Ciaran’s lips curled. “Your wife?” He shook his head. “That’s laughable and you know it. Seren is no more your wife than I’m a Lirien. But fine. You want honesty? Let’s be honest. I don’t trust you. I don’t like you. And I don’t believe a damn thing you say.
His voice dropped, rough with anger. “But more than that? I don’t believe you deserve her. She’s given up everything for you, and the only reason I tolerate you is because she says if anything happens to you, she’ll be hurt—or worse. I’ll protect her, even from her own bad decisions.”
A muscle in my jaw twitched. He hadn’t told me a single thing I didn’t already know. But I latched on to what he hadn’t said, instead. “Sounds like you don’t quite believe in her, either.”
Ciaran’s face reddened. “I believe in her.”
“Enough to not want to risk her life, but not enough to accept that I’m her husband by law and by oath.”
Ciaran’s lips parted and a stupefied expression crossed the ox’s eyes. “You’re?—”
“The better warrior?” I smirked. “Smarter than you? Sharing the bed of the woman you love?” I let the words land, watching as his hands clenched. “Or all of the above?”
Without giving him a chance to respond, I turned and walked away. I already knew the way back to the Bellwether.
The words I’d thrown at him had been reckless, and there was no satisfaction in them. Seren’s warning to me rang in my head. “… hurting my friends will never gain you my respect or trust.”
So why had I let Ciaran get to me?
I was leaving.
She wasn’t my wife.
But somehow, she still felt like she was mine. The thought of Ciaran—or any other man—touching her, lusting after her made my blood churn, raw and possessive. Maybe I couldn’t have her, but I sure as hell didn’t want anyone else to, either.
Ciaran didn’t share what I shared with her. She was a part of me, inextricable from my mind. My breathing. My every heartbeat.
What in the fuck was I going to do without her?
Apparently, Ciaran wasn’t done fighting. He stormed up beside me, then grabbed a fistful of my shirt below my throat. As we squared off, my body readying for a spar, a strange, feral energy kicked through me, inviting the surge of adrenaline that twisted through my veins.
“Try it,” I said in a hard voice. “Let’s see how far you get, Ciaran. I haven’t had a good challenge in a year.”
The street around us slowed. People hesitated, watching.
A fight would put Haldron’s eyes on us.
Against every desire curling through me, the more rational part of my brain took over. “Of course,” I added, “Seren felt every blow as Seth flogged me. Lucia dulled the effects, but she’s not here, is she? There’s a chance if you punch me—she will feel it, too.” He didn’t need to know I could control that now.
Slowly, Ciaran’s fingers uncurled, his chest rising and falling with struggled breaths. “You’re a bastard.” He lowered his hands and stepped closer. “I know you’re not Bloodbound, Rykr. And the skinwraiths … there’s something you’re hiding—who you are or what you’re doing here. But I swear to the gods, if you betray Seren, I will find a way to hurt you. No, I’m not as smart as you. I’m not Sealed, but I’m loyal, and I was trained to kill my enemies.”
Ah. Now I understood why Seren had questioned my missing Bloodbinding mark. Ciaran had planted that seed in her brain.
“You’re looking too hard for a reason to hate me, Ciaran. Some of us just carry our secrets closer to the chest. You wear yours out in the open and she still picked me.”
Ciaran’s eyes flashed. “She’s the only reason you’re still alive. I know your type. You use people like stepping stones, then watch them drown from the other side of the river. Your honor? Skin-deep. But this time, you picked someone smarter than you. More capable than you give her credit for. She’ll see you for who you really are—hopefully before you betray her and it’s too late.”
“I’m not going to betray Seren.” Not that I could if I wanted to.
But I didn’t want to.
Nyxva.
I cared about the woman.
Something cracked in Ciaran’s fierce expression and regret panged through me. He loved her and she probably deserved a man like him—from her people, who could give her a life here. Be a real husband.
By taking that oath, she’d hadn’t just isolated herself from her tribe, she’d cut off any chance for a future with them.
