“So? Whether I went up in flames in the ruins of my village hardly matters to anyone who doesn’t share my last name. Tell me what you really want.”
He rose to his feet and advanced toward me. I took a step back into my room to put some distance between us; I didn’t want to be too close to his arrogant, handsome face.
“I don’t know what I want from you yet,” he told me. “Because I’m not sure what you’re capable of. And you know even less than I do.”
“Is that so?” I sounded snarky, but I was still backing up to avoid him.
“It is. Stay in your room.” He set his hand on the doorknob as if he were going to close the door between us and lock me in.
I bristled. “Am I trapped here?”
“Do you need to be?” He studied me, and his evident amusement at my anger was exasperating. “You know what, I can tell from your face that you need to be.”
I scoffed but felt a real rush of panic at the thought of being trapped, and I brushed past him back into the common room. He twisted so I could pass without touching him, raising his hands sardonically.
The dark rug under the table rose and suddenly I realized it was a dog. An enormous dog.
I let out a yelp as the dog shot out toward me.
Fieran whistled.
The dog almost reached me, lips back and snarling. But hearing Fieran’s whistle, the dog came to a stop. He cocked his head to one side, looking between me and Fieran with big, adorable eyes that I could notice now that I wasn’t so focused on his big teeth.
I’d taken a step behind Fieran, and he turned, giving me a grin. “Sure, use me as a shield. I don’t mind.”
“What is that?”
“This is Rees.” To the dog, he said, “Rees, this is our sneaky new mortal roommate.”
“I’m not sneaky,” I said.
“Mm.” He leaned against the wall, absently petting his dog, who raised his head under his hand. “Now you know why I told you to stay in your room.”
“Is your dog going to kill me if I step out of my room again?”
“It depends on if Rees thinks we’re friends.”
“Well then. I’ll be in my room for the foreseeable future.” I turned to head back.
“Goodnight, Cara. Sleep well. Tomorrow, we have work to do before you begin the Trials.” When I didn’t turn, he added, “Andtomorrow your brother arrives. You could visit him when you’re done training.”
His words and their implications prickled on my skin. The bastard, reminding me what was at stake, suggesting that I could see my brother only once I pleased him.
I turned. “How do I know I can trust you?”
“Well, Cara. I’m going to be training you for the Trials. Preparing you to stay alive. Guiding you through them. So trust me or don’t, I don’t give a fuck. I’ll make sure you survive anyway.”
He gave me a sunny smile. “But if you manage to trust me, you’re going to sleep better.”
The dog growled faintly at his side. I was not impressing Rees.
I wasn’t asking him any more questions and listening to any more glib answers. Not tonight, when I already had to sort quite a pile of lies and half-truths and cursed realities. “Thanks for looking after Tay.”
His cocky attitude seemed to soften. “Of course.”
I closed the door between us. Then I leaned against the cool wood, trying to catch my breath.
My cheeks were embarrassingly hot. I was afraid of the dog, humiliated by my fear, unsettled by the way he genuinely seemed to soften at my gratitude, worried I was foolish to trust any expression that crossed his lying lips.
