Page 11 of A Cruel Kindness

“Well, consider it two recorded Matches,” I snapped, crossing my legs so that I was positioned away from Soren. I didn’t want to look at him, not until I built up enough resolve to shut out the voice screaming at me to move closer to him until our bodies were touching.

Soren laughed from beside me. “Something you want to say?” I asked, cocking my head. My hands itched with the urge to move, and I assumed they wanted to find their way around his neck and give it a nice little squeeze.

“No,” he said through a wide smile. “I just didn’t think we’d be agreeing this soon.”

“You know what,” I said, turning away from Peter and focusing my attention on Soren. Much better, a voice in my head said. “Why don’t you tell me how you see this playing out.” He was the one with all the experience, though I was pretty sure his last Match had been in the nineties.

Soren’s eyes widened just an inch, though a small smile played at his lips. “I want nothing to do with you or this Match.” Even though my mind agreed with his words, they still hit me in the chest like hot, splattering oil. “We will deal with this to the extent we have to in order to stay alive and do what we need. That’s it.”

That was interesting, the way he’d phrased that. As if there was something other than staying alive we needed to do. I didn’t think he was a particularly willing member of this war, and certainly wasn’t known to be singing the praises of our world, so there must be something on Muli that he was interested in.

If it’s a woman, find her and kill her. I jerked back, as the thought passed through my head. There was that voice again, not quite mine. In fact, it sounded suspiciously like the voice that gave me those bits of knowing from the Goddess.

Soren’s eyes narrowed, leaning forward the same distance that I’d leaned back. “What did it just say to you?”

“What?” The word was barely more than a gasp.

Soren leaned in an inch closer. “The Bond. What did it just say to you?”

“Nothing,” I bit out. I couldn't say more. My breath was seizing in my chest at the realization that he’d figured that out from just the expression on my face. I couldn’t handle someone cutting through me that easily.

Soren’s grin simply widened. “You’ll tell me. Eventually.”

I leaned towards him, getting right in his face. This close, the blue in his eyes only looked more prominent. “Don’t think I’m not aware of what you’re doing. Or that I am even remotely excited about this.”

Soren’s lip curled, turning into a sneer. He moved closer, so close that for a harrowing second I thought he was going to kiss me. Then he moved closer, slipping past my lips and placing his mouth right next to my ear. His voice was nothing more than a harsh whisper when he said, “You volunteered for this.”

I inhaled sharply, though I really shouldn’t have been shocked he caught onto me so quickly. I turned my head in slightly, so that I could speak into his ear the same way he’d done to me. I was about to snap back that he had no idea what he was talking about, even though he’d just caught me red-handed.

Before I could, a sound ripped through the room.

“Ahem,” Peter coughed, and both our heads snapped towards him in confusion. My cheeks colored with embarrassment at the fact that we’d been sitting here, fucking whispering to each other. Before I could properly appreciate the shame, Peter’s eyes dropped down to somewhere below our faces.

It was then, when I tilted my head down, that I realized that at some point during our little scuffle, Soren’s hand had made its way to the hollow between my collarbones and one of my hands was twisted in his shirt.

I hadn’t even noticed the touch. Now that I did, though, it was burning like the summer sun. His touch was generating a firestorm beneath my sternum, with solar flares flashing out into every corner of my body. There was an upsetting concentration of that heat low in my stomach, which I could pay no mind to.

Not when I was ripping my hand away from Soren, shoving my chair back as far as it would go.

Peter muttered something under his breath, which I couldn’t decipher while Soren deemed it appropriate to drill his eyes into me like he was mining for gold.

After a moment Peter raised his head. “Bellamy, I recommend you get settled. We’ll have a debrief this afternoon to discuss the next week.” I nodded along with his words. “We leave for Muli in four days. I trust that is enough time to get comfortable with this arrangement?”

I would spend the rest of my life getting used to Soren, but I gave an affirmative nod regardless.

“Great,” Peter said, his lips pulling into as much of a smile as he could manage. He turned his attention to Soren. “Stay out of your room for the time being.”

Soren, despite having very obvious issues with authority, simply nodded.

It clicked then, why Peter had instructed Soren to back off for the time being. “Wait, I am not sharing a room with him.”

The thought of being trapped with him for any longer than thirty seconds made my stomach twist.

Soren scoffed, crossing his massive arms over his chest. He’d thrown on a shirt with cut off sleeves, giving me full access to the way the branches and leaves of our Mark bulged under his strong muscles. “You won’t get special treatment here, princess.”

“I’m not asking for special treatment.” I would be suffering from enough preconceived notions given my family, and they would only be perpetuated by my lovely Soul Mate. “Put me in whichever bunk is furthest away from you.”

Right as Soren’s smile widened, clearly intrigued by that idea, Peter’s voice interrupted us. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”