I wait until they are distant shadows among the trees before I spin around. ‘So. Zainey Baby. Is that an official nickname or …?’
‘Hilarious,’ he growls. ‘Let’s go.’
‘I thought you said you wanted totalk.’ He glares at me like he wants to drag me into the ring he just vacated.
‘Oh, don’t you worry, we’ll talk. But not here.’ He gestures for me to start walking ahead of him and I have half a mind to stomp my foot and stay right where I am. But the crowd in the clearing starts to cheer and I realise he’s right. They’re too close. If Sebastian was able to spot me from the ring, all it will take is for one person to wander out of the clearing to find us standing here.
I let my annoyance show on my face though, before I spin on my heel and start walking. I feel the heat of him at my back, as if he’s righton my heels. He probably thinks I’ll try and make a run for it. I won’t. Doesn’t mean I’m not tempted to though.
‘That’s far enough,’ he finally says.
I ignore him and keep walking several more steps for good measure just to get under his skin. When I feel like I’ve walked far enough I turn around, place my hands on my hips and brace myself for the scolding.
It doesn’t come, though. Instead he just stares at me for such a long moment that I begin to squirm beneath his penetrating gaze. Finally, he speaks, but it’s not at all what I’m expecting.
‘How’s your head?’
‘It’s fine. Doesn’t hurt at all anymore,’ I say cautiously. I was preparing myself for him to start yelling about how reckless I was to come out here. Not checking in on how I’m feeling.
‘So, no dizzy spells, moments of confusion? Nothing like that?’
I shake my head.
‘Good.’ He nods a few times, before his eyes harden into emerald stones. ‘So if it wasn’t your injury clouding your judgement, tell me why you thought it would be a good fucking idea to risk coming out here. When you should be in bed, where you’re safe!’
Ah. There it is.
‘Safe?’ I almost laugh at the notion. ‘If someone wants to hurt me, Sebastian, a locked door isn’t going to do anything. Not when they can break into solitary and do what they did to Harley.’
‘It’s safer than walking out here in the dark. Alone!’
‘Iwasn’talone. I had Tilly with me.’
‘You think that’s any better? All that tells me is you have no concern for your safetyoryour friend’s.’
That strikes a nerve, a deep one. ‘How dare you!’ I shove a finger in his chest. ‘Of course I care about her safety!’
‘You put not only yourself but also your friend in danger tonight. Do you realise that? If whoever is out to get you followed you here, they would have doneanythingto get to you. That includes hurting Revlock. Is that what you want? Your precious friend’s death on your hands?’
‘You don’t know that would happen!’ I snap back, but it comes out weaker than I intend it to. The thought of Tilly getting hurt, or worse,killed, because of me has guilt gnawing at my bones. I don’t even want to imagine it, but a part of me knows he’s right and I hate it. I hate that he’s making sense right now.
‘And you don’t know that itwouldn’t,’ he says.
No, I don’t and the stark reality of that has my shoulders dropping in defeat.
‘You’re thinking about it now, aren’t you? You’re realising how irresponsible it was to bring her out here.’
I don’t bother correcting him and telling him that this was Tilly’s idea, because it doesn’t matter. Any further protest gets stuck in my throat as the weight of his words settle on my chest, heavy and suffocating. Defeat and embarrassment barrel into me.
Sebastian must sense the shift in me as I lose my fight, because his eyes soften at the corners. He lets out a deep exhale and runs a hand through his messy hair. It makes him look unusually dishevelled. I realise his eyes are a little glassy. In fact, now that we’re away from the crowd, I can smell the sweet scent of wine on his breath.
Sebastian has been drinking. I don’t know why but that surprises me. Everyone else in the clearing was doing it, but I always pictured him to be too focused, too level-headed to let go like that.
We stand locked in a stalemate, staring at each other, until he takes a step closer. My body locks up as he slowly lifts a hand to my face.
‘W-what are you …’
‘Shh,’ he chides quietly. The tips of his fingers slowly push a lock of white hair behind my ear, making me shiver involuntarily. My breath gets caught in my throat as he uses that same hand to tilt my chin back, angling my face beneath a beam of moonlight streaming through trees.
