The Glass Man - Lila Gray Book 1

Chapter Thirteen

Rourke climbed into the shining black behemoth first, and Parthalan shoved me in after him. I scrambled for the far door, but Rourke knocked his arm against my back and sent me down onto the cushy grey carpet. It still had that fresh-from-the-factory scent of cleaner and soft leather. I hadn't smelled it since my mother bought a new car when I was seven. Funny, I hadn't realized until that moment we never drove the car—it just sat in the driveway. Maybe my mother had a problem with metal objects, too. If she'd been hiding me and wanted to blend in, that might explain why she'd bought it.

Garret must have been in the vehicle the entire time, because he cowered near the back corner. The interior was enormous, with two complete benches facing each other, and enough floor space to hold a dance between them. The door clanged shut, and shortly after, the engine roared to life. We sped away from Liam. On the initial lurch, Rourke rolled over and slammed against the back seat, laughing. His hair fell over his face in dark strings, adding the perfect touch to his creepiness.

I scrambled over him to the back seat and searched the moonlight out the back window for Liam. Clancy had him by the throat with one hand, and the gun pressed to his forehead with the other. The wolves continued to watch from the side of the road.

"Come now, my darling," Parthalan said. "Sit by your king."

My fingers dug into the leather upholstery. How could Parthalan sound so nonchalant about hurting his own people? Breath grew heavy in my throat, and my heart hurt more with every inch farther I went from Liam, like we were connected by some metaphysical tether that would snap me in half if we were too far apart.

When I could no longer see him, I pressed my face against the glass, resisting an urge to smash it and run back to him. A flash, followed by another in quick succession, lit up the sky. The distant echo of gunfire invaded my ears like a dying scream. Unable to keep watching, I turned around, battling with my instincts that urged me to explode the car and everyone in it, not that I could. My energy was still blocked.

Was Liam dead? Would I know if he was? Yeah, I'd know, I told myself sternly. He told me to trust him, and even though I wasn't sure how to do that, I had to try.

Rourke knelt in front of me, wearing a smirk. I came close to smacking it off him. "Your king has requested your presence," he said. "Learn obedience now, or I'll be forced to teach you later...the hard way."

I noticed he didn't call me "pet" in front of the boss. God damned coward.

"King." I spat the word at Parthalan. "You're not fit to rule a herd of goats."

A dark shadow flitted across Parthalan's crystal eyes, and his black hair stirred, the light in the ceiling glinting off the subtle hints of purple. The grin spreading across his lips held no humor, only malevolence. He patted the seat on either side of his legs. "Come to me. Greet your king properly."

My empty gut clenched, and I folded my arms. "Go back to whatever hell you crawled out of." Not that I ever expected chivalry, but what kind of jerks sat there with a shivering woman and didn't offer one of their shirts?

His gaze slid over to Rourke, who'd climbed onto the seat beside Garret. A blue spark flared a moment before Rourke jammed his hands against the young man's chest. Spine bowing and eyes rolling up, Garret screamed the way dying men scream, a high keening sound I'd heard too many times. The sound of a man's life escaping his lips, rushing into the netherworld of death.

I scrambled across the floor and sat on the seat beside Parthalan, every muscle corded beneath my skin.

He shook his head, patted the seat again. "Straddle me, one leg on either side, facing me."