He watched me as if I’d sprouted wings or horns—depending on how much I annoyed him. “And there you go again...confusing me.” Gritting his teeth, he tongued his bottomlip where blood stained him. “How is it that having you yell at me actually feelsgood?”
“Maybe you’re just a masochist.” I shuddered, scanning the wide-open landscape. I felt so exposed. So vulnerable. I didn’t want to talk. I wanted torun.
He chuckled blackly. “After enduring twenty years of torture, perhaps you’re right.”
“Ugh, we don’t have time for this.” My temper continued to crackle and coil. The pill he gave me did its best to ice over my pain but vertigo amplified my headache. “And for the record.” I pointed at him with an accusing finger. “This plan of yours sucks. It sucks so,sobad.”
My gaze dropped to his dagger wound again and I suddenly couldn’t stand him. “Why the hell did you make me stab you, huh? Wouldn’t this have been easier if you weren’t coughing up blood and about to pass out? You’re such anidiot.”
“Quiet,” he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You’re so noisy. My ears are ringing. Also...” His hand dropped as his head came up. “Don’t call me an idiot.”
“Why? Will you punish me?”
His mouth twitched. “Yes.”
“How?” I shot back. “You’re literally on the ground...like a fool.”
“Keep talking and we’re going to have a problem.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. More of a problem than we already have?”
A low chuckle rumbled free as he tipped his face to the falling rain. “Fuck, you’re right.” Whisper licked his cheek as Lucien added, “At least I won’t die alone.”
My hackles rose and I literally couldn’t control myself. “Argh! I’m tempted to kill you myself, you annoying, pig-headed, stubborn—”
“You sure you want to keep going? I’m keeping notes of how many times you curse me.”
Tears burned my eyes. “I hate you. I hate you because every bone in my body is telling me to run and Ican’t.”
His gaze shuttered and any sign of emotion shut down. Arching his chin at the exit and society beyond, he muttered, “Go on then. No one’s stopping you.”
“You’rewhat’s stopping me!” Pacing around him pinned beneath the bike, I couldn’t stay still. My head pounded. My heart skipped. I felt sick and trapped and useless. “If you hadn’t forced me to stab you, you wouldn’t be this weak. If I didn’t agree to go along with your ridiculous plan, you’d—”
“Still be trapped. Just like every other day,” he cut in coldly, tugging his pinned leg. “They wouldn’t have risked taking me past the wall if they didn’t think I was about to die.”
“So you decided to oblige them and die the moment you did?”
“No. I told you. If you stop jabbering for one second, you’d know I just needed a moment. That’s all.”
“A moment.” I flung my arms up. “Sure. Take a moment. Because we have somanyof those before trouble arrives.”
“I think the real trouble here is you,” he grumbled as if we weren’t counting down the seconds to our demise.
“Excuse me?” Ice frosted my bloodstream as the pill failed at numbing the intensity of my emotions. I couldn’t do this anymore. I needed out. I neededhimout. I needed to be safe and free, and this idiot was ruiningeverything.
“I can’t believe I caught feelings for you,” I hissed. “I can’tbelieveI was stupid enough to fall—”
“Wait.What?” His chin snapped up. His eyes found mine and didn’t let go. “Say that again.”
My lips pressed together as I swayed backward on my heels. “I didn’t say anything. Get up. Right now. If you don’t, I’m going to kick you until you do.”
His gaze stayed locked on mine, sniper-focused but amazingly gentle. “Are you actuallyworriedabout me?”
“Oh my God, what do you think this is?Of courseI’m worried. I’m fucking terrified!”
“Of dying here?”
“Of watchingyoudie, you fool.”
