“You shouldn’t have gone out without me,” she said, arranging her robe over her thighs. “You shouldn’t have gone out at all.”
“They want me to convince you to claim me,” he said.
She froze. “Damion knows I would never... He knows I promised I wouldn’t.”
“Things have changed now,” he said. “Won’t it be considered a strike against you that you haven’t?”
“It’s a minor detail,” she said. “You’ll be with me. That’s more important.”
“They didn’t think it was minor,” he said.
“Of course not,” she said. “Damion doesn’t pretend to understand why I would make such a promise in the first place.”
He put his hand down on the other side of her knees, caging her. “You’ll have to fight now, won’t you?”
She chewed on the word before spitting it out. “Yes. And claiming you won’t make any difference when it comes to that.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes...” She frowned. “You weren’t actually considering it, were you?”
“What if I was?”
“What about—”
“Things have changed,” he said. “We’ve changed.”
“If I claimed you and I won, thenhewould kill you, even without knowing the truth about you,” she said.
His eyes darkened. “You sound very certain that he would succeed if he tried.”
She leaned closer. “You cannot fight him. You must know that.”
“I cannot fight him yet,” he said. “But give me time.”
Sliding her legs out from under his arm, she started to turn from him, but he caught her face in his hand and brought her gaze back to his.
“I’m not going to let him win.” His thumb ran up her cheekbone, eliciting a humming buzz under her skin. “And... I’m afraid you won’t be able to win this fight either.”
Her eyes burned, as if tears wanted to form, but couldn’t. She held up her left pinky. “All I need is one good shot.”
“What—”
She edged away from his hand, though a part of her wanted to lean into it. The Rae part, she was sure.
“We should try to sleep some more,” she said. “Today will be very long.”
“Do you mind if I move Hero?” he asked, rising from the bed. “It might be easier to sleep if I could lie down.”
“Be careful,” she said as he slid his hands under the nesting coat and lifted Hero over to a nearby chair.
She perched on the edge of the bed, gazing at Hero, wondering if he’d ever wake up again, wishing that she could do something more to help him.
“Are you certain you can’t heal him?” she asked as Kaelan pulled off his vest.
“I tried,” he said. “It didn’t work.”
She frowned. “That’s strange.”
