mentioning anything to do with the Zevs.

“They want us to stay here,” he said after the call was over. “Remain calm and all that crap. The Klovoda should be calling soon with a revised plan.”

As if on cue, all of our phones lit up at the same time. I grabbed mine, seeing Jayden’s contact, and accepted the call.

“Having a decent morning, Wonderkid?” he greeted dryly.

“You have no idea,” I muttered.

“Well, as your handler, it’s my pleasure to give you your first mission. Are you ready?”

“That depends. What do you want me to do?”

“Stay the hell where you are. Don’t try to be superwoman right now. I mean this in the kindest way possible… but this requires more finesse than your particular brand of havoc.”

Despite the veiled insult, and our current situation, I wanted to laugh. I bit it back and simply replied, “Right. Okay.”

He paused, and I could feel the tension that crackled through the phone.

“There’s something else.” He sounded hesitant… or maybe I was just growing accustomed to recognising when a person was withholding information from me.

“What is it?” I prompted.

“I think Weston set this up,” he admitted, his tone considerably lower than it had been before.

I fumbled with the phone and it slipped out of my fingers, banging against my knee and disappearing between my legs. Noah, who had apparently already finished his phone call, slipped an arm beneath my thighs and lifted me up, reaching beneath me for the phone and handing it back.

“W-what?” I whispered into the receiver. “What did you say?”

“Weston,” Jayden reiterated. “Lord Henry Weston. The Voda. I assume you know who I’m talking about.”

“How? Why? I don’t understand.”

“There’s absolutely no way this could have happened without his help. I’m sure he’s expecting you to make a horrible scene in an attempt to save your friends, which will of course be documented by the human press about to descend on that college. He wants to parade your strength in front of the human world. It’ll be an even more effective warning than an
actual
warning, because it’ll look like he’s been hiding his super-secret deadly weapon away from the government, which is exactly what he’s been doing, but still… it’ll have more of an impact if they
accidently
find out about you.”

“This is his idea of protecting the Zevs from humans?” I groaned. “I think a better protection would have been to keep the crazy guy with the machine gun out of the college in the first place.”

“Unfortunately, you are not the Voda,” Jayden replied, an edge of sarcasm in his tone. “So common sense need not apply.”

“Fine. I won’t budge. But you’re getting help, right?”

“Don’t worry. We already have agents surrounding the building. We’re going to let the humans deal with this—we’ll act like the helpless little innocents that we aren’t, unless intervention is needed. So, this might take a while. Might as well get comfortable. Can you lock the door?”

“Someone came in before; they know that the door isn’t supposed to be locked.”

“Stay hidden then.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll call if anything changes.”

He hung up, and I glanced back and forth between Noah and Cabe. They were having a silent conversation with their eyes, and judging by their expressions, they had been told the same thing as me. Noah’s arm was still looped beneath my thighs so I lifted myself up, allowing him to extract it before I settled between his legs again.

“It feels wrong,” I eventually admitted. “Hiding up here and doing nothing.”

“They just want attention.” Cabe’s hand wound around my ankle, shifting my foot slightly.

I realised that I had been digging it into an uncomfortable place, and I blushed, tucking it beneath his thigh instead. We were so cramped up… it was difficult to tell what was pressing against what.

Cabe caught my blush and leaned around the side of the desk. “There has to be a better place to hide than this.”

The couch was the only other piece of furniture in the room, other than a bookshelf and the built-in cupboards that stretched along the back wall. Cabe carefully extracted himself and glanced toward the door before walking over to the cupboard and prying one of the doors open. He motioned us over and since I was the only one who could see him, I stood and tugged on Noah’s shirt until he stood with me. I tried to walk as silently as Cabe had as I approached and peered into the cupboard, finding it entirely empty. Quillan still hadn’t had a chance to move in properly, it seemed. There were shelves on the side closest to the window, but since it stretched along the entire back wall, there was still plenty of space to hide comfortably.

Cabe climbed in and sat down with his back against the shelves. I went after him, standing straight with plenty of room still above my head as Noah sat back against the other side, closing the door behind him. The cupboard was immediately drenched in darkness and I crouched down between the two of them, unsurprised when they both reached for me at the same time. Each of my hands were captured, and I felt the tug in two different directions.

“
Oooph,”
I protested quietly, causing one of them to chuckle.

“Should we take shifts?” Cabe asked, releasing my hand.

“Probably a good idea.” Noah sounded quietly amused. “Go ahead, Seph, pick your favourite Adair.”

I rolled my eyes, but in the darkness they couldn’t see it, so it was a wasted effort. I stayed where I was, crouched directly between them.

“There’s plenty of room. I’ll just stay—”

Noah grabbed me, hauling me back against his chest and wrapping a hand around the lower half of my face, cutting off my words. I tried to struggle out of his grip, but his legs hooked over mine, sticking them down to the floor. His body was too tense for the situation, and it convinced me to pause. I heard footsteps outside the room and I stilled completely as somebody opened the door. My stomach lurched, and I silently pleaded that they wouldn’t look inside the cupboard. After a moment, the door closed again, the footsteps retreating. I sagged back against Noah, my breath colliding with his restricting fingers in a rush. He removed his hand from my mouth.

“Guess you won that round,” Cabe whispered.

Noah’s chest shook with a laugh against my back. I reached forward to slap Cabe’s leg.

“Noah, she hit me. Are you going to let her do that? Your shift, your responsibility.”

Noah grabbed my wrists, pressing them together and pulling them over his left shoulder.

“Behave yourself.” Amusement rode his tone. “Don’t pick on him just because he’s your least favourite Adair.”

I immediately felt sorry for Cabe, who only grumbled a reply to Noah’s statement, prompting me to pull out of Noah’s grip. I crawled on my hands and knees to the other side of the cupboard. It was hard to see anything in the dark, but I could feel the material of Cabe’s pants against my wrists as I inched between his legs. He didn’t reach out and pull me in, as I had expected him to, so I kept going until I was close to his face.

“Lucifer?” I whispered, squinting at his face in the darkness.

“Don’t fall for it.” Noah sounded like he was trying not to laugh, but the muffled quality of his voice might have also been a product of him trying to be quiet.

Cabe didn’t say a thing. He didn’t move a muscle. I was really concerned now, and I lifted one of my hands, feeling along his chest until my fingers brushed the bare skin of his neck. He still didn’t make a sound, but I could feel the sudden burn of his emotion, just the same as I had felt it the night before, and I paused with my fingers hovering over his jaw. A silence thicker than the previous silence swept through our dark little space, and Cabe gently reached for me, pulling me astride his hips. My fingers traced higher, and I felt his smile.

“Traitor,” I whispered.

“Hmm,” he replied, his fingers trailing up from my knees to my thighs. He settled his hands in a hold that framed the waistband of my jeans, pulling me closer. “I really shouldn’t be feeling like this right now. Not with what’s going on downstairs.”

“You’re sick,” Noah said. I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.

“Very,” Cabe affirmed. “Seph?”

“W-what?”

“You’re shaking.”

I glanced down at myself. He was right. There was a tremble radiating out from my bones and I couldn’t seem to control it. His hands left my jeans to push up into my shirt, settling around my sides, his thumbs brushing low across my stomach as his fingers fanned against my back. I pulled in a deep breath, my head growing suddenly heavy. It was difficult to concentrate on anything but the brush of his thumbs against my skin. His thighs were tense against mine and I was shaking too much to keep myself upright, so I sagged forward, my chest catching against his, my hands clutching his arms. I could hear him breathing now, and it sounded strained.

“If I’d have known that she’d be pushing that feeling through the bond so goddamn often, I might have put off the bonding a little longer.” Noah spoke in a breathy growl. “Seph, maybe go back to needing space. For our sanity.”

“I’m not doing anything,” I protested.

Even to me, I sounded distracted.

Cabe didn’t seem to be paying any attention to the conversation at all. He lifted his head and I could suddenly feel his breath against my cheek. I wanted to turn my head, to encourage him to kiss me, but now really wasn’t the time or place. He seemed to be struggling with the same thought. His thumbs made another brushing motion against my stomach, pressing in lightly against the slight give of muscle. I pushed back instinctively. He groaned quietly, and his head fell away from me, gently thudding against the shelves behind him.

“Take her,” he choked out. “These are going to be quick shifts.”

Noah pulled me back with a swiftness that should have injured me somehow, but I only ended up falling soundlessly into his lap. He kept me facing away from him, and I was glad. I didn’t want to make them uncomfortable.

“Should we play a game or something?” I asked hesitantly.

“My mind’s in the wrong place right now,” Noah replied. “Not sure what kind of game you mean.”

“I mean to pass the time. A word association game or something.”

“I don’t know any word association games,” Cabe admitted.

“Truth or dare, then,” I offered. “I’m sure people play that in closets all the time.”

Behind me, Noah chuckled.

“What is it with you and that game?” Cabe sounded amused.

“I really have no idea.”

“Fine. But the dare part isn’t a good idea. Not unless you feel like taking your clothes off and sitting on me again—”

“Jesus, Cabe,” Noah growled. “Could you not?”

“Just being honest. So let’s just play truth. Or not, actually… considering what I just said. Maybe we should play a different game?”

I was shaking my head, my hands covering my face, but only Noah could tell. Eventually, I found my voice again.

“Um… never have I ever?”

“Never have you ever what?” Cabe asked.

“It’s a game. One person says ‘never have I ever,’ and they insert a random activity into the sentence, and the other people have to say that they have or they haven’t done that thing.”

“Never have I ever thought about kissing someone in a closet with a hostage situation going on a few hundred yards away.” Cabe was apparently hell-bent on proving that he could sabotage all of my game ideas.

“I have.” Noah laughed quietly.

“I have,” I said, somewhat grumpily. For some reason, they both went quiet. “What now?” I prompted.

“Wasn’t expecting you to admit it, pretty girl.”

It was several hours before any of our phones vibrated again, and I had been passed back and forth between Noah and Cabe so many times that I’d simply given up trying to sit with them, and was now crouched in the middle of the closet again.

“No,” Noah answered whoever had called him. “It’s not. It’s hell in here. No, nobody’s hurt. Because it just
is
, trust me. I’ll put you in a dark closet with the little devil one day and you’ll understand. Fine, here.” He handed the phone to me.

I put it to my ear, whispering, “Hello?”

“What the hell is Noah talking about?” Silas sounded frustrated.