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probably some of his cum was on Gaige s skin. Gods knew
Gaige s own was. His ass felt tender, as well, where Keiran had
taken him. Keiran had said what happened to their bodies in the
dream happened to them in real life. He d brought evidence of
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their lovemaking back with him, which somehow made the
distance between them seem less insurmountable.
I told you I was just with him. You want proof? There it is.
You said you were with him in a dream.
Yeah, well it was a different sort of dream.
It disgusts me.
Be that as it may, I m not going to pretend Keiran isn t my
mate and we aren t intimate just because it offends your delicate
sensibilities. Get used to.
The scowl stayed on Jax s face, but to his credit, he didn t try
to kill Gaige this time when his and Keiran s relationship came up.
They were making progress.
So what did you and Byram talk about?
That earned him a nasty glare. I didn t tell him anything.
I know, Gaige said calmly. I never thought you did. I m just
wondering what he might have told you that could be useful.
Jax looked taken aback at Gaige s casual acceptance of his
word. But then his already drawn face grew even paler and he
reached to steady himself on the back of a chair. Gaige knew he
was remembering what Byram had done to him. Gaige s own
scars, both outside and in places he still had a hard time thinking
about, twinged in sympathy.
The bastard talks all the time, Jax said, his voice hoarse. But
mostly about how brilliant and smart and powerful he is and how
everyone else is just a lowly worm for him to crush beneath his
feet. And he does it all with this smarmy tone of voice and a smug
smile on his face like he thinks you re riveted by his each and
every word.
Oh, Gaige knew. He still had occasional nightmares about that
voice and smile, mostly as it was doing other things to him that he
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refused to think about.
In the first vision I had, he said something to you about his
trusted spy.
I don t know who it is if that s what you re asking. I got the
impression he has more than one.
Undoubtedly. No idea who any of them might be?
Jax turned to stare out the dark window, his shoulders tense.
Jax, if you know something, I m asking you, as an ally, to
please share it with me.
I know one, he finally said, his voice quiet yet deeply angry
again.
Who is it?
I am.
Gaige stared at the draegan s back as shock rippled through
him. What?
I m supposed to be here right now earning the draegan lord s
trust, gathering knowledge for the sorcerer so he can use it to strike
at the heart of the draegan world again.
A knot tightened in Gaige s gut. And he thinks you would
betray your own people because& ?
Because he has something he knows I want more than
anything.
What s that?
Jax turned to face Gaige, his shoulders slumped. The counter-
potion that will give me back my wings.
Oh, gods. Byram had stolen from Jax the one thing he valued
most, with the exception of Keiran& the epitome of his draegan
heart and soul. Taking winged form wasn t just a convenience or a
fun trick for the draegans. It was so inherent to their psyche that if
they couldn t shift and spread their wings from time to time, many
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suffered from severe depression and even suicidal thoughts.
Knowing this, Byram had taken the torture a step further& stealing
it away, then offering it back. For an impossible price.
What did you tell him?
I told him to go fuck himself. He d torture the hel out of me,
then every few days he d have me brought to his throne room and
he d talk to me all proper, like we were the best of friends, and
he d tell me what I was going to do for him. And that when I
delivered what he wanted, he d give me what I wanted.
You kept refusing. That s why we found you in the clearing
with the nyctos, isn t it? He only takes people out there if he s
done with them or really wants them to suffer.
Jax gave a half nod.
And the trap?
Was for me. He chained me down and set those horrors on
me, letting them get in my His voice caught, and when he
spoke again there was a tremor in it that hadn t been there before.
Letting them get in my head, to give me a taste of how bad it was.
Then he called them off and asked me if I d changed my mind.
When I didn t give him the answer he liked, he let them go again.
I& I don t know how many times he did it. I lost track. Finally he
called them off and told them that if any being crossed the line
between the clearing and the woods, they were free to attack and
kill. He did it to keep me from trying to escape. And then he left.
I m sure he would have been back in a day or two, to see if either I
was dead yet or if I was ready to do his bidding.
The knot in Gaige s stomach had turned into a full-out nausea.
And his respect, and sympathy, for Jax climbed to a whole new
level. He still remembered the agony of the nyctos attack and how
he d truly thought he was going to die. For a while he d wanted to
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die. Anything to make the pain stop. But Jax hadn t dealt with it
just once. Byram had let the nyctos attack him over and over. My
gods& no wonder the draegan had been so terrified last night.
You should have just let me die out there, Jax murmured. I
would have welcomed it.
Gaige understood that. To Jax, after all he d been through,
death would have been easier than surviving and having to find a
place to fit into the cold reality of the world, in a body that was no
longer fully his, with no friends and no place he could call home.
He knew Jax wouldn t welcome any kind of comfort or
sympathetic platitudes, especially from him. So instead, Gaige
offered the one thing he could&
If you re up for it, I d like to have you join us in the library.
I d appreciate your insight.
Jax stared at him for long seconds. Then, without saying a
word, he turned his back on Gaige and walked to the doors. His
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