Free Lead Heart (Seraph Black Book 3) by Jane Washington Page A

quickly hastened to the doorway.
    Almost there… almost…
    “Where do you think you’re going?” Noah asked, side-stepping until he was blocking my path.
    Cabe seemed hesitant to join his brother, which was a first, but he eventually stood beside the other, notching their shoulders together as though I might actually attempt to squeeze between them.
    “I’m late,” I said, my eyes cast downward. “I need to… to… damn, I’m covered in paint.”
    “Tariq said I should carry this around.” Cabe extracted a cloth bundle from his bag and handed it to me. “So that’s one mystery solved.”
    “It sucks, not knowing everything, doesn’t it?” I pulled on the drawstring of the cloth bag, peeking at the change of clothes inside. “Thanks.”
    The change of clothes was actually a precaution that we had started taking after one of Amber’s pranks the year before, but I didn’t bother correcting him.
    “You’re welcome. How long have you been bonded to Miro and Silas?”
    You should know, you were there. “A while.”
    “Why wouldn’t they tell us?” Cabe was clearly troubled. He didn’t like the idea that he and Noah had potentially handed their brothers’ Atmá over to the very people they should have been protecting her from. “Seriously, why didn’t we figure it out earlier? And what about your boyfriend? Why does the Klovoda think that you’re bonded to someone else?”
    “Only you can answer that.” I borrowed Quillan’s line, seeing the sense in his reply.
    “Prove it,” Noah retorted harshly, the light blue of his eyes growing cloudy with temper. He wanted me to show him the mark that I shared with Quillan and Silas, but I couldn’t do that without revealing the secondmark.
    “When you’re ready. You’re not ready to see it yet.” And there was a good chance that they wouldn’t be the only ones to see, since wherever I was, there was bound to be a camera not far away, waiting to capture something suspicious. Not that the messenger hadn’t already seen my second mark. He had been aware of it ever since the car accident. I could still hear his ghostly words as I woke up on a steel table in one of Dominic’s properties, completely naked.
    “ We’re cut from the same cloth, Lela, don’t forget that… and now… now I know your secret… ”
    Fighting free of the memory, I set my teeth together, my next words sounding forced and angry. “Get out of my way, please.”
    “No can do.” Noah folded his arms, his body relaxing into something chillingly close to nonchalance. “We can’t let you leave this room looking like that. Jayden’s men are in the hallway outside the lecture hall, they’ll want to know what the hell we did to you.”
    “Shut the door at least. I’m not changing in front of you.”
    “You have no choice.” Cabe was now acting as oddly unaffected as his brother. They were going to try to see my mark whether I willingly showed them or not. “We don’t trust you, so we’re not taking our eyes off you. None of this makes sense, and until it does, we’re not going anywhere.”
    “Fine,” I spat, moving away from them. “Whatever.”
    I knelt next to a bucket of water that had clearly been intended as a wash bucket for all of the painting implements, and began to splash water over my arms and face, washing away as much of the paint as I could manage. I turned my back on them and pulled my shirt over my head, turning it inside out to use it to dry myself. I could feel their eyes on me, equal parts curious and uncomfortable. They seemed hesitant to surround me, which allowed me the freedom to quickly pull a fresh shirt over my head before Noah walked around to stand in front of me. I scowled at him. He almost looked apologetic for a second, before folding his arms and resuming his staring. I quickly pulled off my jeans and almost laughed outright when Noah averted his eyes. They were stuck between respect and distrust, and it seemed that respect was winning.