“You reported things about me to The Sanctum,” I throw back at him, reliving the words Anya shattered me with earlier, and he grimaces.
“No, I let them think I was doing what they wanted, but I was giving them slivers of nothing, and I never confessed that you had your powers. I was doing whatever it took to take care of you because if it wasn’t me doing the job, they were going to assign control to Willow, and that’s the last thing you needed,” he growls, but the anger doesn’t feel like it’s aimed at me.
“Who are you working with then?” I cock a brow at him.
“What?”
“If you’re not the spy, then who is?” I tilt my head expectantly at him and he rolls his eyes.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying,” I spit back, and he shakes his head in frustration.
“I’m not.”
Scoffing, my eyes turn to slits as I imagine my vision alone burning him on the spot. “What does loyalty look like to you?”
He rears back in confusion. “Why does that matter?”
I shrug, desperate to ease the tension rippling through me, but it’s futile. “Call me curious.”
“You’re always curious,” he murmurs, making it known that he knows me, but it’s too late for that.
“Then don’t act surprised when I ask questions you haven’t got the balls to answer,” I grind out, and he shakes his head as his eyelids close for a moment. When he reopens them, the defeat is blinding.
“I wouldn’t know what loyalty looks like, Elodie, I’ve never experienced it.”
“That’s not true,” I snap, and he rubs his lips together.
“You don’t know me, not really,” he insists, and I snicker.
“Oh, I’m well aware, but I’ve seen the loyalty you show your friends. I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes,” I retort, recalling the moment he needed my aid in helping Rion when it came to Professor Drayker. It’s one instance of many, and he can’t deny it.
As if sensing the thought in my mind, Rion grunts from his spot on the sofa. “He’s shown loyalty when he wants to, not always when it’s needed. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have kept any of this a secret from us,” he adds, making it clear that I’m not the only person that’s been kept in the dark.
“It’s not that simple,” Kael mumbles in response, making Thorne sigh from his spot still by the kitchen cabinet.
“I’m sure it isn’t, but why do I get the sense that you’re not going to bother even trying to explain it to us?” he states as Kael swipes a hand down his face.
“That’s even harder,” he admits, and my hand flies to my chest at the pang that ripples from his admission. I can’t make sense of it, but as much as I want to understand, I can’t allow myself to do that.
My gaze latches with Kael’s as I feel the resolution inside of me, and he sighs. “I think we’re done here,” he grunts. “Idon’t have to explain shit to any of you.” He stands tall, as if his words are pumping him with the confidence he needs to be the vicious vampire I’m more familiar with. “I don’t care if you don’t understand. I don’t care if you have no interest in seeing the bigger picture. My priority is me, it always has been, and it always will be. It’s easier that you all see it now, so I don’t have to deal with your bullshit any further. If anything, you’re doing me a favor,” he growls, his words like blades slicing at my chest in an attempt to tear at my heart, and I can’t deny the truth: it’s working.
Before I can even try to comprehend his words, Rion is on his feet, blocking me from Kael’s view as he shoves at his chest. ”You’re done, now get the fuck out. I don’t trust you to sleep in the room next to mine, never mind across the hall from Elodie. Fuck knows what you could do,” he hisses, earning another hollow chuckle from the vampire in question as he ignores Rion’s prodding and backs up toward the door.
“I wouldn’t, I… do you know what? You’re right. I’ll see myself out.” Spinning on his heels, he charges for the door. Every inch of me wants him to turn around and look at me, but he doesn’t even tilt his head an inch in my direction before he’s slamming the door shut, leaving utter chaos in his absence.
I slump as soon as he’s gone, my defences too weak to remain in place as I find myself absently rubbing my knuckles against my chest to rid myself of the pain that resides there. I thought the ache would go the moment he left, so why does it burn brighter now than ever before?
15
ELODIE
The tendrils of sleep threaten to leave me, unraveling me from their clutches as the essence of reality begins to slip back in. I have no idea what time it is, but I know I slept hard. For the first time in forever, exhaustion doesn't cling to me. I feel almost fresh and whimsical with the way my muscles don’t ache and my chest doesn’t feel like it’s going to crumble.
Yesterday was a lot, and the day before that, and the day before that. Damn, my whole freaking life at this stage, but today, I feel almost calm.
Stretching out my limbs, the calmness doesn’t last long when I struggle to straighten my leg because there’s a weight on top of the sheets blocking me.
