Her brows narrowed. “Excuse me?”
He did a double-take up at her, eyes softened with shame spread over his features. “My behavior of two weeks ago… I realize I should not have hurt you as I did. You did not deserve it. You were right. We did promise to be better than them.”
She didn’t say anything, and he abruptly took three long strides to come to a stand directly in front of her. She saw his hand move up towards her face, and she flinched backwards out of instinct as his hand rose to hover by her cheek. His fist clenched, and he avoided her gaze nervously.
“Youburnedme,” she managed. “I had to sit in our mother’s waters for an hour—”
“I know, I know.” He turned in a pacing circle and pushed his hands through his hair. “I know, and I’m sorry.”
The thick air made her breaths quicken to a nauseating pace. “Rhaif, you cannot think I will simply forgive you so quickly for what you did.”
“My temper can get the best of me,” he said, a glisten rising in his eyes that she almost fell for. “You know this.”
She swallowed hard and hugged her chest tighter. “I do,” she agreed in a whisper. “But that doesn’t make it okay.”
A deep exhale left him, and she watched a tear fall down his cheek. She cursed the day she was born beside him in the waters as her heart fell for his apology. He reached out for her again, and she felt her skin become rigid against his touch.
“I am so sorry, Aydra,” he whispered.
She didn’t speak. She couldn’t.
He leaned forward then and kissed her deeply, to which she pushed away after a brief moment. He swallowed hard and took a step back, still holding on to the tips of her fingers.
“How long will you be gone?” he asked.
“Two weeks,” she answered. “Perhaps longer. I need a break, Rhaif. I need time to think about things.”
“Don’t leave because of me,” he begged.
“I would be leaving with her whether you had done what you did or not,” she affirmed. “Nyssa does not know the Noctuans. She is behind on her training. She deserves better than what I’ve done for her.”
“The Dead Moons rise in three. Come back in ten days. Do not stay longer.”
“I will stay as long as we need to,” she argued. “I am not asking for your permission.”
“Why can you not—” A loud grunt of frustration left his throat, and his hands shot up as though he would grasp her face. She flinched backwards at such a rate that she nearly fell. His now black fists clenched and unclenched in the air as an angered strain of breath left him. A flash of blue poured like a blink beneath his shirt. And her eyes widened at the display of him standing before her.
“Did you just—”
Her raven landed on her shoulder. Rhaif pushed his hands on his hips and turned in a circle, eyes staring at the ceiling as his jaw tensed and the blackened webs receded into him.
She nearly laughed at the rate in which his apology had turned to anger.
“Wow,” she managed, her arms crossing over her chest. “Just wow, Rhaif…” Her feet began to move backwards, and he met her eyes, quickly shaking his head.
“To think I almost fell for yourbullshit—”
“Please, Aydra—”
She swatted his hand away this time. “No,” she cut him off. “No. You are out of control. Whatever is wrong with you, fix it. I cannot stand to see you reduced to this person you haven’t been inyears.”
She turned on her heel, and he grabbed her arm, whirling her back around to face him. She snatched her arm back just before the flames of his grasp reached her skin.
His eyes widened, and he took a step back, cowering at her gaze and raising his hands. “I’m sorry,” he managed.
“Sorry?” She felt the wild swell of shortened breaths rise in her core as she ogled at his audacity. “Three times—that’sthree fucking timesin a matter of a minute, Rhaif!” She could feel her body shaking, her words barely coherent in the high pitched voice she had used. Her fist clenched around her knife again, and she shook her head. “Sorry is not good enough. We aredone,” she managed, her words shaking. “I hope you can work out whatever is wrong with you while I’m gone. I expect my brother to be waiting on me when I return. Not thismonster.”
He didn’t reach for her this time when she turned to leave down the hall. The thick air followed her, and her raven didn’t speak as they walked through the castle down to the gates. Her insides were fuming. She willed her breath to catch, feeling herself on the verge of panicking at any moment. The grip the raven had on her shoulder tightened, and its calming energy filled her core, bringing her breaths back to normal just as she reached the doors.
