The words land like stones in still water. Ripples spreading outward, changing everything they touch.
“What does that mean?” My voice comes out steadier than I expect. “Exactly?”
“It means everything just got more complicated.” He scrubs a hand over his face—a surprisingly human gesture. “It means I can’t stay objective about your safety anymore. Can’t pretend I’m just a Guardian doing his duty.”
“Were you ever pretending?”
He meets my gaze. “No.”
The confession hangsbetween us for a long moment. Then Drayke stands abruptly, putting distance between us again.
“This changes things. The rogues knowing you’re awakening, knowing your power is growing—they’ll come harder now. Faster. We need to increase your training, shore up the cabin’s defenses, establish better communication with the Brotherhood?—”
“We?” I push off the couch, following him as he paces toward the window. “Or you? Because it sounds like you’re making a lot of decisions without asking my opinion.”
“Your safety isn’t a democracy.”
“I’m not asking for a democracy.” I plant myself in front of him, forcing him to stop or run me over. “I’m asking for a partnership. You’re right—the rogues are a threat. My power is growing. Things are escalating. But you just rattled off a whole plan without once asking what I thought about it.”
“Because I know what needs to be done.”
“And I don’t? I’m the one they’re hunting, Drayke. I’m the one who almost died. Don’t you think I might have some thoughts about how to keep that from happening again?” I take a breath, forcing myself to stay calm. “I’m not saying you’re wrong about the threats. I’m saying you don’t get to make all the decisions about my life without including me in the conversation.”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“I know.” The admission costs me, but it’s true. “And I appreciate it. I do. But protection doesn’t mean control. It doesn’t mean shutting me out of decisions that affect my own survival.”
His jaw tightens. “You don’t understand?—”
“Then tell me! Talktome instead ofatme.” The fire in my blood is rising, responding to my frustration. I can feel it building, pressing against my skin. “Everyone in my life has tried to make decisions for me at some point. My parents, who decided I wasn’t living up to their expectations. My exes, who wanted me to be smaller, quieter, easier to manage. I’m done being managed, Drayke. I want to be a partner. An equal. Not someone you protect from a distance while making all the choices alone.”
“This is different.”
“How?” I step closer. Close enough to feel his heat. Close enough to see the muscle jumping in his jaw. “Explain it to me. Make me understand why I don’t get a say in my own fate.”
“Because I can’t lose you!” The words rip out of him, raw and ragged. “Because if something happens to you while I’m making plans and holding meetings?—”
“Then let me help prevent that!” I’m shouting now. We’re both shouting, toe to toe in the middle of the cabin, the air between us crackling with tension. “I’m not asking to be reckless. I’m asking to be involved. There’s a difference. I know the rogues are dangerous. I know my power is unpredictable. I almost died—believe me, I haven’t forgotten.”
“Then why are you fighting me on this?”
“Because fighting alongside you is different from being shut out while you fight for me!” I shove at his chest. He doesn’t budge, but his nostrils flare. “I’m not asking to charge into battle alone. I’m asking to be at the table when you make the plans. To have my voice heard. To matter as more than just the thing you’re trying to protect.”
His jaw works. His hands flex at his sides.
“You matter.” The words sound like they’re being dragged out of him. “You matter more than you know.”
“Then treat me like it. Stop making decisions about my life without me.”
“You’re impossible!” he snarls, but there’s less anger in it now. More frustration. More heat of a different kind.
“You’re infuriating!”
We’re both breathing hard. Both flushed. Both trembling with the force of emotions that have been building since the moment we met.
And somewhere in the middle of the shouting, I stopped being angry.
His eyes drop to my mouth. Mine drop to his.
