He nodded, and then he was gone, sprinting back in the direction we came.
Time stilled. Two days ago, she was making jokes, insulting me, laughing and flirting with Xavier. I would have preferred literally any of that to this sickening silence.
“You really fooled me there for a minute,” Xavier said from the other side of the bed. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
To anyone else, he would look as if he couldn’t give a single shit about Rummy’s health right now. But I could see the worry in his eyes. In the way his brows drew together, watching her. Watching me.
“What are you talking about? Fooled with what?” I quickly focused on Rummy again, plucking a folded washcloth from the dresser and wiping the sweat from her face.
His responding laugh was a low sound, but it was just loud enough to ignite my sleeping temper. “I was starting to think you might not actually care about her. You put on a brave act, you know. But for the last few days, I was sure you couldn’t be this much of an asshole if you secretly still cared for her.”
“I don’t care for her.”
The words rushed out of my mouth before I could stop them. No, I didn’t care for her. Not in the way he was thinking. Not in the way I used to care for her.
Xavier shook his head, his form shadowed in the corner. “See, that’s what you keep saying, but if that were true, youwouldn’t have pushed so hard to get here and get Rummy to a healer.”
I barked out a laugh. “If Rummy dies, Huntyr will kill me. This is just as much for our protection as it is for hers.”
“Right.” He wasn’t convinced, but I didn’t have the time to dive into my emotional past right now.
He’d seen enough of it. Too much, probably.
“You ever going to tell me what happened between the two of you?” He pushed off the wall and sat on the edge of the bed.
Rummy didn’t even react to the way the mattress dipped. Her eyes stayed tightly closed against her too pale skin.
“Why do you two hate each other so much?”
I wiped another bead of sweat from her forehead. “We don’t hate each other.” Goddess above, it was a pathetic response, but I didn’t have the energy to come up with a bullshit lie. “We just don’t get along very well.”
He huffed a laugh. “Soph and I don’t get along very well. You and half the damn army don’t get along very well. You and her?” Brows lifted, he looked at her, then me again. “That’s different. That goes deep.”
“What’s with all the damn questions?” I asked, my blood heating.
He shrugged. “Just trying to figure you two out, that’s all. She’s different when you’re around.”
I stilled. I couldn’t stop myself from meeting Xavier’s green eyes. If I were a better man, I would have brushed the comment off and moved on. But I was weak. Pathetic. “Different how?”
Xavier’s expression went stoic. “She closes up. She gets serious, even when she’s saying shit to piss you off. It’s like she puts her guard up when you’re around. And she gets meaner than all hells, but you know that already.”
I laughed quietly at the last part. “She’s mean as hells all right. She always has been, always will be.”
“I don’t know.” He turned his attention to Rummy, whose chest rose and fell with labored breaths. “I tend to believe that the world makes us this way. I don’t think anyone is born fighting the way she does. Something must have happened to her to make her so damn cynical.”
“We’ve all got our shit,” I replied, choking back the unease swirling in my gut. “That doesn’t give us the excuse to walk around making life miserable for everyone else.”
“She only makes your life miserable because you let her. She gets under your skin and she knows it.”
I swallowed back a rebuttal. If I argued, I’d only embarrass myself further. “Yeah, well, I wish she wouldn’t. I wish she would just leave me alone.”
I tossed the washcloth to the side. Where was the damn healer?
“Do you?” he asked. “She made the journey less boring, that much is certain.”
I grunted. “This journey couldn’t have possibly been boring. We’re just getting started here, and I have a feeling this place won’t be very welcoming.”
“Who knows?” He lifted one shoulder. “Maybe Rummy will win everyone over with her exuberant charm and politeness.”
