I want to say I’m more than capable of protecting us both, that I—wedon’t need him. Don’t needanyof them.
But saying that would mean speaking to him, acknowledging him, and I’m not willing to do that. What I am willing to do is speak to Kace.
“Do you want him to come with us? He doesn’t have to.” I won’t let him say otherwise.
“It doesn’t have to be me,” he blurts, too quickly, like he’s desperate for the conversation to keep going.
But I’m not.
I’m ready for this to end. I’m ready to have the ache stop.
“What do you want, K?”
“You pick,” she mouths.
She wants me to choose, but I just want this conversation to end.
I won’t give Ezekial time to turn this into something noble, into some excuse about keeping us safe. So I think about my options, about the four men who betrayed my trust. And I make a choice.
A choice I know they’ll all regret giving me.
Chapter 2: Sai
Ten fucking days.
Ten days since I last saw her, heard her voice, touched her.
I hate waiting. I guess a few decades of taking whatever I want, whenever I want it, has ruined my patience.
But now it’s been ten days, and I’m losing my fucking mind.
And if I’m slipping, as the self-proclaimed loud-mouthed idiot of the unit whose job is to keep us from cracking, then let’s be honest.
We’refucked.
“I mean, I get it. We fucked up!” I shout to absolutely no one, kicking a rock just to hear it skitter. It clinks off the edge and vanishes into the pit below. “We should’ve told her sooner. Hell, straight away. If it was me, I’d be pissed too. Would’ve sulked for a few hours, maybe destroyed something, or someone, then moved on.” I scowl at the scorched ground. “But ten days?Tenwhole fucking days. No contact. Nothing.”
I let that word echo.
Nothing.
“And I’m just supposed towait?Rot in the dark, tail tucked, hoping she’ll forgive us?”
The dark hums under my skin, waiting for permission—
I growl, actually growl, shaking my head so hard a damp curl smacks me in the eye. I shake again, and it falls right back.
Fuck. Off. Hair.
I never let it get this long, it pisses me off, gets in my eyes, reminds me of when—
No. No way am I going there tonight. I’m already way too close to the dark.
I try one more time to brush it back and… the strand falls forwards,again, covering one eye. So I just leave it.
There’s nothing worth seeing anyway.
My markings pulse as I stare blankly ahead, trying to calm the fuck down. Trying not to spiral. Trying not to think about what I should’ve said, and what I didn’t. Over and over and fucking over again.
