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I sag back against his chest, and we both pant into each other’s mouth before attempting to make out. The angle makes it hard, though, so instead I just nuzzle into whatever part of his face is available to be. His left palm rests over my rapidly beating heart as his lips opt to kiss at my temple.

“Now everyone knows I’m yours.”

Chapter 45

Dante

Seems like I have a talent for ticking increasingly questionable experiences off my bucket list I never knew I had, and somehow Adrian keeps adding new ones to it.

Not that I’m complaining. Not when it’s him.

I don’t know whether I should be more thrilled about the unexpected, mind-blowing sex or for the fact that we’re finally on the same side again. Either way, it’s a win-win for me.

Alas, we’re still stuck inside Kill Feed.

After putting on a performance for hundreds upon thousands of freaks behind the cameras, the Deadlock doors opened just as we put our clothes back on. I guess murdering that ass counts, and we were free to go on our merry way.

I glance toward the empty corridor beyond, slowly looking up at the camera mounted above the doorway.

Adrian steps out from behind me, tugging his sweater back into place and running a hand through his hair. “So, what’s your plan now?”

I glance at him and smile, “Survive long enough to annoy Selene.”

His expression barely changes, but I catch the faintest twitch at the corner of his mouth.

I reach up and smooth a stray lock of hair back into place for him. He lets me, which still feels like a small miracle considering how much he used to hate being touched.

“For now,” I tell him, seriousness threading through my tone, “you keep playing.”

A faint crease shadows his brow, gone as quickly as it forms.

“You haven’t broken any of the rules,” I continue. “Not yet, anyway. So winning should still be your priority.”

“And what about you?” Adrian protests with a question I knew was coming. “Surely Selene isn’t going to let it slide that you’ve completely fucked her game.”

I turn toward the corridor, already walking. No, she absolutely the-fuck isn’t, and I’d be lying if I said I was a few steps ahead already.

I glance back at him. “That’s what makes this interesting.” And where’s the lie?

On the one hand, this cat-and-mouse game gets my blood boiling in all the right ways, which is ironic because I’m afraid of what she might do to Adrian.

It’s one thing if he runs from me… It’s another when he’s dead. So, I keep walking, keeping him within reach, while every instinct I’ve spent years sharpening narrows itself down to one simple objective.

Whatever Selene has planned next, Adrian is getting through it alive.

After a few more strides, the corridor opens into a vast industrial space, where a brass walkway stretches across the room, with staircases on either side descending toward the last and final safe zone.

Thank God for it.

But as fate would have it, hunters pour from the opening on the opposite side of the walkway, spilling onto the platform until they completely block both staircases leading down.

A dozen of them spread across the opening, weapons already in hand. Yara and Yasmin stand among them, their usual amusement conspicuously absent.

Well.

That’s disappointing.

Hendrick—a massive man wearing a pig-skin mask—steps forward, a cleaver in his hand catching the light as he tightens his grip around its handle.