As our lips met, I carefully placed a crumpled note into Rz's pocket. Rz's hand tighten on my wrist, acknowledging he felt the note. A light cough caught my attention. I slowly ended the kiss, my lips kicking upward into a slight smile. I glanced over my shoulder to look at the shifters. Logan's facial features were calmly smoothed into a look of indifference. However, Logan's eyes were shooting daggers in my direction. Kade looked shocked.
I wasn't too concerned about Logan's or Kade's reaction. It was Logan's brother who I was worried about. Braden's at me and my apparent betrayal was slowly eating at him, turning him into a dark and angry man. I was worried about him and that pissed me off. I should be the one who was angry! Try as I might to hold a grudge at the shifters for what they did to me, I found I couldn't stay angry for long.
My eyes connected with Braden's hate-filled milky blue ones. His lips were curled into a snark of disgust. His fists were clenched together so tightly, his knuckles were white. A zinging stab of guilt hit my stomach, making me regret everything that took place since the bomb went off at the Den. Rz's hand tightened painfully in my hip. I dragged my eyes from Braden's accusing eyes and looked at Rz's. His eyes crinkled in laughter, as if he didn't have a care in the world, but the painful grip in my hip belied the lazy appearance.
I brought my head closer as Rz leaned forward. His cool lips brushed my ear. He hissed, "Fix your face and get your emotion in control, little one. Everyone is watching. You know better."
To underling his reprimand, Rzake sharply nipped my ear lobe. I yelped. Rz was right. I knew better than to let my emotion rule my reaction. When surrounded by so many different supernatural species anything and everything is fair game. I leaned close, snuggling into Rz, "Sorry. I do know better."
Even though only five minutes had passed since my entrance into the boardroom, it felt as if hours had passed. Another cough sounded, this time more obvious and louder. Rz's hand released it's tight grip, acknowledging my apology without words. I shifted my position to look at the obnoxious coughed. I wasn't surprised that Sala, the head witch, was glaring at me.
"Oh, Sala, I'm so glad you haven't croaked yet." I drawled. I heard of Rz huff out an irritated breathe. He hated my subtle and not-so-subtle jabs at the witches, but specifically hates wen those jabs are directed at Sala. Rz will never tell me what happened between them, but I had a few hypotheses.
"Sadly, I cannot return the favor, Chaos." Sala replied dryly. I rolled my eyes at her. Sala's grey eyes sent sparks of hatred in my direction at the action. "It seems you are too much like those damn cats you represent."
I laughed softly at being able to rile Sala so easily. "Careful, Sala, you're letting your prejudice show. Besides they're not all cats, there are some wolves too." My eyes drifted to the witch sitting next to Sala. "Aby, what a delight!" I watched as Aby flinched, but almost immediately after straightened her shoulders. Aby was still too soft, still too nice. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Berto angle his head, as if stretching a muscle. But I knew Berto better than that, he was more interested in what I was about to say next.
I decided to have a little fun with both Berto and Aby. "Are you still considering a mraaiage allegiance with the humans?" Sala's eyes widened slightly, surprised that I knew of her plans. I deliberately looked Berto up and down. "He's good looking in that rugged man style--well, as long as you can overlook the rotting skin half. Before you make any plans, you probably make sure his equipment is in working order."
Rz shifted in his seat, jostling me a little. As I readjusted myself I caught a glance at Logan. His eyes were carefully fixed on the scene playing out before him. I counted my lucky stars that all the focus was directed at me instead of the boys. I needed to wrap up this get together quickly and corner Logan. I brought my attention back to Aby as she responded to my insults. "Must you be so crass, Chaos?"
Clever girl. Turned the attention back to me without answering or acknowledging my comment about marriage. I shrugged. Sliding off Rz's lap, I clapped my hands together. "Well as fun as this reunion was I have a few people to kill, a bank to rob and a secure warehouse to break into. Ta ta for now, my lovely villains."
I waggled my fingers and began to stride across the room. Rz stood and announced, "Sadly, I must admit Chaos is right. Shall we all meet in the dinning room at seven for dinner?" When no one rejected Rz's suggestion, he continued, "Well, it's been a pleasure."
Rz nodded his head in a regal dismissal. A portal opened behind hi,. Without further ado, Rz and his gaurds disappeared through the portal. Once Rz left, everyone else began to leave. As I slipped out of the room, I watched Logan and the other shifters leave through the side door. So far, so good. No one paid attention to the shifters. I turned to head to my room when a hand covered my mouth and a strong arm wrapped around my body, dragging me into a hard body. I tried to disentangle myself, but wasn't able to budge an inch. I gave up trying to fight and allowed the person to drag me deeper into the darkened hallway.