“None of this,” he retorts, waving his hand between us, and I can’t hold back my scoff.
“This is your own doing,” I remind him, and he nods, but as he drags his hand over his mouth, he shakes his head.
“Maybe.” Just a little word, so small I almost don’t hear it, but my chest tightens as I meet his stare, which seems to mirror the same breath, and I snicker.
“Maybe? What does that mean?” I ask, tossing my arms out at my sides, and he shrugs, his gaze dropping to the floor for a second before he holds my attention once again.
“I don’t know. I can’t make sense of it, but I know I would never put you in harm’s way. Not intentionally,” he insists, somehow making my heart quicken even more, but I refuse to let his words settle in my soul as truth. He doesn’t deserve it.
“Are you forgetting the part where you took my battered and bleeding body to your brother so he could use me for my power?” I snarl, my cheeks heating with my frustration as my hands clench at my sides.
I consider darting across the room to beat him with my bare hands, but I force myself to remain in place. My knuckles are bruised from earlier with Willow, but more than that, I’m already mad that I’m allowing him to witness the effect he has on me.
“I thought he was guiding me to a safe place for you.” His voice rises like mine.
“That’s bullshit,” I snap back, jabbing a finger in his direction, but he doesn’t see it as his gaze drops to the floor and he wipes a hand down his face.
Defeat clings to his shoulders so heavily that I’m sure he’s going to fall to his knees, but to my surprise, he manages to tilt his head just enough to look up at me through his lashes.
“I’ve cared about three people my whole entire life, Elodie. Do you know who they are?” he whispers as if the words are a secret, but I don’t want to play his game, despite how easily he continues to lure me in.
“I don’t know,” I answer with a shrug, and he shakes his head.
“Guess,” he pushes, and I roll my eyes, lifting my hand to reel them off on my fingers.
“Your brother, Rion, and Thorne,” I answer smugly, giving him a pointed look as I do.
“No,” he grunts, and my eyebrows furrow in confusion for a split second before I gather myself.
“Okay, your brother and your parents then,” I mutter, a little less smug as my hand drops to my side, and he shakes his head.
“Close, but not close enough,” he states, taking three long strides toward me.
I can hardly breathe, with his proximity, but I refuse to let him get the better of me. Instead of shying away from his approach, I stand taller, rolling my shoulders back.
“I’m out of guesses,” I say clearly as he holds his hand up between us, counting off on his fingers, just like I did.
“My mother.”
Pointer finger.
“My father.”
Middle finger.
“And you.”
Ring finger.
My heart thunders unbearably in my chest as I gape at him.
“Me?” I scoff, and he snickers, the sound so hollow it sends a chill down my spine.
He stuffs his hands in his pockets. “It’s insane, isn’t it? But I’ve been obsessed with you from the very beginning.” I open my mouth, ready to call him a liar, but he continues before I get the chance. “Ever since that first fucking moment when you were brought into The Sanctum, I haven’t been able to get enough. I knew you were a bad idea the second you opened your eyes and started pounding on the glass like a feral beast, but it seems it doesn’t matter what my head knows. You’re what my heart wants.” He wets his lips, my gaze tracking every inch of themove, but all it seems to do is stoke the fire in my stomach even more.
“Please, you knew I was going to be there,” I bite, recalling his words the other day, and he shakes his head.
“I didn’t.”
