36. Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Four
The dining hall blazed with torchlight. Laughter rose with the wine, and my focus was a narrowed edge.
Tairngire sat beside King Caedmon, Scáthae radiant at his other side.
Her presence sparking like a storm bound in mortal skin.
And of course, I was next to Tairngire. He laughed at something the War Goddess said, and I didn’t look his way after that.
The image of him standing with Scáthae above the courtyard was still swimming around in my head.
The thought gnawed that they might have shared more than I wanted to imagine.
His smirk when her gaze lingered on him.
The intense conversation they had in the training gym.
The fire I’d felt in the gazebo was now bitter with jealousy I refused to admit even to myself, slowly festering into a burning rage.
Some fires must wait to be put out.
Ha. I wondered if he enjoyed putting out Scáthae’s fire.
He leaned closer, voice low and maddeningly casual. “How was the rest of your training, Little Seer?”
I stabbed at my food. “Fine.” I darted my eyes his way to find that infuriating grin waiting.
Fuck him.
“It was physical endurance training,” I added flatly, venom simmering beneath my response.
I could feel his eyes on me, but I wasn’t going to make the mistake of glancing his way again.
He sighed, edged with both humor and irritation. “And?”
I sipped my wine, refusing his eyes. “And nothing. As you can see, I survived. As I always do.”
The bond was a fragile wire between us, one wrong touch could unravel it.
His irritation thrummed beneath his skin.
He wasn’t used to being talked to like this, but I didn’t care.
I would let him stew in silence. The same silence he so often forced on me.
I wouldn't give him any more of my fire tonight.
Now that I had a firm understanding of how much he thrived on it.
When the dinner from Dorchadas was finally over, I slipped away.
The corridors were hushed. Moonlight bled through high windows.
My chambers waited warm, the bath perfumed with oils the ladies must have put there.
I sank in, letting the heat ease sore muscles and the weight of armor I’d carried all day.
I had a lot on my mind. This was more than I’d ever bargained for, but I finally felt a sense of purpose.
But at the same time, Tairngire and his cryptic nonsense were eating away at me.
How dare he continue to withhold information?
He continued to give me half-truths and answers as he discussed divine plans freely with the War Goddess and her children.
I had never felt more inadequate in my short lifetime. I let the feelings simmer and burn for at least an hour while I let the water turn cold.
When I finally emerged, skin puckered, hair damp, I pulled on the thin white nightgown Aíne’s daughters had left out and let out a satisfied sigh, it was light as air.
I stepped back into the chamber and froze.
Because Tairngire was there.
Sprawled over my bed, one arm tucked behind his head, gaze fixed lazily on the ceiling.
But that wasn’t what struck me.
His chest was bare. Again. But it was worse this time, because seeing him relaxed in my chambers was…intimate in a way I didn’t want to think about. Especially not now.
Only leather trousers hung low on his hips. His skin gleamed faintly in the candlelight, muscles carved and shadowed.
He looked up slowly, his emerald eyes flashed as his gaze deliberately took me in from head to toe before landing on my face.
Ugh. I didn’t care how beautiful he was. I hated him.
“Finally,” he drawled, voice low and rough. “I was beginning to wonder if you planned to drown in your bath.”
He could not be serious.
My jaw clenched, hands curled at my sides as I glared at him—half-dressed in my chambers, mind you, as though he had every right.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Tairngire?” I snapped, heat rushing to my face. “Do you make a habit of invading beds, or is this some new torment designed to drive me insane?”
He rose slowly, his body shifted into something more imposing with every step. He stopped just a hand’s span away with a blank expression on his face.
He clucked his tongue. “Such nasty language,” his voice was threaded with that infuriating calm. “Invading? Torment? Now, don’t flatter yourself. I’ve had enough of your attitude for today, and my patience is wearing thin.”
Arrogant. He said it as if he truly believed I wanted him there.
The runes across his chest pulsed faintly, golden green, alive under his skin. My eyes betrayed me, darting there before I forced them back to his face. He caught it—the flicker of attention—and that insufferable grin curved took hold of his mouth.
“You’ve been…quiet,” he said, words slow. “Rude, even,” he continued, emphasizing the mortal term I’d used earlier. “At dinner. Ignoring me like I’d ceased to exist.” He leaned in, voice dropping to a whisper. “Tell me, Little Seer—why the sudden frost?”
“I don’t owe you conversation,” I bit out. “And you don’t get to demand it.”
A muscle feathered in his jaw. “I didn’t demand. I asked. Please, do try to learn the difference.”
He just couldn’t help himself with the degrading comments today. The words spilled before I could stop them. “Why do you care, anyway? About a mortal you’re forbidden to desire when you could be bedding a Goddess of War without consequence?”
Shit.
The air between us was thick. His eyes narrowed once before I saw the realization strike in his eyes, like he’d plucked the thought straight from my skull.
“Ah.” His voice dropped lower, silk laced with iron. He leaned in again, heat rolling off him. “So that’s what this is, then.”
I stepped back. He followed, slow and predatory. His runes glowed once, mocking my restraint. Then his grin turned feral.
“Jealousy, Little Seer.,” he purred. “I wondered how long it would take to taste it on you.”
“A ridiculous assumption,” I scoffed, throat tight. My pulse a wild thing. Because it was, in fact, not a ridiculous assumption. Not in the slightest. But I wasn’t about to back down now.
He advanced. The lamplight thew his runes into a glow that made him look carved from war itself. He arched an annoyingly perfect brow.
“Mm. Yet, you’re…flustered.”
“Flustered?” I spat, heat creeping up my spine.
“You show up in my chambers, runes glowing, smug as ever, parading your godhood like a trophy. You used to hide it. Now you flaunt it. What’s the problem, Tairngire?
” I fluttered my eyes, voice sickly sweet.
“Do you need extra attention these days? Feeling a little lonely?”
His eyes flashed with irritation before hiding it behind indifference once more. But I caught it. He was lonely, one of the only times Tairngire showed anger or frustration was when I called him out on something he didn’t want to admit, and I’d hit too close to home.
He tilted his head, “Did I hide it? Or was I simply sparing you from seeing it before you were ready?”
The audacity of this wretched god.
“I fucking loathe you,” I breathed, shaking. Completely unable to contain my rage.
Tairngire took a finger and tilted my chin, just enough to meet his eyes. “Oh, Little Seer,” he let out a chuckle that reverberated in my bones. Lodging itself so deep I suddenly didn’t know if I hated it, or if I wanted to hear it again. Just…One. More. Time.
He sighed. “You don’t. And that’s precisely the problem.”
“You think yourself so clever.” I jerked away from his touch and backed up until my calves hit the bedpost. He didn’t stop his ruthless advance, closing in like a hawk.
“I know I am,” he murmured, low and rough. His gaze swept over me, lingering on my lips just long enough to make my breath stutter. “What I don’t know is how long you’ll keep pretending you’re unaffected.”
I bristled. “You’re awfully sure of yourself.”
His smile was cruel with intent. He braced a hand on the post above my head, leaning closer until I felt the warmth of his breath. “Green is a lovely color on you, Little Seer. It glows brighter than your Sight.”
The audacity! My blood boiled. “You think me jealous of you? Of your power? Of your gods-damned…indulgences?” The word cracked like a whip, scathing.
“Not of me,” he said softly, drawling the words. “Of whom I may have touched. Who I may have chosen before you existed.”
“You insolent ass,” I snapped, fury blazing. “You think I’d waste envy over a god who slaughters werewolves without blinking and toys with mortals like they're pieces on a board?”
His laugh vibrated between us. “And yet here you stand,” he murmured, eyes flashing gold, “furious at the thought of me with another.”
My nails bit into my palms. “I stand because I must. Perhaps you’re confused about where my jealousy truly comes from. I know it may be difficult for you and your godly brain to grasp, but not everything is about you. The Fates bound us together. Do not mistake my obligation for desire.”
My voice wavered, just enough for his knowing gaze to cut through me. His expression softened, but the smirk stayed.
I ducked out from under his arms and backed away. Heat flooded my cheeks. “Careful, Forest God. Keep stalking me like a beast and I’ll think you’ve run out of better games to play.”
For a moment, I thought I’d won. The flicker of his smirk broke into something darker. But then he moved. Every step made the air between us heavier until my back nearly brushed against a wall.
Gods damn it all.
“You forget,” he said, low enough to curl down my spine. “When you bare anger so freely…you bare your weakness with it.”
I remembered when he’d first said those words, the night the wretched Fates created this bond, it seemed so far away now.
I hardened my tone and lifted my chin. “Better to bare weakness than hide behind arrogance.”