In a rare display of warmth, Joshua smiled at me. “Well done,” he said softly, inclining his head.
“Very well done,” Leisel added stiffly. “However, I’m not sure everyone will be as easily appeased.” Holding my gaze, Leisel jerked her eyes toward the path; following her gaze, my lips parted in silent surprise. Logan, his stance rigid, his hair a mess, as if he’d been running his hands through it all night long, glared across the grass at me. Swallowing, I lifted a tentative hand—a greeting that only caused his expression to darken further. Shaking his head, he turned away, stalking off.
Great.Mumbling my goodbyes, I hurried after Logan, calling his name. Ignoring me, he picked up his pace.
“Logan, wait!” Growling in frustration, I matched his speed, reaching him. As I grabbed hold of his arm, he spun around, roughly shaking me off. His blazing gaze took in the full length of me, his fury flaming brighter at the sight of my swollen face.
“What the fuck,” he growled, his chest heaving, “happened to you?”
“I fell,” I hurried to explain, tentatively touching my nose. “I tripped down the stairs at this school and—”
Logan grabbed my chin, turning my head to one side and exposing my neck before I could flinch away.
“Who did this?” he demanded, clearly not buying my lie for one second.
Shoving away from him, I moved my hair to cover the bruising. “No one. Like I said, I fell—”
“Bullshit,” Logan spat, advancing on me. “You tell me who, you tell me where,and you tell me right the fuck now, Willow.”
I released a hard breath, letting my hands fall helpless to my sides. I’d been foolish to think I’d be able to hide anything from Logan; he’d always been able to see straight through me.
“They’re all dead,” I whispered. “Britta killed them.”
Jaw locked and ticcing, Logan appeared even angrier by my admission. “Did they… did theyhurt you?”
“No!” Frustrated, I brought my hand to my mouth and then flinched when my lip began to throb. “I’m fine—everything’s fine.”
“Everything’s fine?” Incredulity briefly drowned out the fury marring his features. “Am I hearing you right? You leave camp without me, without even telling me, and then you end up getting attacked and somehow everything is fine? What the fuck, Willow—what fucking planet do you live on where you think anything is fine about this? You could have been killed or…worse.”
“But I wasn’t!” I protested loudly. “And everythingisfine. More than fine, actually. Britta and I found some clothes for everyone, some food too.”
“Clothes and food?” Logan barked out a humorless laugh. “Jesus, Willow, what good are clothes if you’re fucking dead?”
“I knew you were going to do this!” I yelled, flinging my backpack at him. “I knew you wouldn’t let me go—that’s why I didn’t tell you.”
Logan grabbed my pack and with it my arm. “You’re damn right I wouldn’t let you go,” he seethed. “Because look what happened—look at your fucking face!” He’d graduated to yelling, his body strung tightly and bowing toward mine. “Jesus Christ, youneverthink, do you? How many times have we had this conversation and you’re still doing whatever the fuck you want, whenever you want to do it, completely disregarding everyone else’s feelings?”
Where his hand clasped my wrist, I could feel the thrum of his pulse pick up a notch and my own fluttered in response. Yanking my arm free with more force than was necessary, I stumbled back a step.
“What do your feelings have to do with this?” I shouted. “And why are you so obsessed with everything I do—why can’t you ever justleave me the fuck alone?” My shouts had become screams, ending on a shrill, venomous note.
Logan blinked. Staring down at me, the rage that had only moments ago burned so brightly, began to fade, replaced with something else entirely, something startlingly soft and vulnerable. He opened his mouth and then closed it, only to open it again.
“Is that what you really want?” he finally rasped. “Me to leave you alone?”
“I…” My heart rammed against my ribs, my lips trembling as I struggled to find the words. Hell, my whole body trembled. I’d seen Logan angry before and I’d seen him indifferent twice as much. But I’d never seen him like this—I didn’t even have a word to describe whatthiswas. Anguish, resentment, and longing all warred for center stage on his twisting expression, while his tone held a horrible hint of… finality.
“Yes,” I managed to eke out, regretting my answer the moment it was free. That wasn’t at all what I wanted—not that I knew what I wanted, only that this wasn’t it.
With a hard inhale, Logan’s twisted expression fell away, his infuriating, iron-faced grimace taking its place. Blowing out an equally hard breath, he spat a solitary word—fine—and walked away.
Frozen, I could only stare dumbly after him, staring even after I could no longer see him, wondering what the hell had just happened, and feeling like I’d made a horrible mistake.
