“I love you, Hunter b—”

The door was pulled open and my stomach dropped into my intestines. I squinted into the sudden light and my stomach managed to pick itself back up again—it even filled with air and floated into my heart, giving it a kick. It was Eli and Mr. Aleksandrov. They were okay, and more importantly, no angry mob was after them.

“The council wants to do your hearing now, Ruby,” Mr. Aleksandrov said.

“Me? Now?

He nodded. “Watch what you say, they’re looking for anything to condemn you, do you understand? You need to prove there’s nothing going on between you and Eli. It’s the only way I can help the two of you.”

With a swift nod, I exited the cupboard, not missing the way Eli glared at Hunter. Of course he had to be let out of jail to find me locked up in a cupboard with Hunter, the guy who’d kissed me the night before. I glanced sideways at Hunter and the way he looked at me was different. Like we were hiding a secret from Eli…and I realized the only thing Hunter heard me say was ‘I love you, Hunter.’ He didn’t hear the ‘but’ I was going to put on the end of it. I was interrupted before I got to add the cliché ‘as a brother’ to the end. He thought I loved him like that. He thought I loved him like I loved Eli…this wasn’t good and this wasn’t going to end well.

Crap.

***

“You have no physical attraction to Mr. De Luca?” Cesare asked.

I was really getting sick and tired of this courthouse. “Do I think he’s hot?” I asked, shrugging. “Sure, he’s hot, but I’ve never crossed the very visible line that separates our species.”

“Not once?”

I shook my head. “Not even once.”

The crowd murmured and I analyzed them. Some believed me. Some didn’t. They didn’t matter, though. It was the council I had to convince.

“You don’t think that it’s convenient that the higher power wants to change the relationship laws after Mr. De Luca’s hearing? Perhaps he’s worried his best angel is going to be banished?”

“Convenient? No. Smart? Yes. Mr. Aleksandrov knew he could never bring it up randomly. It had to be brought prior to his announcement. It seemed like the right time.” My palms began to sweat, my heart picking up in pace.

“Do you think relationship laws should be changed? Would it affect you directly?”

I knew what he was fishing for—a reaction. He wanted me to pour my heart out and to technically admit my feelings for Eli, but I wasn’t going to. If I was the only thing stopping Eli from being locked up in a cell and banished, then so be it.

“I think they should be changed.” I looked at Eli, who was frowning, and Hunter, who was glowering at me. “The law is outdated, created by a jealous and selfish man. And no, it doesn’t affect me because I have someone else.”

The onlookers gasped and I felt my stomach turn. Damnit! This is why I don’t improvise. I make drastic decisions to get out of tough situations.

“Hunter and I have been together for a while now.” I avoided Eli’s face, but I could feel his eyes burning into me. The shock reflected on Hunter’s face would have been hilarious if I wasn’t depending on him to back me up. Sensing my unease, his lips curled into a smile, a fake smile, but one nonetheless.

“It’s plausible. I saw them kissing last night at the party,” a council member muttered.

I looked at Cesare, who seemed to be having trouble believing me. He watched me, running his index finger over his bottom lip.

“I find it strange Mr. Reeves didn’t mention anything about your relationship in his hearing.”

“You didn’t ask him directly. So, yes, we are in love.” It took every fiber in my being not to cringe. I was killing Eli, I just knew it.

“Perhaps Mr. Aleksandrov has his own agendas for changing the law,” I suggested. “Whatever they are, they have nothing to do with the relationship between Eli and I. We are friends and colleagues. Nothing more.” I sighed, preparing my next bitter words. “Never have been, never will be.”

Cesare shifted his stupid hat thing. “Nobody wants the law changed. To do it would upset the masses. We’d have riots and a rebellion on our hands.”

Mr. Aleksandrov’s chair creaked as he pushed himself to his feet. “Maybe that’s the problem with locking yourself up in this big city, councilman. A lot has changed and our people seek leadership. Ruby is a big figurehead outside these walls. They sympathize with her. They love and respect her and wouldn’t hesitate following her to the end of the earth.”

Cesare snapped forward in his seat, startling me and the first few rows of spectators. “Are you inciting the beginning of a rebellion, Ivan? Are you and your team of loyal followers threatening to become a bump in our otherwise smooth system? We will not tolerate treason.”

Mr. Aleksandrov, appearing less intimidated than the rest of us, chuckled. “Nobody is prosecuting anybody for treason. Remember now, who knows you exist? As far as everyone is concerned, I am the sole ruler. You have been shown that Ruby and Eli aren’t having an inappropriate relationship, which tells you that I’m not aiming to have this law removed just to protect them. I want to be a different leader than Lucian. I want to offer people more freedom to choose. They live in fear of death, or worse, being turned into a vampire.” He paused to let his words sink in. “More intimate relations between angels and gods will improve performance. How can you protect someone you have minimal emotional attachment to? That’s why Eli chose to save Ruby over Mila. Emotional ties.”

“So your argument is; if we allow guardians and gods/goddesses to be intimate, it will lessen the fear in us and increase the performance in our angels?”

Ivan nodded. “That’s one of my many points and theories.” The spectators murmured their disagreement. “But I think this is a discussion best shared during my private hearing tonight.”

Finally, I began to see the end of the tunnel. My hearing was coming to an end and I, thankfully, wouldn’t be having another.

“Before we go…” Cesare turned his steely eyes on me. “You should know that you’re skating on extremely thin ice. You risk everything we have sworn to protect. Everything bad that has happened to your friends—every death, every attack, the school break in, here—it’s all because of you.”

My eyes narrowed at him. He said it to me like I wasn’t already aware of that. I knew it…and I’d never let myself forget it.

“You are reckless.” Oh, joy. There was more. “You are unstable and you are a magnet for disaster.”

I took a deep breath, one that caused my chest to tighten, and let it out. It wasn’t his words that ate at me…it was the cold way he said it.

“I’d throw you out of this society myself if I wasn’t so petrified of you exposing us.”

I feigned a genuine smile. “What lovely parting words. They’re so moving I think I’ll get them tattooed on my neck.” I pushed myself onto my feet as chatter filled the room, signalling the official end of my hearing.“I had fun, too. Let’s do it again sometime.”

I turned to step away, but his voice forced me back to him. “You grip life like it actually means anything to you. It will come back to bite you. Even your past doesn’t stay dead.”

The way he said it, like he knew something I didn’t, unnerved me and I stared at him. I didn’t know what I expected to see in his face—an explanation maybe? He didn’t smile. He didn’t look smug or proud, but he managed to burrow under my skin.

“Ruby?” The clear sound of warning in Eli’s voice drummed through me and I whipped my head in his direction. He stood next to Hunter, both right by my stand and both looked ready to pull me off the stand at any second. I could be a little reckless at times, I’ll be the first to admit that, but I wasn’t about to beat the hell out of Cesare, regardless of how desperately my fists wanted me to.

I turned back to Cesare, who was now looking at the two men. “Don’t let her drag either of you down.”

My jaw clenched instinctively and I heard the metal latch on the stand gate rattle.

“Wow, aren’t you a bright ray of sunshine,” Hunter deadpanned from the sidelines. Despite my better judgement, Hunter’s remark made me smile. His voice was far away, meaning the warmth hitting my skin from the body next to me was Eli. Of course.

Cesare flicked his parting shot toward me. “You two have the same attitude, I see. That must make for some rather intense arguments.”

“We do just fine,” Hunter replied. “Come on, Ruby, the sooner we leave this court house, the sooner we can get out of this lame city.”

Cesare kept a close eye on us as Eli and I stepped down from the stand. I glued myself to Hunter’s side the minute my shoes touched the ground, threading my fingers through his for extra measure. I didn’t look sideways to gauge Eli’s reaction. I wanted to. I wanted to tell him that I was sorry and that I panicked. I was no good at improvising, he knew that.

The minute we stepped out of the court house, I let go of Hunter and looked at him, worried I’d offended him. To my surprise, he smiled down at me. Whether or not it was real, I had no idea.

“So,” I exhaled. “That was a fail. Sorry.”

Hunter scoffed. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“He’s right.” Eli agreed. “The only purpose of that hearing was to belittle and bully you. I’ll be speaking to Mr. Aleksandrov and appealing for another hear—”

I gripped his arm, cutting him off. “Don’t.”

“What happened in there was unfair and unprofessional.”

I nodded. “Yeah, but you’re forgetting the main thing.”

“Which is?”

“It’s over. It’s done and I never want to do it again.” I stepped closer. “Let Mr. Aleksandrov handle it from here.”

Eli surveyed me for a little while before finally nodding his head. He didn’t agree with me, I could see it in his eyes. He wanted to defend my honor like the gentleman that he was and I loved him for it, I really did, but it wasn’t his place. I knew it had to be let go and although Eli wanted to take on the entire council for me, it was unnecessary. No matter what I said to the council, they’d continue to treat me like I’m evil.

Eli walked with Hunter and I until we reached our assigned building. He also left us with a rather dispassionate farewell. I mean, I wasn’t expecting him to kiss me or anything…but I was hoping he would. We had to talk about my impulsive decision to make Hunter my boyfriend at some point. Both Hunter and Eli needed to know that it was only to save our asses and help Mr. Aleksandrov’s cause. Mr. Aleksandrov was changing the laws to help Eli and I, for the most part, anyway. We were going to end up together regardless of what anyone else said. The other reasons he had for lifting the ban I had no knowledge of. I also knew it was for Mila, too. A while ago, she claimed she was going to avoid guardian angels all together, but I knew better. Passing the law was also a good thing for Xavier. He was head over heels for Mia and I’d witnessed them flirt on a couple of occasions now. I had yet to tell Mila about Xavier’s feelings out of fear of scaring her off that and I had my own chaotic live life to sort out, before I dared dabble in someone else’s.

Hunter opened the large double door and we entered the building.

“Eli was right, you know,” he said as we strolled side by side up the spacious hall. “That wasn’t a hearing. That was a witch hunt.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, well, it is what it is.”

“You know I have your back…no matter what, right?”

I glanced sideways at him and his sincere blue eyes watched my face. “I know you do.”

He smiled, confidently. “And it’s because of that, I won’t be offended that you assumed I’d be okay with being your fake boyfriend.” He nudged me playfully in the ribs, making me laugh.

“Please, it’s not like you drew the short straw. Anyway, I trust you, which is probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever said.”

“Quite possibly.”

Hunter walked me all the way to my room. Before I entered, I turned to him. I still had one thing I needed to make clear.

“About what I said in the cupboard earlier…”

He raised his hand to silence me. “It’s okay, I know what you meant.”

“It’s not that I don’t love you, I do, but not—”

“—in the same way you love Eli.”

I nodded, apologetically. “I’m sorry.”

Hunter opened his mouth to say something, but the distinct sound of someone clearing their throat cut him off and forced us to spin around. Tate, the elite guard, sauntered up the hall. He seemed to be on patrol and I found it convenient that he was walking past my door after my hearing.

“Will I see you tomorrow?” Hunter asked and the light, loving tone in his voice didn’t pass me by. I blinked at him, until I realized what he was doing. We were boyfriend and girlfriend…right.

“Absolutely.”

Hunter stepped forward, until my back was pressed firmly against the door. I narrowed my eyes at him, warning him not to push it. To my surprise, he stopped and his gaze fell to my lips. I looked at Tate, who was watching us with great amusement. It put me in a really hard position. My ‘boyfriend’ wanted to kiss me…would it be weird to turn him down? I inhaled deeply and exhaled it at the same speed. My next set of actions made my heart ache and guilt flood my chest…I crushed my lips to Hunter’s mouth and shoved my fingers in his hair, raking it roughly and urging him closer to me. Maybe I was being a little too dramatic, but we were young. We were meant to have a sexually charged relationship consisting of nothing but passion and lust, right? At least, that was what it was like between Eli and I. We couldn’t be gentle anymore. Every touch, every taste, consumed us. My head buzzed just like it did when we kissed the very first time, after I ran from Sage to save my cousin from Hank. Hunter kissed me then and I liked it…I liked it now, too, but not in the same way. It was different now. This was wrong now. I pulled back and quickly opened my door. The lusty haze that glazed over Hunter’s face didn’t pass me by and out of panic, I slammed the door in his face. I sighed and slumped against it. What a messed up way to end an ‘I love someone else’ conversation…