“But I wasn’t.”
He growled. “But you could have been. You should have stayed at the inn as I told you to.”
“I know.” I ran a hand harshly over my hair, and he followed the movement, the glow in his eyes intensifying. “What was that thing anyway?”
His nostrils flared, blazing emotions once again shattering his steely composure. “How much did you see?”
“I don’t know exactly, but enough to know that if creatures like that are what inhabit Silventine Wood, then there’s no way I’ll ever be able to retrieve the Wishing Stone if that’s where it landed.”
And that was true. I would never be able to close my eyes to sleep or let my guard down to eat. One could only go without proper rest or nourishment for so long, and if I had to spend days in Silventine Wood, then I was royally fucked.
“Silventine Wood?” His head cocked slightly.
“Isn’t that where it came from?”
“Who told you that?”
“Nivinity. She said that other Stonewild villages have spoken of strange occurrences. They said a creature from Silventine Wood has escaped that forest’s magic and is roaming the land. That some fae have disappeared.” I waited for him to confirm that, but when he didn’t, I took a step closer to him. “Is that where it came from?”
Instead of replying, the warrior went to the door that adjoined my chambers to his. He unlocked it, then swung it open.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m leaving the doors between our chambers open for the night, and for once, do as I tell you.Don’tclose them.”
Shocked, I watched as he stalked back toward the main door, only to open it and disappear into the hall.
I followed him right out of my room, down the short distance to his chambers, and then into his own suite that heentered from the hallway. He strode across his chambers, unlocked his adjoining door, and swung it open too.
Now, even with our main doors barred to the hallway, each of us would still have easy access to one another’s private spaces.
“Kole, what are you doing?”
“I told you. I’m leaving these doors open tonight.”
I tapped my foot. “I see that, but why? Why do our doors need to be open?”
“Because.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t you think I deserve an explanation? This is incredibly intrusive on my privacy, and I haven’t done anything wrong, nor have I broken the law.”
He swung toward me, his eyes glittering, and the rage that he’d been carefully controlling exploded in his aura, yet despite that, his voice remained controlled. He held true to his promise not to yell, but his fury filled each word. “You defied my order when I told you to stay at the inn. You could have beenkilledbecause of that.”
My mouth snapped closed. “Well, yes, I know I defied you, but?—”
“But what? What’s your excuse for that?”
That something overtook me. Something I can’t explain and certainly couldn’t ignore. Maybe it was the Stone. Maybe it was something else. Maybe I’ve simply gone entirely crazy in the blink of an eye.
Of course, I didn’t say that. Doing sorisked me being committed to a healing infirmary, so I lifted my chin and said defiantly, “Why do I need an excuse?”
“Because youdiddefy me.”
“I didn’t realize it was said to me with authority,” I replied, my voice also rising.
“No? What part of ‘Prim, go inside the inn. Now.’ did you not understand?”
Fuming, I said through gritted teeth, “We’re getting off track. What in the realm does any of that have to do with our doors remaining open?”
