Chapter 19
Chapter
Nineteen
Sebastian and Kohen arrived back a few hours later with Sawyer in tow.
“Gods,” Kohen whispered when he saw us.
Pia stood up on wobbly legs and stumbled over to him. She held an open bottle in her hand, drops spilling out of it as she moved. “Yay, you’re back!” she chimed, planting a kiss on his lips.
Sawyer grinned from ear to ear, but Sebastian looked unamused. “This is not what I meant by blowing off some steam,” he said.
I stood up, too, my legs not nearly as wobbly as Pia’s, but I definitely had more to drink than I should have. “Ready to wield?” I asked Sebastian, running a finger down the side of his arm.
Drinking made me way too confident.
He shuddered at my touch, but he took my wrist in his hand and removed it from his body. “Absolutely not.” He almost chuckled, but kept his face serious. “You need to sober up before I let your magic anywhere near me.”
“Boo,” I drawled, and he fought back a smile.
My heart raced as I stared at his lips, biting my own as temptation overtook me.
Sawyer swiped the bottle from Pia and took a swig. She was too busy rubbing her hands all over Kohen to notice. “This could be really fun if we're all down,” he joked, picking up on the obvious sexual tension in the room.
Sebastian elbowed him in the side hard enough for him to spit out his drink.
“Lighten up, Seb, it's just a joke.” Sawyer moved deeper into the room and laid down on Kohen’s bed, drinking from the bottle thirstily. “You couldn't handle me anyway,” he muttered.
“Can’t you guys skip training tonight?” Pia inquired. She knew that I could really benefit from one more night off.
The alcohol granted me some courage, and I took Sebastian's hands in mine. “Please,” I begged, fluttering my eyelashes at him.
Kohen waved a bottle of liquor in front of Sebastian's face. “Come on, Seb. I have your favorite.”
Sebastian looked at me, almost convinced. I pouted my lips, and that was all it took. He grabbed the bottle from Kohen and took a drink. Sawyer cheered and Pia came to stand by my side, pulling me into a hug.
“Let’s forget about everything you told me for tonight. Make it tomorrow's problem,” she advised me in a whisper.
I agreed with her, but there was one problem from today that couldn't wait to be solved. If I was going to be hanging out here for a while, I needed to change my clothes. Mine had seen more than enough for one day.
I turned to Sebastian, slurring my words a little as I spoke. “I'm just going to run back to my dorm quickly and grab something else to wear.”
Sebastian dropped the bottle from his lips and shook his head. “Nice try.”
I should have known better by now to even try going anywhere alone. “Come on, I'm disgusting right now and you know it,” I complained.
He chuckled, then took my hand in his again. “You could never be disgusting, but come with me.” He started to lead me into the hall, calling back to the others, “We’ll be right back.”
“Have fun, you two,” Sawyer teased with a wink, implying exactly what I wished we were going to do.
The feel of Sebastian's skin against mine sent heat surging through me as he guided me down the hall. He could have let go, but didn’t, which sent my mind scattering with inappropriate thoughts. I quickly shut them out, blaming the liquor.
When he at last dropped my hand, it was to unlock his door. Following him inside, he made straight for his wardrobe and rummaged through it, then passed me a pair of lounge pants and a cotton shirt.
“Put these on. They’ll be big on you, but for tonight they’ll have to do.” He showed me to the washroom.
I stumbled over my own feet as I pulled the pants on my legs, rolling the waistband so that the bottoms didn't drag on the floor. The scent of him lingered on his shirt as I slid it over my head and breathed it in.
Sebastian was lounging at his desk, his legs spread apart, waiting for me when I finished.
“How do I look?” I smiled and spun in a circle.
He adjusted himself in his seat and my stomach filled with knots from the way he looked me up and down, fighting to suppress a smirk.
“You're shorter than I realized.”
“I’m quite tall for a girl, I’ll have you know.”
One side of his mouth jerked up. “Oh really?”
“Yep. Five foot six.”
He rose to his full height and approached me, towering over me and proving just how small I really was compared to him.
“Point taken,” I said, looking up at him.
His eyes dipped to my face, and his voice turned gruff and serious as he spoke. “Listen, I'm up for having a fun night. But before we go back there, are you okay?”
I wanted to, but didn't lie to him. “No. I'm not okay.”
He inched forward, closing the gap between us. “You don't have to tell me what he said if you don't want to, but if it comes down to your safety, I really wish you would.”
I chewed the skin inside my cheek. Pia said to forget about everything for the night, but I didn't think I'd be able to do that until I told Sebastian what his father said to me.
“I’m surprised you didn’t go ask him yourself.”
“That would have been an invasion of your privacy.”
“My privacy?” I half scoffed, half chuckled. “Any ounce of privacy I had was destroyed the second you became my guard.”
Sebastian’s head tilted to the side, a lock of his deep brown hair falling over his brow. “You know what I mean.”
Pursing my lips, I gave in. “He told me about the traitor and King Beaumont's bargain deal,” I began, but paused to contemplate if I really wanted to tell him the rest of it. I could have just saved it for my journal.
Sebastian didn't ask for more information, he just gave me his undivided attention and waited for me to choose to give it.
I unclenched my jaw and found the courage to continue.
“He also told me that for as long as he lives, I'm expected to work for him. That I'm expected to show up when he calls upon me—basically that I'm under his control indefinitely.” I released a breath, the words hanging heavy on my tongue as I said them. “He threatened my family. Told me that someday if I’m pregnant and I’m labor, that if he calls upon me, I’m still expected to be there.”
I filled him in on the rest of the details from the conversation, quoting the king word for word. When I finished, Sebastian looked just as sick as I had been this afternoon.
He cracked his knuckles and anguish overwhelmed his face. His rough hand tousled his hair and then turned his back to me, the room silent except for the tapping of his foot. I watched him stand so effortlessly balanced and wondered what he was thinking.
“I hate him,” he muttered under his breath, copying my exact words from earlier today. When he turned back to look at me, I swear his eyes looked glossed over. “I fucking hate him!” he hissed, his nostrils flaring as he yelled so loudly that I was sure the others could hear him from down the hall.
A vein popped in his neck. “Where does he think he gets the damn right?” he shouted, then began pacing back and forth through his room.
“It's okay, Seb.” I stepped forward and placed a hand on the small of his back, stopping him in his tracks.
He spun on his toes and grabbed my shoulders, leveling his face with him. “It's not fucking okay, and you know it. His words made you sick for fuck’s sake. He threatened you and your family. Nothing about that shit is okay.”
He drew a heavy breath, then dropped his arms and stormed out the door and down the hallway.
I definitely should have waited to tell him about this.
“Where are you going?” I yelled after him.
He didn't look back. “I'm going to talk to him.”
I sobered up extremely fast. For once since we’d met, I wasn't the one losing their composure.
I chased after him, cutting him off before he reached the staircase and putting my arms out to stop him from going any further. “No.”
He tried to push past me, but I copied his movements to block him.
“Maeve, stop,” he said through gritted teeth.
I stood my ground. “No. If you talk to him, you'll just make the whole situation worse for so many reasons.”
A muscle in his jaw ticked. “Move.”
“No.”
“Move or I will make you move.”
I put my hands on my hips, but stood static at the top of the stairs.
“Last chance,” he growled, grinding his jaw.
When I didn't budge, the man picked me up by the underarms and tossed me over his shoulder.
“Put me down!” I yelled, kicking my legs to get out of his hold.
Sebastian carried me back down the hall, putting me down outside of Kohen's room.
“Go have a fun night. I’ll bring you back to your room when I get back.” He narrowed his eyes on me before turning to make his way back down the hall.
I caught him by the sleeve of his shirt. “Sebastian, please! I shouldn't have even told you.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, ripping his shirt from my hand. I tried not to gawk at the way his biceps flexed, but he made it damn near impossible.
He didn't seem to notice my wandering eyes. “He can't do this.” He sighed, calming a bit.
“Unfortunately, he can. And if you go speak with him right now, he's going to wonder why you aren't currently helping me wield, and also how you even know about what he said to me.”
My words seemed to get through to him. His shoulders laxed a little and he dropped his arms to his sides.
“Regardless of what he said, I'm stuck here for the next two years, anyway. So I have until at least then to figure it out.” I gave him a fake smile of hope.
He tilted his head up and gazed into my eyes, absorbing my words. “He won't harm your family. I’ll make sure of that.”
I offered him a soft grin of appreciation. “Thank you.”
“And I won't let you be stuck here for your whole life. I promise you.”
“Everything okay?”
I turned my head to see Sawyer standing in the doorway.
“Yeah, everything's fine,” I replied.
Sawyer stepped into the hall. “You sure? We heard yelling and—”
“We're good man, thanks.” Sebastian waved him away. Sawyer stared for a moment, but ultimately did what was asked.