“We all drank it!” Tae shouted back. “And yet, I remember last night. I distinctly remember you conveniently falling asleep on the couch.”
“And you just left me there to go sleep with the Princess?”
“No, the Princess slept in my bed while I took yours . . . in the bedroom you'll now be inhabiting.”
“Tae, I think you may be overreacting,” Sanna said gently.
“It's just sex,” Thal huffed. “What's your problem?”
“Get the fuck out of my house,” Taeven growled at the General.
“Tae?” the Princess asked warily.
“I'm sorry, Sana, but you need to leave too,” Taeven said without looking at her. “Just go, both of you, before I hurt Thalsar even worse.”
A horrible quiet descended as the Princess and General collected their things and got dressed. Neither Tae nor I moved as they did, just stood there staring at each other like a pair of beasts about to brawl. The Princess tried to speak to Tae once more before they left, but he only shook his head at her. Once they were gone, he let loose.
“So, this is how you treat someone you love?” Tae sneered.
“And this is how you treat someone you believe the Goddess sent you?” I shot back.
Tae flinched but pressed his lips together and continued to glare. “Perhaps she made a mistake.”
“Wow.” I shook my head at him. “You won't even consider that I might be telling the truth.”
“About what? Forgetting that you fucked Thal? Forgetting it doesn't make it go away.”
“I don't believe that I had sex with him. There is no way that I would have betrayed you, especially not with him.”
Taeven narrowed his eyes at me. “And yet Thal remembers it.”
“Does he?” I lifted my brows. “Or is he saying that to break us up?”
“So now your defense is that this was all a vicious plot to tear us apart? And you wait till Thal's gone before you say it?” Tae gaped at me. “You're a piece of work, Shane. I can't believe I was falling for you.”
Oh, that stung.
“And I can't believe I loved a man who doesn't trust me.” I shook my head at him. “You swore to me that you'd never give up on me, even if I acted the fool.”
“This is a bit beyond foolish,” Tae growled. “I never thought you'd betray me. Not for one second did it cross my mind. So, I suppose I'm the fool now.”
“Fuck this,” I snarled and walked past him. “I need to get to the Academy.”
“Where the fuck do you think you're going?”
“To get dressed,” I said over my shoulder. “I'll move my clothes into the other room when I get back.”
Tae didn't say anything, which drove the wedge of his betrayal deeper into my heart.
Chapter Thirty-Five
“All right, Valorian, out with it!” Avanla declared angrily.
“Out with what?” I asked morosely.
“With the reason that you're flopping about limply like a dying fish when you need to be focusing on shifting.”
We were in a classroom now, sitting on a woven mat, Avanla across from me while I tried to believe myself into falcon form. It wasn't going so well. I was fresh out of belief.
