50. Chapter 50
Chapter 50
I blink in shock. I quickly shrug it off, though, instinct telling me I shouldn’t give away exactly how much his reaction is impacting me.
As if in a haze but with a straight face, I give a slow nod with my lips pressed tight. I turn on my heel and leave the room, forcing myself into walking instead of running the hell out.
They’re all out there in the Entrance Hall, waiting to hear how it went — Nuala, de Groot, Dryden, Raven and even Lorcan.
“I, um,” I hear myself say as I keep walking past them, “just give me a couple of minutes, please.”
I guess it’s clear from my face how it went because no one even tries to stop me.
Without thinking, I keep walking, Lorcan’s voice sounding distant when I hear him tell someone, “It’s alright. Having a nice, polite chat with someone isn’t the only way to get information.”
The words don’t really reach my consciousness. My feet keep taking me away from the group, eventually leading me into the Junkyard.
I sense Nymeria follow me. Poor thing, she’s been restless ever since we brought him in and she smelled him. Good thing I forbade her from coming to see him right away, despite the pouting she threw in my face.
In the Junkyard, I slump down onto our bench and fix my eyes on the tree, Nymeria coming to stand guard next to me. The shock doesn’t wear off, but the solitude almost instantly makes actual emotions start to surface.
I’m devastated, and at the same time, there seems to be only one thing going through my mind.
What the hell just happened?
I mean, our interaction in Lilith Tower was one thing. I did find it odd, the way he responded to me telling him we were mates, but I had plenty of things to excuse it with. We were in the middle of a goddamn fight, for one.
But this ? He’s not just finding it hard to believe what I’m telling him. He’s not just straight out refusing to believe it.
No, he’s refusing to even talk to me. And he seems to be doing it in a surprisingly contemptuous way, even for a guy whose supposed enemy I am.
What is that all about? Why does he seem to actually hate me?
I spend some time pondering this, but nothing comes to mind.
There’s just more desperation, because kidnapping him was supposed to be the solution to the Cain problem. And the only thing I got from it is more trouble.
I mean, I didn’t exactly go into this thinking I’d actually be keeping a prisoner. I thought I only needed a chance to talk to him in peace.
Now I do have both an actual prisoner, and a man who’s supposed to be my mate but who hates me for some reason.
Not to mention the fact that we’re three seconds into this situation and there’s already talk about using force to get information out of him.
But at least remembering Lorcan’s words serves one purpose — getting me to snap out of it.
Right now, it doesn’t really matter for me to figure out what the hell just happened and why the man who’s supposed to be my mate seems to hate me.
At least not until I take things into my own hands and make sure they don’t start torturing him.
But before I can make a move, I hear Raven call out “Anna,” and I look to my right, seeing her poking her head through the archway with an apologetic look on her face. “We’re having an urgent meeting. Nuala would like you to come straight away.”