“No! Don’t. Just…wait,” Aurelia pleads. She turns to Bane when she sees us do as she asks, and my body coils tight when she lays her hand on his arms. “Bane?” His gaze won’t leave me though, so he continues to struggle against his bonds. “Bane, please. It’s me. It’s Aurelia.”
Hearing her name seems to do the trick, and his gaze slides slowly, cautiously away from me and down to her at his side. “Mine.”
“Yes…yours,” she agrees placatingly.
I feel my nostrils flare and my muscles flex while Khalil sneers.
We hate that fucker, and the feeling is more than mutual.
“Thank you for helping me, but I’m safe now. I need Zeke or Seth. You need to wake them up. Can you do that?”
“Cave,” he snaps at her with his face too close to hers for my comfort.All of himis too close to her for my liking.
“I know, I know. I didn’t stay in the cave.” Khalil and I swear viciously under our breaths when she swings into his lap without warning. Bane goes still, sitting back against the headboard with his own body tight as if he doesn’t trust himself with her.
It’s enough for me to walk forward to remove her from his lap, but his gaze shifts to mine when he sees me approaching, and the look in his eyes raises the hair on my body while the unspoken threat echoes around the room.
“Thorin, stay back. I’ve got this.” Aurelia returns her attention to Bane. “They won’t hurt me, but they think you will, so I need you to play nice.”
Bane’s glower darkens even more. “No.”
Khalil and I startle at hearing Bane speak. Aurelia said he had in the dell, but hearing it makes it all the more real. Bane canspeak. Why the hell hasn’t he ever tried talking to us instead of trying to kill us?
“All right then,” Aurelia presses on while I silently lose my shit. It’s like dedicating your life pursuing a theory just to discover that everything you knew was wrong. We weren’t even close to understanding Bane. “Can you wake up one of the others like you did in the cave?”
“No. Mine is not safe.”
“Bane, listen to me. I am safe. I’m home. Give me back Zeke or Seth,” Aurelia demands firmly this time.
“No.”
“Why the hell not?” Aurelia snaps. My muscles coil in preparation to strike and get her out of the way just in case Bane makes a move.
“Cabin is not safe.” Before Aurelia can continue this redundant endless loop, he adds, “I-saac.”
Khalil and I stiffen and exchange a look while Aurelia sighs. “Isaac isn’t here, Bane. It’s just us.”
“He’s coming. Mine not safe.”
Bane doesn’t speak again after that. He just keeps careful vigilance, growling and struggling against the cuffs whenever Aurelia tries to leave his lap. Half an hour passes like this before Aurelia spins around in Bane’s lap, putting her back to his chest as she addresses Khalil and me. “I have an idea, but I need your help.”
“What is it?” Khalil asks.
“Leave the room.”
“You could have kept that idea to yourself,” Khalil replies while crossing his arms. “No.”
“Bane is clearly guarding me. I think he feels threatened with you both in the room. He won’t believe that I’m safe until you leave. I’m not asking you to leave the cabin. Just step outside the door where he can’t see you. I’ve reasoned with him before. I can do it again without your hovering.”
“Fine,” I say as I rub my throbbing temples. “We’ll be right outside the door, but no farther.”
“Good. Before you go, there’s one more thing I need.”
“What?”
“The keys to the handcuffs.” Before I can tell her no, Aurelia holds out her hand and wiggles her fingers. “I promise not to use it until I’m sure he’s gone.”
Cursing, Khalil shoves his hand into his pocket and removes the key. He places it into her palm with a warning look to keep her promise.
