“Mine.”
“No. No. I’m not y-yours. I won’t let you hurt me.”
“Hurt you,” he repeats as if tasting the idea on his tongue. He frowns a moment later like he finds it distasteful. “No.”
A bolt of confusion spears through me, and then my mind shifts when I realize… “You can speak.” He spoke to me in the dell when he woke briefly, but I was so freaked out about what almost happened that I didn’t pay much notice to what shouldn’t have happened.
Bane pauses and then he answers as if he’s reluctant to admit it. “Yes.”
“How? Thorin and Khalil said you couldn’t.”
Hearing their names draws forth that malevolence again that makes the green in his eyes seem like they’re bleeding obsidian. I make a terrified sound, and that darkness retreats as if he’s calling it back.
Okay, note to self. Don’t bring Khalil and Thorin up in front of Bane. Ever.
“Zeke speaks. I speak, Au-re-li-a.” He says it matter-of-factly like it should have been obvious. I guess it never occurred to Thorin and Khalil that Bane didn’t speak to them simply because he didn’t want to. He speaks to me though, and the light, warm feeling it causes in my stomach makes me think I need my head examined.
Seth is naive in a lot of ways, but I wasn’t prepared for Bane’s regression.
How much pain? How much pain did Isaac have to cause for Zeke to go to these lengths just to cope and feel safe? It haunts me when I wonder about it for too long. What about Bane—besides the obvious murderous rage—makes Zeke feel safe when Seth can’t?
It breaks my heart.
Right now, it’s just frustrating because I’m lost in the wildsagain, and this time, it’s with someone who may or may not want to kill me. Other than scare the shit out of me, he hasn’t tried yet, but rather than put me at ease, it fills me with anxiety.It’s knowing the knife in your back is coming but having no clue when.
“But you only speak to me. Why?” I’m almost afraid to know the answer.
“Mine.”
I whine my frustration and rub my brows to stave off the impending migraine. “Not this again.”
“Au-re-li-a.”
“Yes, Bane. That’s my name, notMine, so use it,” I snap before I can decide whether it’s wise. Bane stares at me and then walks away and the last thing I expect to do is follow him. I should be running from him in terror, not stalking him across the cave. As crazy as it sounds, it really doesn’t seem like he’ll hurt me. Or maybe I’m just a gullible fool. “Where are we? Where did you take me?”
“Safe.”
I don’t feel very safe, but he’s only partially to blame. “We need to get back to the cabin. We need to go home.”
Bane looks around the cave and then back at me. “Home.”
I’m racking my mind for how to get him to understand that this isn’t home when I catch on to his meaning and my stomach swoops suddenly. “No.” A hysterical laugh escapes me. “I amnotstaying here. You need to take me back right now.”
Bane ignores me as he walks over to the fire and crouches to warm his hands. His hair and clothes are still wet—mine are too—which means I wasn’t out for very long this time.
“Bane,” I say softly, trying a different tactic. “Please.”
“We stay.”
“I can’t stay.Wecan’t stay. We need food. We need shelter. We—”
Bane rises to his feet, and I try not to let it get to me how easily he towers over me. How did I never notice before how tall Zeke is? Bane makes him look taller. Bigger. It’s obviously justmy perception of him but logic isn’t helping me right now. He’s glowering at me now, and I wonder if this is it, if he’s finally going to live up to his name. “Safehere.”
I sigh in defeat. What else can I do? I refuse to leave without him, and I obviously can’t make him go. I need one of the others to reason with, and until Seth or Zeke wake up, we have no choice but to stay. It shouldn’t be long, right? Khalil and Thorin said that Bane never sticks around for long.
“Well, I’m thirsty,” I announce. “And if we’re going to stay, we need to find food and water.”
Bane scowls at me for a long moment and then he walks away. At the mouth of the cave, he turns his head enough to address me. “Stay.”
