Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The meeting about Lance lasted around ten minutes. Ten agonizing minutes of Miko deliberately not making eye contact with me.
While he and Cate would set off to see if they could find any trace of Lance, the rest of us were to stay inside the tower and avoid the outdoors until they returned.
I tried to speak to him before he left, jumping in front of him as he stepped off the stairs on the ground floor.
Miko didn’t jump out of his skin like I would have.
“Can we talk?”
Once again, he avoided looking at me. “Not now.”
“What happened last night?”
“Sir?” Cate said from the gate.
“Later.”
“Why can’t you look at me?”
He did, his eyes deadly cold. “Later, Orion.”
So icy, any trace of his warmth now gone. This wasn’t the right time, I knew that. But the storm still rumbled in my head, images of my bloody fingers on his lips. The almost kiss, the gouges across my heart, this feeling of connectivity.
My heartbeat was a drum in my ears, the clearest sound in the tower.
Wait. Two heartbeats.
“Two…”
Miko’s eyes flashed. “Two…”
The sound of my heart and his, beating to the same rhythm. No. That was ridiculous!
Glued to the spot, I lost myself in his gaze. Pinned by it, drowning in the beautiful shadows, my lips ready for another attempt.
Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
Him and I.
Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
Him and I.
Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
Him and—
He stepped around me. “Later.”
The spell broke, my body weighed down by stones chained to disappointment.
“Miko…”
The gates clanged, rattled, my heart aching with every step he took away from me.
I covered my chest with a hand. “Why are you hurting you stupid thing?” It had no reason to be hurting over anyone or anything other than home.
“Orion?” James stood by the entrance to the stairs in a cap with rainbow stripes. “You okay?”
I shook my head.
“Want me to cut your hair?”
Minutes later, he was tidying up my locks.
“Give Miko some time,” he said between snips.
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t be bothered to talk about the alpha.
“I know he’s difficult, this whole thing is a—” He stopped himself.
“What whole thing?”
“Erm… Forget I said anything.”
“Has he spoken to you about last night?”
James stopped snipping. “It’s not for me to say.”
“Apparently it’s not for him to say either.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t make you betray your alpha.”
“Thank you.”
I might be gone before he gets back… Dramatic thought, again, but probably the best course of action. The last thing I wanted was to be tangled in emotional angst, confused over some brooding wolf. This might be a good place to live, but not at the expense of my sanity.
Hmmm. Something to sleep on. There was the option of playing Miko at his own moody game, though it seemed petty and exhausting.
Being back on the streets would be just as tiring. And one grumpy wolf out of a group of friendly faces shouldn’t rot the punnet—as my grandmother used to say. Well, words to that effect. I think she picked it up over here, being a frequent Earth traveler, selling her clay vases in Europe.
James finished my hair in silence, offering me a hand mirror at the end. “What do you think?”
Tidy, not so fluffy anymore. A harkening back to the former, more immaculate me but with rougher edges. “Much better. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He removed the towel from around my shoulders.
“Am I on the schedule?” I asked.
“Pardon?”
“The schedule for today. Any runs? Cleaning?”
“Not today.”
I stood up, brushing traces of cut hair from my clothes. “Why not?”
“You’re still healing. Rest up some more.”
“I’m fine. The palms are healing nicely.”
If I were wolf like him, they’d be healed already. But fae healing worked quickly in its own right. By tomorrow, I’d be back to normal. My knees pretty much were.
“Miko’s orders.”
“So, he can try to kiss me, but I have to be a delicate flower the rest of the time?”
James bit his lip.
Whoops. “Forget I said that.”
“Okay.”
Crap. “Can’t I do something today? I’ll take the most mundane thing you have.”
A sympathetic smile dimpled his cheeks. “I’m sorry. Alpha’s orders are alpha’s orders. I have some great thrillers you can read if that’s your thing?”
“No, thank you.”
“You sure? There’s some killer twists to be found.”
“I’m sure.”
He moved closer to me. “I know it must feel horrible.”
James knew what was going on. Being in his presence only served to irritate me. “I’ll see you later.”
“Come down for games if you like. We’re doing it again at seven. It’s starting to become a nightly thing.”
“Maybe.” I left, picking up my pace, anger rising, driving me back to my flat.
Throwing myself onto the sofa, I buried my face in it and screamed frustration into the fabric.
It smelled of Miko’s spicy earth.
I screamed harder.
I spent my day either at the window scanning the cityscape with a clenched jaw, playing with Wendy, or stewing on the sofa. Flitting between anger and frustration, replaying every second of last night and the coldness of this morning.
Who did Miko think he was? I mean, seriously. What an assbug.
Not really.
Yes really!