The sadness in her eyes makes me want to vomit.
“Yes,” I manage. “The island won’t be safe. It’s too small. They could come after you and your friends. We have to lead them elsewhere, plant false flags to keep them guessing.”
“They won’t just burn the island for the hell of it looking for me?”
“I can guarantee they’ll destroy it if you stay. Once we’re gone, we can protect the island.”
“How? How is that any different from if I stay?”
“Because the law states they can break any barrier to obtain you or us for treason. Which is why we have to hide you.”
I can see her mind reeling as she takes everything in. “Unless you bound me and left me.”
My jaw tightens as I bite back emotion, and I don’t answer.
She peers over me with glistening eyes, and it nearly shatters me entirely.
“Would you ever leave me?”
I’m in agony at the question.
“I would rather face a thousand years of torture in their chains than a single day free without you.”
Because I wouldn’t know how.
She blinks, throat moving up and down. I can see the tension in her hands as she rubs them together, the tightness in her body as she cycles through everything I’ve just told her.
“It doesn’t sound like I have much of a choice,” she says, and there’s an edge to her voice that suddenly has me on alert. “What about Pack? Oreo?” she asks.
“They would get the same protection. I would never leave them,” I tell her. “This is your choice, Juniper.”
Still, she shakes her head at me and rises from the bed. “No, Blaze. It isn’t my choice. There’s nochoiceto be made here. It isn’t a choice if it means condemning either of you. You took that option away when you came back to the bar that night. When you sent your brother the day after we were together, knowing…” She pauses to take a breath, her chest sinking. “Knowing I would fall for him aseasilyas I did for you.”
Fuck.
She starts toward the door before I can pull her back.
“Juniper, wait?—”
“No.” She storms quickly out of the room and into the living area where North is watching a cooking show, Pack in his lap.North sits up, and upon seeing her storming toward him, his eyes widen.
“Did you know?” she asks North as Pack rushes toward her. “The whole time? Did you know about this?”
North looks at me. “I… You told her?” he asks.
“I had to,” I reply.
Before North can even stand, Juniper is at her door. Her hand is on the knob. She twists it, and my stomach bottoms out.
“Get out, both of you.”
“Juniper—”
“No,” she cuts me off. “No, this isn’t about lies or you two being fucking monster Santa Claus anymore. This is about both of you not thinking how much it would hurt to not have a choice in my future. It doesn’t matter that obviously my answer is going to be yes. It’s about not getting the choice. And that fuckinghurts.”
“You’re saying yes?” I ask, a fraction of hope restored.
“No, I thought it’d be nice to let our friend Cornelius either eat me or take me to meet your mother instead, or saying no and never seeing either of you again—of course, I’m saying yes,” she snaps. “I can agree to this while also being eternally angry with you.”
