“You’re not part of this discussion.” I drew more of his blood.
“Stop, Teal, please.” Her gaze was again fixed on my blade, and her lips thinned. “Alive and unharmed.”
“Haven, no!” The man’s arms tightened around her, and his face contorted. Interesting. He hadn’t reacted when my dagger cut his neck, but now he looked ready to raze the world for her.
Meanwhile, Flynn rubbed his chin, pretending to consider her terms. “You drive a hard bargain, but we have an agreement. We let him go. Alive and unharmed.”
“You can’t do this, Haven. I’m not worth it.”
She touched his cheek. Gently. Almost reverently. “You are.”
My vision clouded. “Agree now, or my dagger may slip.”
“Fine,” she snapped. “We’re agreed. But if you hurt him, you’ll live to regret it. He’s mine.”
Jealousy slithered through my veins. Haven was mine. Ours. The stranger holding her had no claim. He’d tricked her. That was the only explanation.
So why was he looking at her as if she’d taught the sun to rise?
“Teal.” Her voice broke into my reverie.
“What?”
“You’re harming him.”
Reluctantly, I inched the blade away from his bloodied neck.
Flynn’s eyes twinkled, and he grinned like a triumphant loon. “Come on, Princess. We’ll ride to the border.”
“No,” she replied.
Grayson’s brows lifted, even as his face grew taut with annoyance. “No?” He flexed his fingers before tightening them into fists. Then he repeated the exercise.
She exchanged a quick look with the man who was definitely not hers and said, “I’m going to Talin with Remy.”
“We’re returning to Legacia.” Grayson spoke slowly as if Haven had difficulty understanding simple concepts.
She offered him a cheeky wave. “Safe travels.”
The sound of his grinding teeth was ridiculously loud.
“Haven, you can’t stay here,” Flynn explained gently. “Rymarians are savages.”
“Really? Because I’ve experienced nothing but kindness from the Rymarian people.” She let the savagery she’d encountered at the guards’ headquarters remain unspoken, but I saw its shadow lingering in her eyes.
“We’re leaving. Immediately. And you’re coming with us.” Grayson was an idiot. Either he hadn’t realized that Haven didn’t respond well being ordered around, or he didn’t care. An edict like that was sure to make her dig in her heels.
“Do as you please,” she replied, her voice sugary. “I’m going to Talin.”
He audibly ground his teeth again. At this rate, he’d be down to stumps in no time.
“You just agreed to a bargain.” Did I really need to remind her? She couldn’t fulfill her side of said bargain in Talin.
“Without a set date,” she replied.
The man who was not hers chuckled. “Clever girl.”
The howl of the wind through the pine branches mocked me. Snow swirled around us, and the cold seeped into mybones. It didn’t stand a chance against the anger raging through me.
