Probably.
Of course, getting jealous over people hitting on Knox was as stupid as being angry over the sun shining. Nothing would ever change that. As an incubus, Knox drew people to him. All he had to do was exist somewhere and eyes followed him, desire all but drowning those around him.
It didn’t hit me as hard, but I still understood.
Which was why when I walked into the pantry area to find Knox standing near the wall with a woman I didn’t recognize, my expecting it didn’t lessen my annoyance. The woman was pretty, though dressedstuffy. She wasn’t a shade, because she had no identification band on her wrist. She also wasn’t a guard, since she didn’t wear the outfit.
It meant she was staff.
I listened in, wanting to catch their conversation over the rest of the noise in the busy pantry.
“Come on, Knox. You always turn me down,” the woman said.
“Because it wouldn’t be appropriate, Nisha.”
Well, that gave me her name, at least. I hadn’t heard it around, but that didn’t mean much. I knew the librarian and a few of the people who worked in the various areas such as the pantry, but I hadn’t heard of or seen her before.
It meant she likely came from the administration level, and I avoided that area as best I could.
“What do you mean by appropriate? No one cares about fraternization here. It’s expected, so everyone turns their back on it.”
I closed my hands into fists to calm myself before I did something I shouldn’t. I suddenly felt like I understood Brax better, like I knew how he felt when people tried to take advantage of Knox. It wasn’t just that he attracted them, but that they tried to use his needs against him, to force him into things he’d made it clear he didn’t want.
“I’m not interested,” he repeated, crossing his arms over his chest as if to drive the point home.
She stuck her bottom lip out in a sullen pout. “You’ve been hungry lately, haven’t you? I see all the reports, have access to your recent strange requests in exchange for your help recently. Are they to help you deal with your hunger? Why starve? There’s no reason to do that to yourself.”
A familiar twitch in his cheek told me all I needed to know about Knox’s feelings. He wasn’t just not interested—he was furious with the proposition. Of course, dealing with guards or staff was a far cry from dealing with other shades. Knox could threaten other shades, but he had to use caution with the humans.
They could make his life a living hell if he didn’t tread lightly.
It made my chest tight with worry that he’d give in just because he didn’t have a way to avoid it. That was the last thing I wanted for him.
“Incubi are dangerous,” he said as a response. It was strange because I’d heard that from him before. There was so much self-loathing in those words, but he still said it to her. “They’re even more dangerous to humans. You don’t know what you’re asking for. If I were too hungry, if I took too much, I could kill you.”
She stared into his eyes like some lovestruck teenager, like a girl who had romanticized tragic love stories to the point where she deemed the risk acceptable. “You wouldn’t do that, but if it happened? I don’t know that I’d care. I can make your life easier here, you know. Being the assistant to the Warden has benefits. What do you want? Whatever it is, I can give it to you.”
“If I give you want you want, you mean?” His words came out cold and full of anger. She treated him like an object, like something she could use then discard and she didn’t give a damn what he wanted.
“It’s a fair trade,” she swore. “You’ll enjoy it too. You can be well fed and have an easier life. I can keep your name off the search lists, and I can approve requests for you. You can live in luxury if you just agree.”
Knox swallowed hard, his gaze darting around as if trapped. She didn’t want to take no for an answer, but he didn’t want to say yes.
Which was about the point I tired of watching her back him into a corner. I didn’t have to think much before I moved, before my temper got the better of me. I lifted my hand and snapped softly, then twisted my fingers to shape the soft sound, thankful for Kit’s lessons.
Delicate and precise was rather useful…
I sent the small sound wave toward her, angled down. It struck her shoe, knocking the heel out and causing her to topple backward. She hit the tile floor hard, right on her ass, and everyone turned to stare.
Her cheeks flushed bright red, probably because I’d bet she’d worn those ridiculously high heels and dolled herself up just to tempt Knox—which hadn’t even worked—and now she’d fallen on her ass right in front of him and all the shades who she wanted to think she was better than.
She scrambled to her feet, staring down for a moment to find the heel of her shoe knocked off. She picked up the missing part, then mumbled some apology to Knox and rushed off with an unstable gait from her ruined shoe.
I didn’t bother to hide my grin at the success. Knox frowned as she left, then turned his head toward me. Our gazes met, and I wasn’t sure if it was my grin that let him know I’d been involved. Whatever it was, he narrowed his eyes as though he couldn’t figure out how to feel about it.
I shrugged, my way of telling him not to think too hard about it, then turned to stroll out. I’d gone to the pantry to get some items, but I sure wasn’t about to stayin there just for some crackers and cereal. I wanted the badass-walk-out moment, the one where I got to be the hero who headed off into the horizon after setting things right.
Or walk off toward the elevator, as it was.