Hale vanished from sight, my heart lurching from his sudden disappearance. “I can’t give you all my secrets, Sybil,” Hale whispered in my right ear. Gasping, I looked in that direction when I heard movement to my left. “Until next time.”
Samian wassilent the entire way back to my room. Each passing second sharpened the tension in his body until it seemed to seep into the very air. I wouldn’t say I regretted meeting Hale, though, because honestly, I didn’t. I knew Samian would have forced me into letting him come, and if he had, I wouldn’t have been able to talk to the mysterious male. Hale would have stayed hidden, or worse, he might have gone to Ambrose with the information he knew about me.
However, as the air grew more charged, I couldn’t help the guilt that dug its claws into my heart. Samian had a right to be angry with me. I didn’t even try to connect with him through our bond. The thought never occurred to me while I read Hale’s letter—or while I ran through the dark passage to the field. My mind was too lost in the what-ifs that I rushed out before I could stop myself. But as Samian walked ahead of me, I caught the way his arms and back were stiff, how he took long strides to reach my room while I had to jog to keep up, and I cringed.
Samian opened my door, standing aside to let me enter first. I walked into the living area, my heart beating wildly in my chest, while I anxiously waited for Samian to chastise me. Bringing my hands in front of me, my fingers painfully intertwined, my knuckles turned white from my hold.
I heard Samian walk up behind me, stopping a few steps away. He silently waited for me to face him, and my stomachchurned with what he would say next. Turning toward him, I bit the inside of my cheek as he stared down at me, anger flashing in his eyes.
“I can’t believe you would do something so stupid,” he breathed. His voice trembled with fury, and his face was hard. “Why? Why did you not wait for me to return? Why did you not tell me you were leaving?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but no words came out. They lodged in my throat, unwilling to budge as Samian’s jaw clenched tighter. I knew there was nothing I could say to help the situation. I left without telling anyone, and even I knew how stupid that was.
“I asked you a question, Sybil. I returned to this room, eager to get back to you, only to find it empty with a crumpled letter on the floor telling you to meet an unknown person outside of the palace.”
“The letter told me to go alone.” The words came out quickly, and my stomach twisted. I knew without a doubt that it was the wrong thing to say even before Samian’s face pinched further with fury.
The walls shuddered from Samian’s magic, and I winced, internally kicking myself for opening my mouth. “The letter told you to go alone. That’s all you have to say?” Samian asked, his voice lowering to a hiss. “What if it were Ambrose? What if it was one of the lords tricking you?” Samian paused, his breathing becoming uneven. “You were in danger! Don’t you get that?”
My hands twisted nervously in front of me. I did understand it, even as I made the journey to the field. Those questions circled endlessly in my mind. But one thought kept me from stopping. “I had to know,” I whispered weakly, glancing away from him, the weight of his anger too much. “I had to know who it was and what they had to say. What if I stayed, or if you came with me, and the person went straight to Ambrose with thatinformation? I didn’t want to risk it. Icouldn’ttake that chance. Not with this.”
“FUCK,” Samian bellowed, completely losing the restraint on his rage and making me flinch. My heart pounded as he turned his back on me. His head tipped back while he took a few deep breaths to calm himself.
My eyes burned, but I blinked back the tears, refusing to let him see them fall, to let him make me feel guilty for trying to protect him and the others.
Once his temper was in check, he turned to face me again. “I’m trying so hard, Sybil. I willalwaysbe on your side, with whatever you need. However, you keep going off on your own. You keep putting yourself in danger without mine or Kieran’s knowledge. I am working hard to keep Kieran from locking you away, even from keeping you out of the rebellion to protect you. I keep telling him to trust you and your decisions. But how can I keep doing that when you don’t let us in? How can I keep telling him to trust you when you’re running off doing gods-knows-what?”
“It’s not like I’m running around doing whatever I please,” I pushed out. “I did it twice. The rest of the time, you knew what I was doing and where I was. It’s not my fault that the other times went to shit.”
Samian glowered at me, his lips thinning, but I didn’t back down. He and Kieran were treating me as if I were a child, and I would not allow it to continue any longer.
“I’m strong enough that I can protect myself. Even Salem wasn’t bothered by it. I am sorry that I didn’t tell you. I recognize that I could have warned you before you found that letter, but you can’t stand there and pretend that I’m some helpless female. I can do more than open a fucking door. You know I can do more than just follow Ambrose around like a mindless drone doing the shit he tells me to do. I’m fighting back, whether you like it ornot, even if it puts me in danger. Why can’t you both understand that?”
“Isn’t it a little too early for arguing?”
I blinked, looking behind Samian toward the deep voice. Daelan and Ivara stood just outside the office doorway, watching us with wide eyes, though amusement flashed through Daelan’s.
Samian scoffed, his gaze moving to the wall beside us, but kept silent.
“So?” Daelan murmured, drawing out the word. “Is it safe to come in, or is there another murdered lord somewhere in the palace?”
“No one is dead,” I hissed, sending him a glare.
“No,” Samian sighed. “She just decided to meet a mysterious person outside of the palace—alone. Tellingno one, might I add.”
“Intrigue,” Ivara chuckled. “Will you tell us who you met, or are we keeping that a secret?”
Rolling my eyes, I found the closest chair and fell into it. “It was Hale,” I muttered, not meeting any of their stares. “He slipped a note under my door this morning saying that he knew I was a part of the rebellion and to meet him.Alone. I went because I was afraid that he would tell Ambrose if I didn’t.”
Silence echoed around the room until Samian released a vicious curse. “Hale? Ambrose’s closest servant and confidant?That’swho you met?”
I whipped my head toward him, my eyes narrowing, my frustration taking over the calm I tried to maintain. “Yes,” I ground out, still trying to hold my temper back. “And as you can see, I’m fine. Everything wentfine. Now, if you could please calm down, that would be fucking great.”
Samian’s face turned a brilliant red. Ivara chuckled as she walked past him into the living area, sitting across from me. “Well? What did the little male say?”
“He wants us to help him,” I said, grimacing. With Samian’s reaction just now, I wasn’t sure how he would take my next words. “He said Ambrose is becoming too unpredictable. He wants us to help his brother escape from the palace.”
Ivara watched me closely, her brow rising. “I’m sensing there’s a but in there.”
