Twisted (Editing)

Chapter 23

Author's note: We're very close to the ending. Only a few more chapters. 

Morning rolled around and the situation was only getting more tense. Pack soldiers crawled at every corner and the fence had finally be completed. Even though I wasn't allowed to be in sight of it, I was sure lines of army vehicles and soldiers lingered on the other side. For all anyone knew Evansville was a dangerous cult that kept me locked up.

Good.

I knocked on Jonah's room the minute the sun came up. He answered, in gym shorts and nothing else. I swallowed my nervousness. I needed to earn a pass out of here.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" He asked blandly. Like he didn't already know.

"For being terrible." I stepped into his room, heart beating wildly in my chest. "You didn't have a choice in this either."

"Your trick isn't going to work."

I titled my face upwards. "It's not a trick. I feel bad. You're trying and I've been spitting venom." I laid my hand of his cheek. "I'm sorry."

"It's not going to work. I don't know what you want, but you're not going to get it."

"Will you believe that hurting you hurts me? I feel your emotions. All night I've been thinking about holding you."

His eyes widened just a little. Hook, line, sinker.

"Why'd you come here."

I leaned up on my toes to whisper. "I thought it would be obvious." My finger drifted to his lip.

He narrowed his eyes. "Now I can tell you want something. You don't want to kiss me."

"Ugh, stop talking, before you ruin it." I brought our faces together. He stumbled backwards, before finally putting his hands on my back. Don't think, don't think don't think. He would pick up on the emotions. Just be here, just don't think about what you're doing.

Half and hour or more later, hands tangled through my hair, I unraveled myself from him. His head laid sleepily on my shoulder. I straightened my shirt then let my hands wander through the soft, black hair.

He sighed. "Are you going to go back to hating me tomorrow then swear you wouldn't have done this in your right mind?"

"Depends. As long as you don't go beating up people."

He growled. "I'd do it again. He should've known better."

"He didn't know."

"I told him to stay away. He should've known."

"You could've told him the whole truth. Now you've lost a friendship."

"I don't care."

"Yes you do. You're only saying that now."

He didn't say anything. He kissed the corner of my mouth. "I keep imagining what you would look like with a crown on your head."

"Lunas wear crowns?"

"I'll make you Luna of Lunas. I'll carve you a kingdom." His words chilled me. I didn't want to guess what they meant. Carve as opposed to give. He was going to get one somewhere?

"I've been trapped in here for more than a week, with the fence up, isn't it safe for me to go outside?"

His hands stiffened around me. "Absolutely not. It's not safe."

"There are pack soldiers at every corner. There's no way I would be in any danger. I only want to go for a walk down the street." I still had Melinda Markus's address from the party. It was only a few blocks away. "I'll be back for lunch."