Page 262

Guilt struck in the middle of me. He was injured, and I was basically running from him.

The stairs vibrated as he stepped onto the first, then the second.

Energy flash-fired through the air.

“Lena,” he said again. “What’s wrong?”

My brow pinched as I hit the landing. “What’s wrong?”

I couldn’t stop from whirling around.

“What’s wrong?” I rasped as I stared down at him where he stood on the second step, tattooed hand clutched to the railing.

So brutally gorgeous that I felt him like a battering.

Severity rolled from his massive body, and the muscle bulged with flimsy restraint.

Cheekbones harsh slashes and his jaw taut.

But his eyes.

They were tortured.

“I thought…” The words scraped my throat, and I looked away for a beat before I whispered, “I had this feeling tonight. Right here.”

I gathered all the fingers on my right hand and pressed them into the center of my chest.

“I knew something was wrong, and I was so scared.”

Misery darkened the ominous edges of his face. “That’s the whole problem, Elena. You’re not supposed to worry about me. Aren’t supposed to care about me that way.”

Disbelief rattled my ribs, and I swiped at a tear that got free. “Right. I’m not supposed to care about you. I’m supposed to turn off what I feel just because you say that I should. Well guess what, Trevan, that might work for you, but it doesn’t work for me.”

I turned away, unable to keep looking at him since it caused anguish to shear through me every time I did.

I moved to the door, and my hands shook as I dug into my bag and pulled out my keys.

I pushed them into the lock and opened the door to the darkness. For the first time since I lived here, Trevan wasn’t ahead of me to give me the clear that it was safe.

Because the threat was gone.

What would happen now? Would Silas be satisfied that I could stay here alone?

Was that what I wanted?

Did I want Trevan gone?

A hot blade sliced through my middle at the thought.

God, this was a disaster. I felt so trapped, and I was the fool who wanted to be.

The alarm began to beep its countdown, and I fumbled over the code to turn it off and flicked the switch on the wall that turned on a lamp.

It cast the room in a golden glow, and I left the door open as I dropped my bag onto the floor and stumbled into the middle of the living room.

Trying to orient myself.

Trevan was behind me faster than I thought possible. His presence swelled and consumed.