“It’s not a pillowcase,” he said, chuckling. “It’s a gown of some sorts. It belonged to the owner’s ex-wife, but it’s the only thing she left behind. Unfortunately, it’s either this, your wet clothes, or your birthdaysuit.”
Cheeks flaming, I frowned down at the drenched clothes that were clawing at my skin. As much as I hated to admit it, I really did need to change. If I stayed like this, not only would I spend the whole night shivering, I’d have to wear damp, dirty clothes all the way back to the Academy in the morning. If I didn’t hang them on the radiator, they’d never getdry.
And Idefinitelywasn’t going to wear nothing atall.
“Okay.” I held out a hand toward the pillowcase gown. “I’ll change, but not because you saidso.”
He smirked and tossed me the gown. “No, I know why you’re changing. It’s because you don’t think you’d be able to control yourself if you were naked in the bed withme.”
I rolled my eyes and shoved the wet cloak off my shoulders. “Has anyone ever told you how full of yourself you are? It’s like your ego is ten times the size of yourhead.”
“My ego isexactlythe right size.” He leaned forward and slid his finger along the button on my jeans. “Do you need help with those or are you just going to stand there gawking atme?”
Irritation flickered inside me, an emotion that was mixed with a hint of excitement. Somehow, Liam was able to simultaneously annoy the shit out of me and draw me in at the same time. That fact alone made me want to throttle him. And then make up for it by snuggling in close to hischest.
No, my inner voice roared at myself.Stop getting so distracted by the gorgeousfae.
I hadn’t come to Otherworld to flirt with every fae male who gave me attention. I’d come here to learn out to fight, to train in the ways of battling the monsters who had killed my best friend. At the thought of Bree, all the excitement and annoyance I felt toward Liam disappeared into a cloud of bittersadness.
I stepped back and gave him a pointed look. “Turn around, please. I’m not going to change when you’re standing there watchingme.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “What’s wrong,Norah?”
“Honestly, is it that hard to believe a girl doesn’t want to change in front of you? There has to be somethingwrong?”
With a sigh, he shook his head and turned his back my way. “Of course not. It’s just that two seconds ago, you had a look in your eye, one that made it seem like you wanted to climb on top of me. And then out of nowhere, you looked...well,sad.”
I unbuttoned my jeans and pushed the soaking material to the floor before shrugging my damp t-shirt over my head. I took off my bra for good measure, but I kept my underwear on. After slipping the cotton gown over my head, I tapped Liam on the shoulder. He hadn’t even tried to sneak a peek while I’d been changing, a fact I was strangely grateful for. I hadn’t expected him to show much respect for mywishes.
He turned and silently watched me drape my clothes over the radiator. He didn’t even make a crack about my lacy black bra. Instead, he strode toward me and tucked a finger underneath my chin, his fiery eyes searching mine for thetruth.
“What’s wrong, Norah?” he asked. “And no, this isn’t about my ego. It’s not difficult to tell that something is wrong when your entire demeanor changes within the blink of aneye.”
With a sigh, I gritted my teeth and glanced away. “It’s Bree. I can’t stop thinking about the creature that killed her. I can’t stop thinking that maybe I could have done something to prevent it. And I can’t stop thinking that I need to focus on training instead of getting distracted by other things. It’s not fair toher.”
“I see,” he said quietly. “It sounds as though you haven’t had a chance to mournher.”
“How would I have?” I asked, throwing up my hands. “Within an hour of her death, I was on my way to Otherworld, and I’ve barely had a moment to think since I arrived. Watch Duty, challenges, classes, and trips to Courts. It’s been good to keep busy, but when the thought of her enters my mind, I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut. I didn’t even get to go to herfuneral.”
I started crying. Liam winced and awkwardly rubbed my shoulders, clearly unused to comforting crying girls. After a moment, he pulled me close to his chest and rubbed the back of my neck, silently holding me while the grief poured out of myeyes.
“We’ll hold a funeral for Bree when we get back,” he finally said when my sobs began to subside. “I can get a headstone made, and you can invite whoever you like. I’m sorry you weren’t able to go to the real thing, but you can make it as real as you need it tobe.”
Sniffling, I pulled back and looked up into his handsome face. “You’d dothat?”
“Of course,” he said. “Everyone should be able to mourn, in whatever way they need. I’m sorry we had to take you away when we did, but we had no other choice. I know it won’t make what happened right, but perhaps it will soothe your heart, as much as itcan.”
“Thank you. I’d like that. But I don’t think I’ll truly be happy until that Redcap isdead.”
* * *
Dim sunlight streamedin through the tiny window overlooking the small Autumn village. I squinted as I opened my eyes, only to find Liam’s face mere inches from mine. We were turned toward each other on the bed, our shoulders digging into the hard mattress. When we’d climbed into bed after our talk, I’d expected the teasing flirtations to resume, but he’d been strangely quiet. He didn’t even try to pull me into hischest.
Maybe my sobs had freaked himout.
With a sigh, I climbed out of bed and felt my clothes on the radiator. Thankfully, they were dry, so I wouldn’t have to ride all the way back to the Academy in this ridiculous pillowcase. I changed before Liam could wake, but I swore when I turned around, one of his eyes was partiallycracked.
“Morning, darling,” he drawled with a slight smile. “You ready to getgoing?”
