Page 204 of Code Bound
“Iaman asshole,” he grunts. “Thinking deep down I’m not is only going to hurt your feelings.”
“Butwhyare you an asshole?” I ask, raising my brow. “Is it the propaganda?”
His eyes narrow. “What makes you think I’ll answer that question?”
I shrug. “I just can’t figure out if you enjoy being the poster boy or not. You certainly have an inflated ego to match the posters plastered up all over Dross.”
He stops and looks at me. “Posters? As in multiple?”
I stop when he does, frowning at his confusion. “Yeah. They’re everywhere. Your face painted across them with the words, ‘You could be a legend,’ plastered across it. Some of them have you fighting. Some of them are just your side profile. Fresh ones get put up a week before a Harrow Gate is expected to open, so there are years’ worth of your prominent face in some places.”
He blinks. “They don’t show the grainy video anymore?”
“Oh, they do that, too,” I shrug. “But they realized the quality was so bad, it wasn’t as effective. We don’t exactly have electricity in Dross, remember? They have to bring in the weird box that flickers off and on and rarely works. They stopped working entirely last year for whatever reason, so they went heavier into the posters.” I frown at him. “You really didn’t know about the posters?”
“How would I?” he shrugs. “I keep to myself.”
Humming under my breath, I raise my brow at him. “So . . . does that please you . . . or make you angry?”
He scowls. “You don’t give up, do you?”
“No,” I laugh. “Dox often calls me a stubborn ass.”
His expression shifts. “Dox is this friend you’re waiting for?”
I nod. “Yeah. I need to find her.”
Havoc clenches his jaw. “Having loyalties in this place could get you killed.”
I study him. “Isn’t your Glitch literally all about loyalty?”
“Yeah, and it’s almost gotten me killed plenty of times,” he admits. “I learned my lesson. I’m loyal to no one but myself now.”
“Seems awfully lonely,” I murmur.
His eyes flick to me again and then his arm shoots out to grab mine. He jerks me to his side just before I can step into a pile of decaying organs, saving me the grossness of rotting meat in my boots. The movement causes me to stumble into him and catch myself with my hand against his chest. The hard muscle there presses against my fingers as they splay out and I swallow as I slowly tilt my head back.
“Thank you,” I breathe.
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he stares down at me, those eyes tracing my face and then dipping down to my lips. We linger like that for what feels like minutes, but is probably only a few seconds.
“Yes,” Svetlana hisses, appearing on my shoulder and doing her little dance. “Now, kiss!” She brings her arms out and in to mimic our heads being pressed together. “Do it. Do it now!”
I laugh and straighten, intending to push away from Havoc, but his arm is wrapped around me and he holds me fast. His strength is much higher than mine, so there’s no hope of forcing my way out, but I don’t exactly hate the position I’m in.
“Kiss her, Legend,” Svetlana declares, her arms in the air.
I can feel Locke’s eyes on us. He must have stopped at Svetlana’s declaration and turned to look. His gaze burns a hole in my back as I stare up at Havoc. I find myself wanting him to kiss me. I want him to dip that arrogant face down and consume me.
But we’re standing in a disgusting street surrounded by rotting corpses.
He seems to realize that as well because he lets me go, letting me straighten finally. “Another time,” he murmurs.
“Pretty presumptuous of you to think there will be another time,” I say, grinning.
“Yes,” he replies, his eyes on mine. That’s it. Nothing else. I’m not sure if he’s saying yes, he’s presumptuous, or yes, there will be another time, but the effect is the same. I grow wet with the implied promise and clear my throat.
“Okay, well, it looks like we’re here,” I rasp, gesturing to a large warehouse building.
