In that moment, I was too fucking tired to fight.
“Jessiah?” I asked.
A few seconds passed. Maybe he’d fallen asleep.
“Yeah?” His response startled me.
Shut up, Rummy. Don’t be a fucking idiot.
“Do you think the whispers were about us? About our fates?”
When he didn’t respond right away, I regretted saying anything at all. But then, he answered, and honestly, it onlymade me feel worse. “I really don’t know. But for both our sakes, I hope not.”
“You two had a lot to talk about last night,” Xavier said from behind me. I’d officially stopped giving a shit about how much of my body was pressed up against his legs and chest. The infection in my torso was taking over my ability to care about much at all.
He wasn’t affected by the proximity, which was why I’d agreed to share his horse in the first place. Okay, maybe that was only part of the reason I’d given in so easily. The other part? There was no way in all hells that I could ride my own horse in this state. I slipped in and out of consciousness all day, and each time I woke I was disoriented. The damage to my body was bad enough. I wasn’t interested in falling off a horse as well.
Our journey would last another two days. If we were lucky. And I was hanging on by a fucking thread.
“What?” I asked. “You eavesdropping?”
His chest rose and fell with soft laughter. The morning sun was a refreshing companion after the long, windy night, warming my face, giving me an ounce or two of the energy I’d been lacking.
“Five minutes after he went into the tent and I hadn’t heard any yelling, I got concerned.”
I cracked a soft smile. “I can be civil, you know.”
“Really?” This time, his laugh rumbled out of him. I felt it work all the way up my back. “That’s news to me. Especially when it comes to that man.”
“What can I say? He knows how to bring out the best in me.”
Xavier shook his head behind me, the movement making my body sway a fraction.
“What?” I asked.
He took a long breath. Ahead of us, the morning sun reflected off Jessiah’s white wings, making them almost blinding. They were beautiful—more than beautiful. I couldn’t look away. He was a powerhouse. An angel, yes, but the blood of the archangel ran through his veins.
And along with the power came a massive fucking ego.
“I really wish you two would just fuck already. It would put everyone out of their damn misery.”
Gasping, I brought my fist down on the top of Xavier’s thigh.
“Hey!” That single word was half shout, half laugh. “It’s the truth! The tension between you two is fucking ridiculous.”
“There is no tension between us. Hatred, maybe, but not tension.”
“Right,” he sighed. “That’s why he bothers you so much. Because there isn’t any tension.”
“He bothers me because he?—”
I stopped myself before I could do something really fucking stupid. Like tell him the truth.
“Because why?” he pushed.
I adjusted myself on the saddle. “He bothers me because he’s arrogant and annoying. That’s why.”
“Mmhm.” His tone was one of disbelief. “Whatever you say.”
