Of Consuming Fire by Micah Persell Read Free Book Online Page B

Jayden’s skin, he crushed the phone within his fist. “That was the first wise thing you have done today. Return to your women. Enjoy the time you have left.”
    The door to the delicate one’s room clicked shut behind the men, and Jayden had no problem overhearing what was said and thought within.
    “ — completely deranged — ”
    “Can turn invisible — ”
    That particular divulgence drew a unique blend of wistful and envious thoughts from his Temptation.
All
of them felt their situation was hopeless, even if they refrained from saying so out loud.
    A few minutes later, they all dejectedly decided to call it a night. As the door opened once more, Jayden surrounded himself with his wings, so he could watch the defilers in stealth. The blond one and the mouthy one took an examining room a few doors further down without once looking in the spot they both knew Jayden was hidden.
    His Temptation, however, stopped mid-stride and turned to look directly at Jayden. Her stare was so penetrating that Jayden’s feathers ruffled as he strove to make sure he was fully covered.
    She sighed from deep within her gut, and her thoughts hit Jayden full in the face:
Lucky angel
.
    Without another thought, she continued to walk down the hall and into a room several away from everyone else.
    She so desperately wanted to be invisible. For no one to see her.
    Why?
    The Compulsion jerked within him. As though he felt a chill, Jayden tightened his wings around his body. But the movement was not enough to stop an errant, completely inappropriate thought: He would shield her from all other eyes forever, if only he could.

Chapter Five
    The past twelve hours had not changed much, except for the humans’ strategy. Jayden leaned against the wall outside the delicate one’s medical room and listened unashamedly as they all talked in hushed tones within. Now, rather than escape, it sounded as though their plan were to “win him over.”
    Jayden scoffed. Terrible plan.
    They began urging his Temptation to play off of their connection.
    Jayden frowned. Maybe they were smarter than he thought. And Jayden obviously revealed more weakness where his Temptation was concerned than was acceptable.
    No
, Jayden shook his head. He had no weakness where his Temptation was concerned. He was resolute.
    It did not matter anyway. His Temptation refused so violently, Jayden did not have to use any stealth to overhear.
    Jayden sighed as he realized he automatically tensed at her refusal. It would only
help
matters if she vowed to stay away from him.
    Then — through the walls, over their arguing — Jayden heard his Temptation’s stomach growl.
    He did not realize he moved until his hand slapped the cool metal door. He pushed it open, and it bounced off of the wall.
    They all froze like naughty children, their eyes blinking at him widely.
    “You need sustenance.”
    He was speaking only to his Temptation, but the mouthy one stepped forward. “Yes,” she said in a light, lilting voice that differed greatly from the one she had used thus far. “That’s a great idea. There are some MREs in the emergency supply closet. I could go get them.”
    Winning him over
seemed to be in full effect. He realized that he had
again
shown concern for his Temptation and forced his face into a mask of indifference, with only a slight grimace. “It matters not to me.” Jayden shrugged. “You will all die soon anyway. But suit yourself.”
    The mouthy one clicked her tongue and threw one hand up in the air as the other landed on her cocked hip. “Does he have to keep saying that?” She asked, turning to her mate. “I can’t be nice to him if he says shit like that.”
    “Okay, okay,” the blond one said stepping forward and ushering his mate out into the hall as quickly as possible. Probably afraid Jayden would kill her on the spot. He was tempted. “We’ll be right back,” he threw over his shoulder. Jayden heard them argue as they made their way down the