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Gods, I loved the sight of it.
But after a heartbeat, a tinge of regret flitted through his dark eyes.
“What?” I asked.
“I want to keep you here, but…”
Confused, I waited.
“The others. I shouldn’t have…” He shook his head. “We ought to get back. They have to be terrified that I’ve… done something horrible.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. My connection to Ozias meant he’d long since known I was okay.
Not that I could share that information.
Roan exhaled, scrubbing a hand over his face. Turning away, he retrieved my clothes, offering them to me before reclaiming the rough blanket he’d fashioned.
“Maybe it won’t be as bad as all that?” I offered while I got dressed.
He didn’t look like he believed me.
“Honestly. Perhaps they’ll be more understanding than you think.”
“It’s just…” He shook his head. “They didn’t know. But now they do and…”
“You mean about you?”
“Yeah.”
I bit my lip. “But maybe they won’t react badly once you explain it to them.”
“I literally attacked them and kidnapped you. I’ve been lying to them for years about who and what I am. At any moment, I could’ve lost control and accidentally killed them all because I have a gods-damned monster inside.” He scoffed like the outcome had to be obvious.
I looked away. If I said anything about Ozias, I’d be breaking my promise to him. But all these secrets, all this fear that he and Roan had about others not accepting them… Gods, I just couldn’t believe their friends would have driven them away. So if the two of them had only shared the truth years ago, how much pain might they have saved themselves?
And was I a hypocrite for even thinking that, considering I was helping to hide the truth too?
“Still.” I shrugged, not meeting his eyes. “Maybe it won’t go how you think.”
He was quiet. I risked a glance up at him.
His brow knit thoughtfully, as if he was at least considering the idea.
“Just try,” I urged. “Please.”
After a moment, he gave a small nod. “Okay.”
“Thank you.”
He pulled me closer, holding me to his warm chest. The wind was picking up around us, and everywhere his skin didn’t touch, the cool air washed over me like an icy river, tangling through my hair and trying to rock me toward the tower’s edge as if to protest the fact it couldn’t freeze a vampire.
“Do you have a plan for getting down?” I asked after a moment.
He made a hedging noise. “Not really. I don’t think the demon considered that part.”
Or the fact Roan might be the one to deal with it, his tone seemed to say.
“I could help?” I offered with a small shrug.
