"You're insane," I tell him. Third time now.
"We have established."
From the wall, Renan makes a sound that might be a laugh. "She's catching on fast. I like her."
Koshin's mouth curves upwards.
"Of course you do. She has survival instincts."
"Unlike you."
"Unlike me."
I'm watching them. The way they talk to each other—easy, familiar, dry. Two dangerous people completely comfortable in each other's presence.
He came for me. Killed for me. Carried me through tunnels and put me in his own bed and he's looking at me now with those strange white eyes and I don't see what I usually see when powerful men look at me. I don't see ownership. I don't see calculation.
My chest goes warm. That's—no. What the fuck is wrong with me. I get beaten half to death and suddenly my survival instincts want to cuddle up to the first person who shows interest? Pathetic. Embarrassing. I'm better than this.
Except apparently I'm not.
"You need rest." His hand finally drops. He stands, and the distance he puts between us is worse than the closeness. My body tracks him as he moves away—the shift of muscle under his shirt, the way he carries himself. Wrong. That's backwards. Why is that backwards.
"I should understand what's happening."
"You were hurt. I brought you somewhere safe. You're healing. After that—" He stops. A muscle jumps in his jaw. "After that is your choice."
My choice. When has anything ever been my choice.
"Right." I don't believe him. Can't afford to. "And if I choose to leave."
"Then I'll watch you walk out." The words cost him—I can see it in the way his shoulders go rigid. "I won't stop you."
"But…?"
"But I'll follow you." His voice drops into that low register that makes my pulse do things it shouldn't. "Wherever you go, I'll know where you are. I'll know if someone hurts you. And I'll come for you again."
That should be terrifying. Should make me want to run.
My chest stays warm. My body stays stupid.
"You're insane," I say again. Fourth time. It's becoming a refrain. Maybe if I say it enough, one of us will start believing it matters.
"You mentioned that."
"It bears repeating."
From the wall, Renan snorts. "She's definitely staying. Anyone who talks to you like that is going to be entertaining."
Koshin shoots him a look I can't read. Then he's moving toward the door, and the distance grows, and my chest pulls after him. My whole body leans in his direction, this involuntary gravity I can't control—
No. What the fuck. Stop.
He pauses at the threshold. Turns back.
"Iowyn."
Just my name. Nothing else. But he says it the same way I said his—
