It was on the tip of my tongue to say I didn’t want the ring. What if I lost it? The thought filled me with dread.
But I was being too soft. He had brought me here; I should take whatever he would give.
I tried it on my finger; it was too loose, but a heartbeat later, it tightened to fit perfectly.
Panic washed through me. I yanked it off.
He looked at me in amusement. “I’m not trying to trick you into marrying me tonight. You could wear it as a necklace, and it will serve the same purpose. Here. I think I have some string…”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a leather cord.
I raised my brows. “I know when I’m being led along a path, Fieran. You don’t have to pretend.”
He looked amused, perhaps even pleased, to be caught. “But you’ll wear it?”
“You brought me. You owe me,” I said carelessly.
Desire gleamed in his eyes. “Playing the brat?”
“Playing the woman you don’t deserve.” I gathered my hair up in a knot on top of my head, turning away from him so he could slip the necklace around my throat.
“I don’t think you’replaying,”he said, his lips near my ear, as he slid the necklace around my throat.
The ring hung between my breasts, a solid, strange weight.
I rose to my feet. “I’m going to try to sleep.”
“Good luck,” he told me. He rose to his feet, too, and he crossed to my room.
He disappeared through my doorway.
“What are you doing?” I demanded, crossing after him.
He was alone in there for ten seconds or so—the damned man moved so fast—and when I threw myself inside, he was already walking back out, with Rees trotting at his side. I hadn’t even seen the dog slink into my room.
“My apologies. Rees is ill-trained and getting worse by the day for some reason.” He gave me a knowing look.
“You could ask before you come into my room like you own it,” I warned him.
“You don’t have to ask before you come into mine.” He walked past me, tossing a golden coin in the air and catching it again in a flash, so quick that it could barely be seen except for a golden gleam in the air.
I closed the door behind him. Too hard, as usual. It was hard to pretend I was unprovoked by him.
But maybe the drink worked, because I slept the rest of the night, deep and untroubled.
The next morning as we were walking out to the arena, Dairen rested his hand on my shoulder. I looked at him pointedly, silently implying he was at risk of losing it.
He didn’t seem to care. “You’re going to be all right.”
“Don’t you dare give me a cheerful little speech about how I can overcome the Trials.”
Dairen’s optimism was the worst thing about him.
“Well, I wasn’t going to be cheerful about it. But just remember, pain is only temporary.”
He squeezed my shoulder before he let go. “I know you’re scared, Cara. But you’re tough. Tougher than most of the shifters out there, in your own way.”
I couldn’t stand his encouragement, knowing I was about to miss the Trials. He was going to despise me afterward. They all would.
