“Implying things like…”
He wasn’t making this easy. “That Harthon didn’t really view me as a prisoner, and that he was scared when I was with Koerlyn for reasons beyond mymagvispurpose.” The heat in my cheeks had nothing to do with the kernel beneath my ribs.
With a big, dramatic nod, he said, “Ah, I see. So your time with Koerlyn was a little more eventful than you told us.”
“No. It was a stupid comment he made. It’s not of any importance.”
“It’s coming up now, so it seems like it’s sort of important,” he very annoyingly pointed out.
“It isn’t.”
“Do you think Ana’s wrong?”
I ran a hand down my face, wondering why I’d even chosen to rehash this whole situation. I could end it right there. Just get up and walk away, so Callen couldn’t force answers out of me.
But I didn’t. And maybe it had something to do with the fact that I’d already reached an emotional breaking point a few days ago, and it wasn’t worth holding this in my head alone.
“I…we betrayed one another in different ways.” He’d held the dark secret of his past and my parents’ deaths, and I’d run away. “And knowing his past with Ana—which must be true, because she didn’t deny it—it seems he isn’t one to care for another person in that way. He’s a warrior, through and through. Vulnerability has no place with him.”
Callen’s mouth thinned as he considered this. “You speak like he isn’t human.”
“Aren’t you the one who told me he’s essentially a bear?”
“That was just a comparison for that particular situation, though I’m pleased to know you recall my great teachings.” As if his ego needed to be further inflated. “The reality is that Harthon is just a man, Fish Eyes. And men have feelings.”
He framed it so simply. Like it was a fact of life. Sure, Harthon wastechnicallya man, but he was so much…morethan that. Larger than life.
“I mean, you’ve seen Ana, right?” I argued. “Youknowher. She’s strong, beautiful, and powerful. How could he not love her if the opportunity was there?” For Domus’ sake, I sounded like a jealous child.
But Callen didn’t tease me for it. “She is all of those things and then some.” He studied me pensively. “I’m going to tell you something, and if you breathe a word of it to anyone, I will give you the silent treatment for a very, very long time.”
From anyone else, it wouldn’t sound like a threat. But a passive aggressive Callen would be a nightmare to handle.
I nodded.
“Ana is the daughter of a major Fifth Territory lord.”
Skies. She was essentially royalty. It was no wonder she carried herself with such natural grace.
“As I’ve told you before, I met Harthon when I tried to kill him. His father, Cornelius, took everything from me, and I was out for revenge. Rumor had it that Harthon was worse than his father, so I confronted him. Thought I’d drive a blade right through his heart.” He laughed a little. “When I realized Harthon hated his father as much as me, I joined his campaign to find and kill the old man. We soon found out about Cornelius’ ties to some Lords in Fifth. We decided to take Ana as leverage to force her father to reveal his location.”
“Does Harthon always resort to kidnapping?”
Callen grinned. “It’s a rather effective strategy.”
“It’s brutish.”
He waved a hand dismissively. “Brutish is effective. Though in this case, it wasn’t necessary. Ana hated Harthon’s father and her own, too. She came willingly, then stayed with us when it was all over. She was the only woman with us, and she andHarthon got…close. She saw him as a hero, sort of doted on him. He cared for her, but the motherly stuff, the adoration—I don’t think it was for him.”
That didn’t exactly sound like the Ana I knew today. She didn’t idolize him. Outwardly, anyway. “She stayed, even after that?”
“She did. She supports him. I think a small part of her still loves him, but she grew up. Matured. Figured out she wasn’t what he needed,” Callen replied.
I toyed with my hands as I digested all this. “So basically, when I said what I said to Ana, I re-opened a recent wound like an insensitive fool.”
“I mean, probably.”Great.“But like I said, she’s matured. It’s been over two years. She’s not going to hold it against you. And the fact that she even brought up your relationship with Harthon suggests she’s accepted how things are. Supports it, even.”
“Why didn’t you just say that? Why tell me everything else?”
