She dug her fingers into Tristan’s muscled forearms. “One week. Cael getsone week. After that, evenyouwon’t be able to stop me from going after her myself.”
Tristan smirked. “I’d be a fool to try.”
“Yes, you would.” She swiped a hand up her wet cheek. “Adeadfool.”
Tristan’s booming laughter chipped away at her devastation. “There’s my tiny, violent human.” The smile fell from his handsome face, replaced by nervous hesitation. “Do you…should I come back to the bungalow with you?”
Her impulsive side wanted him to. Wanted to drown herself in his arms, his skin, his mouth. Wanted to forget about everything, if only for an hour or two.
But her cautious side knew that even a euphoric, limb-tangling play session wouldn’t erase his words from the other night.
I will always love her.
“I’ll be fine.” She pushed out of his arms as he blew out a resigned sigh. “We both need to rest. It’s been a long night.”
He scrubbed a hand along the back of his neck. “Yes, it has.” He opened his mouth, about to say more, then bit his lip. As if holding back a deluge of unspoken words.
His wings slumped as he turned to walk up the stairs and she couldn’t help calling out to him, “See you here tomorrow night?”
His dimple appeared as he grinned over his shoulder.
“Count on it, Daredevil.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT
Alexei yanked open the door to the bathing chamber and shoved Xenia inside.
It had been a week since Cael had left, the dreadful days tracked by the number of barely touched food trays piled in her cell.
“Clean yourself up,” he barked. “We leave for Primarvia within the hour.”
Xenia glanced towards his empty hands. “Where are my dress robes?”
Alexei crowded her against the wall, so close she could smell rancid meat and bitter poison on his breath. His forked tongue darted out, caressing her jawline in featherlight strokes that were somehow more unbearable than hard ones. She clenched her teeth to corral a disgusted scream.
“You don’t get dress robes this time.” He brushed her matted curls from her neck and popped his fangs, dragging them across her jumping pulse, hard enough to scratch but not draw blood. “You think Maksym is going to make this task easy for you, after your disobedience?”
Alexei pushed off the wall and shoved her towards the tub. She flopped over the lip, her arms dunking into the cold water. They hadn’t heated it for her this time. No surprise there.
“If I don’t look like a Sister, how does he expect me to get into the Temple?” she asked, pushing upright.
“Not his fucking problem,” Alexei snarled.
“And if I refuse?”
“Clean. Yourself.Up.” Each word was punctuated with a dart of his tongue. “We’ll be back to fetch you in ten minutes.”
Alexei swiveled on his heels and slammed the stone door behind him, the boom echoing with a finality that sounded like the end of all Xenia’s options.
She sunk down the side of the tub, and buried her face in her hands.
Cael had abandoned her.
Tristan and Cassandra weren’t coming for her.
No one was going to save her and she was past the point of saving herself.
Despite her despair, she focused on the one thing she could control.
