Irritated that he understood why I needed to do what I had to, but was trying to stop me, I threw up my hands. “You can’t stop me.”
He arched a brow at that as he sat back. “I can stop you.”
Caring and sharing time was so over. “You know what? I don’t even get why you care. We barely know each other. You’re the Prince, and I’m just… I’m just me. I’m a—” I almost blurted out ghost, but stopped myself.
“You’re what?” Curiosity crept into his features.
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. I appreciate your concern. I do. It’s unexpected, but I appreciate it. It’s not going to change—”
“You’re what?” he repeated.
Pressing my lips together, I shook my head in frustration.
“What were you about to say?” he persisted.
“I’m just a ghost,” I blurted out, surprised that I allowed the words to take flight, because once spoken, you couldn’t take it back. “That’s who I was before the attack and…”
He was watching me intently. “And you’re not a ghost anymore?”
“I don’t know what I am anymore,” I admitted, blinking back the stupid burn of tears again. “And I don’t even know why I’m telling you this. I don’t even like you.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“You know? You’re right. And no matter what you say, you don’t know me either.” I started for the door. “I’m done with this conversation. I’m done with your interference. You do whateveryou want to do and I’ll do whatever I need to do. Goodbye, Prince.”
“You’re right.” A muscle flexed along his jaw. “You’re just a human,” he said, and the way he said that made the word human sound like a venereal disease. “In your own words, you’re already half dead. I won’t stop you from finishing that job.”
Chapter 13
The Prince’s parting words stung more than they should have as I stared at him. There was a part of me, a stupid, tiny part of me that was hurt by those words. The rational part of me knew that was stupid because I’d called myself a ghost.
But to hear him say it?
Brighton from two years ago would’ve never found herself in this situation in the first place, but if she did, she would’ve definitely run from the room to lick her wounds no matter how stupid those wounds were.
But I wasn’t her.
And I might not know what the hell I was anymore, but in that moment, I wasn’t a ghost. Not anymore.
I met his gaze and then smiled as I slowly lifted my hand and flipped him off.
His nostrils flared.
With that, I pivoted around and stalked out of the weird room with my head high. The moment I yanked open the stupid door, my mind immediately went berserko on me, replaying every word we exchanged.
My head was a freaking mess as I slammed the door shut behind me, mainly because I’d never shared with anyone else what I shared with him. I had no explanation for why, none that made sense at least. I couldn’t even believe that I’d spoken those words to him. Embarrassment rose as I stalked down the dark hallway, toward where I remembered the stairway was, hearingthe thump of music once again. As I opened the door, I briefly fantasized about racing back into that room and spin kicking him in the face.
That fantasy was probably why I didn’t realize the stairwell wasn’t empty until it was too late.
A shadow peeled off the wall and came at me fast and hard. I didn’t even get the chance to engage the cuff and release the stake. My right arm was twisted behind my back as an icy hand curled around my neck.
A burst of panic punched through my chest as I was flipped around and my front pushed against the wall. The side of my face slammed into the cool brick. Stinging pain exploded from my nose and I tasted blood in the back of my throat.
“I recognized you,” the voice said, and I couldn’t place it. “You were in the club Saturday night. You went into the room with Tobias. Your hair was red then. Different eye color, too.”
Hell.
Shock that my disguise had been seen through gave way to finely honed instinct. Going limp, my sudden weight caught the fae off guard. He stumbled back a step, giving me the room I needed. Bringing my legs up, I planted them in the wall and used it as a springboard. The fae slammed into the wall behind him, the impact jarring his hold loose enough for me to break it.
