70. Chapter 70
Chapter 70
Cain
R esisting the urge to follow, I watch her leave the Main Hall. The moment she does, the restlessness kicks in, as if the room I’m in is suddenly no longer the place I’m supposed to be.
It snaps me out of it, when the cat jumps into my lap. Distractedly, I start petting it, wondering if it was only a dream after all — my head in her lap and her fingers in my hair.
No, it wasn’t a dream, that’s for sure and certain, but still, everything about this night is odd. The way I feel. The way she left just now. The way time seems to be crawling.
I look over my shoulder, fixing my eyes on the archway. Shouldn’t she have come back by now?
It takes me a moment to register that the chatter has died down and that there are people staring at me. It’s with a sigh that I tear my eyes away from the archway, catching a few of them averting their gazes. Of course, Dryden doesn’t. “What?” I demand.
He squints at me. “How are you feeling, big shot?” he asks.
“On top of the world,” I drawl, “as long as you’re here with me.”
“I did have a feeling there was something between the two of us.”
I throw daggers at him then look over my shoulder again.
“Why don’t you grab a bite to eat?” I hear him ask.
“Mm,” I hum, not taking my eyes off the archway. How long can you take to go to the bloody bathroom?
My eyes widen when the possibility enters my mind. Has something happened? It’s not like the castle is completely secure.
“Hey, lover boy,” I hear MacArthur Junior call out.
Frowning, I turn to look at her.
There’s this annoyingly knowing smile on her face. “She’ll come back, you know, no need to get all worried.”
“ Worried? You’re being ridiculous.”
“ She is, really?” Dryden asks mockingly.
I lean forward, throwing him a menacing look. “Here’s a suggestion, why don’t you all stop talking to me, right this instant.”
“What if our curiosity just won’t let us?” he whispers, his tone more amused than anything.
“Then I suggest you kill the curiosity before the curiosity kills you.”
“Come on,” Raven cuts in, “leave him be, he’s still not okay.”
“Not okay?” I echo as I turn back to the exit. “I’ve never been better,” I mutter.
It’s at that exact moment I see her walk back in, the sight of her making my heart soar. As she approaches, her gaze darts to the cat in my lap.
Smiling, she takes her seat next to me.
The moment she does, I shoo the cat away and turn to look at her, happy to see I haven’t imagined it all.
“What’re you smiling about,” I ask as I get as close as I can without throwing myself all over her.
To my surprise, the smile slides off her face, something indecipherable flashing through her eyes.
Sadness?
“Nothing,” she replies, no joy in her voice whatsoever.
It all makes bitterness flood me. Here I am, getting caught up in it again and giving her all the reason to laugh at me behind my back.
Just leave, I urge myself, but she’s planted the seed in my mind and now all I can think about is exactly what I know will never be. “Must have made you happy,” I fail to stop myself from prodding, “seeing me finally go down because of the injuries I took for you.”
She frowns. “It didn’t, seeing you in pain made me feel pain.”
“Ah, of course, it made you want to hug me tight and never let go, right?” I remember the coldness that stirred me out of sleep when she left to go sit next to the asshole. “Except you did, first chance you got.”
She inhales deeply, as if summoning patience. “Laugh all you want, but no matter how uncomfortable it makes you, I care about you, Cain.”
But she’s still being uncharacteristically cold. “Tell me, if I actually believed you, which I never will, how would the loving girlfriend act progress?”
She rolls her eyes at me, which counts as some kind of reaction at least. As if it’s out of my control, I chase after it. “Did you just roll your eyes at me?” I demand.
“Well if you never would believe the act, why do you even care?” she asks.
I clench my jaw. “I don’t, I’m just being curious.”
She folds her arms. “Isn’t curiosity a feeling?” she asks with mocking sweetness. “Thought you didn’t have those.”
The defiance in her eyes, her tone and her stance makes my blood rush around. Before I know it, I’m grabbing the armrest of her chair and pulling her closer to me.
The breath I hear her suck in only stokes the fire in my veins. “Such a smartass, aren’t you?” I lean to whisper. My eyes dart to her lips. “I don’t need your answers after all, I know how you’d treat me.”
“Yeah, you do,” she drawls, using that velvety voice for the first time in forever, “better than you could ever imagine.”
This intense, thrilling warmth explodes in my core. Gritting my teeth, I shake my head, determined to get more of what she’s giving me right now. I throw my arm around the backrest of her chair and lean to whisper in her ear, this urgency in my voice, “No. You’d boss me around a lot, wouldn’t you?” I pull away to look at her again. “Even worse, you’d think you could just do whatever you wanted with me, isn’t that right?”
To my surprise, this makes her turn cold. “Real-life relationships aren’t that straightforward, Cain.”
For a second, I just stare at her stupidly. Then I pull away. “You know what? Forget about it, I just remembered I don’t care.”
“Fine, I’ll forget about it,” she says in a voice that’s serious but gentle. “Why don’t you eat something and go get some rest, Cain?
The show of concern gets me fuming. “It’s extremely annoying, you know,” I say without looking her in the eye, “how you really seem to think you know everything.”
“Know what?”
I turn to look at her again. I get in her face. “Who I am and what I need, when I made it abundantly clear I don’t care about all the stupid shit the rest of you seem to care so much about.”
“Everything alright, Anna?” I hear that stupid asshole ask.
She only glances in his direction. “It’s fine.”
“Doesn’t seem like it.”
I close my eyes to try to ignore the interruption. I fail miserably. “In case you haven’t noticed,” I turn to snap at him, “this is a private conversation.”
He shrugs. “Just trying to help out here.”
I glance around the room, catching everyone staring. “Is that something you all really believe? That you’re just being good people?”
I hear her get up. “Stop it, Cain,” she says in a voice brimming with disapproval.
I get out of my chair, locking eyes with her. “What, am I finally making you change your mind about me?”
I watch her eyes dart to Dryden again. “Why are you looking at him ?” I demand as I come to block her view.
It’s an incredulous look she throws me, right before she folds her arms again and motions at the archway. “Alright, that’s enough, you’re going to bed.”
Heat washes over me. “See?” I ask as I get a little closer again. “ Bossy. Any other orders you have for me, Aurora? I’m all ears.”
I see color rise to her cheeks, but it’s the embarrassed kind.
What the hell is wrong with me?
There’s a moment of silence before the fae says, “I think we should all call it a day.”
I shoot him an angry look. “Yeah, you do that,” I drawl.
Everyone starts awkwardly getting up, including her. I find myself following her without deciding to do so.
“Good night, everyone,” she says, and without giving me a single glance, she starts making her way to our rooms.
There’s anger in the way she’s marching, but now that idiotic fae is on my mind again and I just can’t help it. “A bargain,” I say when I rush to catch up with her.
She hesitates for a second. “Yes?”
“Get rid of the fae and I’ll owe you a favor.”
I think I see her roll her eyes, again. “You still owe me one from when you let me heal you.”
I come to block her way, taking her wrist in my hand and getting in her face. “Then I’ll owe you two,” I grit out.
I keep looking straight into her eyes, waiting. There’s no end to the things I want from her at this moment — to say yes, to give me a smile, to throw her arms around me…
I get nothing. Just an exasperated look as she pulls her hand out of my grip. “Let me make this as clear as possible. Dryden poses no threat to you whatsoever.” She walks around me, opens the door to my room and says, “You need rest.”
I let her nudge me inside, but I don’t let her close the door. I narrow my eyes at her, suddenly becoming aware of the fact she’s been acting weird all night. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” she says, but there’s this awkwardness in the way she does.
My jaw clenches. “You’re lying.”
“I said go to bed, Cain,” she snaps, only confirming my suspicions. Then she shakes her head, seemingly collecting herself. And there’s tenderness in her voice when she says, “Good night. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She closes the door and leaves me standing there, my mind reeling.
As if in a haze, I walk over to the door connecting our rooms, placing my palm on its surface.
There’s definitely something bothering her. It’s clear as day.
And the restlessness this change in her mood makes me feel is infuriating to say the least, but I still fail to indulge it.