I stared at Sebastian. At the casual brutality. At how easily he switched from arguing prince to something that looked like death personified.
“Who are you?” The question came out raw. Broken.
He looked at me. Really looked. And I saw exhaustion there. Bone-deep. Ancient. “Someone who's tired of pretending.”
Sirens wailed in the distance. Getting closer. Someone had called the police.
“We need to go,” I said. “Now.”
“Let me just?—“
“Now, Sebastian. Police cannot find us here. Not like this.”
He hesitated. Then grabbed his bow. Started moving toward where he'd left the bike.
I followed. Each step agony. My ribs screaming. Shoulder burning. But I kept pace.
We reached the vehicles. He swung onto the motorcycle. Winced. His shoulder was worse than he was letting on.
15
WEIGHT OF BLOOD
SEBASTIAN
I'd seen Viktor angry before. Seen him frustrated. Seen him worried.
I'd never seen him like this.
We reached my chambers, and he shoved the door open hard enough to rattle it in the frame. The sound echoed through the empty room like a gunshot.
“Inside.”
I almost laughed. Would have if the sound wouldn't have come out broken and wrong. “What are you now? My jailer?”
“Your guard.” He stepped in behind me, slamming the door with enough force that I felt it in my bones. The lock clicked. Final. “One you made a fool of.”
I turned to face him. “Made a fool of you? How exactly did I do that?”
“By lying!” His voice cracked. Raw. Louder than I'd ever heard it. “By sneaking out every night to play vigilante while I am here thinking I am protecting you! While I am scanning every corridor. Checking every door. Lying awake at night listening for threats that might come for you!”
He moved closer, and I saw it all in his eyes. The fury. The fear. The betrayal.
“While I am bleeding for you! Taking bullets for you! Throwing myself between you and death!” His hands clenched into fists. “And you are out there throwing your life away like it means nothing! Like all of it. All of this. Is just game to you!”
“It's not a game!” I shot back, voice rising to match his. “It's never been a game!”
“Then what is it? What do you call sneaking out at midnight to hunt criminals? To kill people? To put yourself in situations where you could die?”
“I call it living! I call it doing something that actually matters instead of sitting in that palace drowning in protocol and expectations!”
“Your life matters!” He was shouting now. Really shouting. I'd never heard Viktor raise his voice like this. “To your father! To the kingdom! To people who are trying to keep you alive!”
“I never asked you to!”
“You think that matters?” He grabbed my shoulders, fingers digging in hard enough to bruise. Hard enough that I felt it through the jacket. “You think I had choice? From moment I took this assignment, your life became more important than mine! That is the job! That is what I signed up for!”
His grip tightened. His face was inches from mine. I could see every detail. The cut above his eyebrow still bleeding sluggishly. The way his pupils were blown wide. The pulse hammering in his throat.
