AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m not the enemy here, Thea. You can trust me.” His expression said otherwise. “You do trust me, right?”
"Haden, you're hurting me. Let go." His smile only grew more wicked the more I struggled against him. Frost moved over the sleeve of my cloak. I noted the Wisp shift from red to dark green as fear gripped my chest.
“Is there a problem?” Cassius stood ten feet away in the shadows. I hadn’t heard him and apparently, neither had Haden. His frost disappeared as he plastered a friendly smile onto his face.
“Just saying goodnight after hanging out with my girl.”
“She’s not your girl,” he snapped back.
“Or yours apparently.” Haden glared as some unspoken conversation passed between them.
Cassius shifted his eyes to me before focusing on Haden again, his mouth in a hard-pressed line. Haden lifted his hands in a sign of defeat and stepped away from me.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, friend,” Haden said, a hint of malice to his voice. Before he made it a few steps away, Cassius hissed his name, causing him to halt. He and Cassius stared each other down.
"If you touch Thea like that again, I'll rip the arms from your body."
His possessiveness had me holding my breath. Haden glared at me from behind Cassius. "Somebody sure is possessive over something that doesn't belong to them." Cassius's jaw clenched at Haden's jab, but he didn't respond. When Haden's footsteps disappeared, Cassius fumed at me.
"You shouldn't be alone with men. First, you had Nev in your room alone, and now Haden."
"Haden was right. You do sound possessive.” I crossed my arms over my chest. He didn't respond. "You should probably leave since you're a man and I'm alone with you."
His eyes darkened. "I don't count. You never have to worry about your safety with me. None of these men can be trusted with you, so stop being alone with them. If you need something, you come to me, Little Viper. I'm the one you trust."
“You told me to stay away, Cassius. Which is it? You can’t have it both ways. Either you want me around or you don’t want anything to do with me.”
Cassius’s golden eyes traced over my face and his lips pressed into a thin line. He turned quickly and disappeared down the darkened hallway without a response. I stood watching him trying to process his words. The incident in the dining hall replayed in my mind. Conflicting feelings of liking what he said and despising him warred inside of me. The Wisp danced around him as if she was happy to see him, and I wondered whose side she was really on.
For hours I lay in bed tossing and turning trying not to think about why he said what he did. Eventually, I tossed the covers off myself. I got up and immediately went to find Cassius. I would make him tell me exactly why he said what he did.
My eyes scanned the darkened hallway as I made my way down it. There were too many doors down here to know which one was his.
“Looking for something?” When I turned a guard was watching me closely.
I sighed heavily as the words left my mouth. “Where is Cassius’s room?”
The guard smirked, and I rolled my eyes at his assumption. “Keep going straight. It’s the third door on the right.” I turned and moved quickly. My fist pounded on his door. When he didn’t answer, I kept pounding without stopping. This asshole would wake his ass up and tell me what his problem was.
His door swung open violently. Confusion crossed his face when he saw it was me before a playful smile crossed his face. All thoughts evaporated when he raised his hands high on the door frame, gripping it, fully displaying his bare chest. It glistened from the shower he must have been in. Water dripped from his dark hair and down his tattooed chest. My eyes drifted lower to the towel wrapped snuggly on his narrowed hips.
“See something you like, Little Viper?”
“No.” I seethed at him as my eyes snapped up to his.
“Liar.” His smile widened. “If you wanted to see me naked all you had to do was ask.” The horrified expression he saw on my face made him chuckle softly. My eyes tried to drift back down his chest to admire the tattoos, but my mind made me focus.
“Did you want to come in?” He raised his dark brow at me.
“Are you seriously flirting with me?”
“Depends.” He cocked his head to the side as he watched me carefully. “Is it working?”
“What the fuck is your problem?”
Letting out a long breath, he finally answered after a long pause. “A lot actually, so be more specific, Thea.” He stared at me and his eyes darkened as they drifted over the oversized shirt I was wearing before meeting my gaze.
“I want to know why you said all that shit in front of everyone? Then you stick up for me with Haden. Do you hate me or something?”
