“But by the time we get back to Lumosia, Mealioria’s army will pretty much be there in full and ready to come back here,” I argued. “There's no point in going back now.”
“Oh yes there is. We can go back, and I can shut you in our bedroom while myself and the rest of the soldiers go to Draemor and do what you seem to think you can do by yourself,” Sebastian hissed, his brows deepening.
“Guys,” Pia tried to interrupt. “This is not the time or the place to have a blowout.”
“How dare you even suggest that. You know how I feel about people trying to control me.” My knuckles clenched and bleached by my sides.
He placed a hand on my shoulder, dropping his face closer to mine. “I don't care if you hate me for it, love. If that's what I need to do to keep you safe, then I’ll do it. I will strap you to the godsdamn bed if I have to.”
“How romantic, Seb. You really know how to make a girl feel special.”
“I’m not trying to make you feel special. I’m trying to keep you alive, for fuck’s sake!”
“And I’m trying to keepyoualive!” I shouted back, my voice raising with each word. “How many times must I tell you that I don't care what happens to me? None of it matters if it hurts the ones I love.”
“ButIcare!” he roared, dropping his hand from my arm and scraping it up to grasp my jaw. “Icare about what happens to you!Icare about you more than anything in the universe. And if you care about me at all, then you should care about what happens to you, too! Don’t you get it, Maeve? I won’t survive if something happens to you. If you go beyond the veil, then I’mgoing, too, because I couldn't live with it. I couldn't live a life without you. So for me,care. Care because I care.”
“Sawyer almost died, Seb,” I wheezed. My eyes, as weak as they were, became soppy. “I can't stand back and watch another person I care about die. I can’t. I can’t.I can’t.”
His expression softened and he pulled me into his chest, holding me there while he stroked the back of my hair. “I know, love. I know.”
“Guys!” Pia whisper-yelled. “Lower your voices. I hear something.”
Turning an ear towards the open air, I listened to the sounds of the woods. A steady crackling of twigs and rock filled the forest. Likely nothing more than a rabbit.
“Come with me,” I urgently breathed into the warmth of Sebastian’s firm chest. “Send the others back and come with me, Seb.Please.”
His pointed chin settled on top of my head as he blew a heavy breath through his nostrils. “Maeve…”
Dragging myself out of his embrace, I looked up into his contrasted expression. “Please.”
A few heart beats of silence passed before his features stirred into a look that portrayed less anger and more empathy.
“Okay.” He nodded, palming my lower back before forcing his attention to the others. “You guys go back to Lumosia. We’re going to take care of Bitchmont.”
“There will be no need for that.”
Chapter
Fifty-Five
In the daylight, guilt swallowed me whole. It crunched me between its jagged teeth, slurping me back into the abyss of its gut, where my own nausea made its appearance.
Cyprian Beaumont, in the flesh, was before us. His posture was perfectly poised from where he sat in the saddle of a pure black stallion. He clapped his hands together. “What afunlittle reunion this is.”
Sebastian's palm lingered on my hip, an attempt to hold me back. The fingers from his other hand dug into the back of my pants, a silent plea for me to stay put.
Three Draemornian soldiers and a woman followed closely behind the dark king, balancing upon a spotted mare. She was a young, red-headed woman who bore teal robes that reached the ground when she jumped out of her saddle. The bony skin of her left hand was home to an emerald, and the faint aura she gave off reminded me of Venay.
An enchanter.
He had found one already.
“I assume the army I sent to retrieve you has been eliminated?" Beaumont inquired, arching a wicked brow.
“Your assumption would be correct,” Sebastian answered with a sharp bite in his tone. “By the way, the one you sent to lead the others was the easiest kill of them all. You may want to rethink your ranking system in the future.”
Cyprian cackled from his horse. “Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll add that to my ever growing lists of tasks that Maeve will help me with.”
