Free Everlong by Hailey Edwards Page B

right for either a man or a male of his species. He seemed to have trouble holding his glamour, and I didn’t like what I saw through the illusion. Too late, I wished I’d stayed at the truck in the rain instead of seeking shelter here.
    I glanced down at the water pooling at my feet, desperate for any distraction. “Sorry about the mess. Do you have a mop or something?”
    He turned away, taking the two steps needed to reach a small card table holding a coffeepot and a stack of a Styrofoam cups. “I’ve been expecting you.”
    I pasted on my best service-with-a-smile grin. “Well, here I am. Now, about that mop?”
    He poured himself a cup of sludge that could tentatively be labeled as coffee. The consistency was wrong, thick and syrupy instead of thin and liquid. His gaze met mine and the very corner of his eye twitched. “This year makes five years.” He took a sip then stepped forward, tracking me.
    Fear skittered along my spine. Dana had mentioned the fifth year too. They both made the word sound less like a number and more like a deadline. One I’d passed. “Yes, it does.”
    His eyes flashed all black, a demon’s black. “The time for mourning Harper has passed.” His large body crowded mine as his gaze traveled languidly over me, snagging at the level of my breasts. “I’ve waited for this day.” His tongue swiped across his lower lip. “For you.”
    My heart thundered in my ears, drowning out the staccato beat of rain on the tin roof. Cold sweat beaded at the base of my spine, mingled with rain, and rolled lower. “What are you talking about?” I shoved against the solid wall of Jacob’s chest, but he didn’t budge.
    His low chuckle reverberated throughout the booth. “You don’t remember me, do you, princess ?”
    “What is your problem?” My breaths came quicker, and the nubbins just behind my shoulders tensed, preparing for a flight to safety I could never make.
    “I was a slave in your house. For years I watched you call Harper to your chambers at night while the rest of us fought for bedding or slept on the cold stone floor.” His hand lifted, revealing clawed tips on the ends of each finger. “Your protection as his chosen expires today. It’s been five years since he failed to return to you, and your sweet…” he leaned over, inhaling deeply, “…sweet flesh is mine for the claiming.”
    I flattened against the door, reaching one hand behind my back to grope blindly for the doorknob. “No, it wasn’t like that.”
    His pupils flashed silver. “Then tell me what it was like!” His fist punched through the wall beside my head, crumpling the corrugated panel like a well-placed foot on a soda can. “Did he love you? Truly love you? Or were you only a warm bed and willing body for him?”
    “He loved me.” Harper’s admission had been the last words he’d spoken to me. Even in the midst of half-truths and whole lies, I believed he’d meant them. I had to.
    “You sound uncertain, highness.”
    Jacob stroked hot fingers down my cheek. Blood pearled where sharp claws met soft skin. “Your scent is maddening.” He lifted damp hair smelling of an herbal shampoo I would never use again and sniffed. “Did you know that?” His tongue lapped away the crimson droplets staining my cheek. “Mmm.” His chest rumbled under my palm.
    “Stop it.” Fear made my voice waver, and judging by his grin, he’d noticed too.
    “I don’t think so. I heard the women talking after you first arrived. You had no idea that Harper had been to this realm, let alone aided in the creation of the colony.” His eyes were vacant pools of malevolence. “Have you searched for his face among the children?” Jacob laughed darkly. “Did you find it?”
    My mind screamed in instant denial even as it flipped through a rolodex of youthful faces living within the colony that fit the right age and appearance. I shut down those thoughts hard. “I came to pay my respects, not to be intimidated.” The