I shrugged innocently. Now was not the time to delve into the details of my sex life.
Sawyer bumped into my shoulder, shoving me aside as he left the room.
Kohen went after him, leaving Pia and I alone. She came over to me, pulling me into a hug.
“He's wrong,” she said. “It's not your fault that Jocelyn died.”
“It kind of is,” I replied.
“Draemor would have attacked to try and claim the land, anyways.”
“Yeah. But word of my gift helped speed up the process.” There was no convincing me otherwise.
Pia moved her arms to my shoulders. “Sawyer’s angry at the world right now. And sometimes when you're angry, you take it out on the people you care about. Because you know that you can. You know that they’ll still be there.”
I nodded in acknowledgement. Though maybe I shouldhave been, I wasn't mad at Sawyer. His heart ached so badly that he didn't know what to do with it.
“Now, go deal with Seb.” She grinned faintly, even though her eyes were still wet over the death of our friend.
I could hear her sobbing as soon as I left.
When I tried my luck with Sebastian's door, I found that he’d left it unlocked, so I let myself in. The noise of running water came from his washroom. His mattress concaved where I sat, waiting for him to come out.
Sebastian had a tough outer shell, but he harbored so much pain inside. When he finally allowed some of the pain to break free, it was harsh and sharp like the blade of a knife.
The sound of water trickled away. Sebastian stepped out of the washroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. He jumped back when he saw me sitting on his bed. “Gods, you scared me.”
My eyes stuck to him as he walked to his wardrobe, pulling some loungewear from it. I turned my head, giving him some pointless privacy as he dropped his towel.
He rustled his hair, drying it slightly before sitting next to me on the bed. “What are you doing here?” His voice was sharp, as if he didn't want me there.
“You need someone to talk to.” He would argue with me, but I didn't care.
“No I don't, Maeve,” he scoffed.
I glared at him until he gave in with a roll of his neck. “That went pretty horribly, yeah. But it would have gone that way no matter what. There's no good way to announce someone's death.”
“That I agree with, but still?—”
“Sawyer will get over it and move on to someone else like he does every few months,” he sneered, his words announcing his anger.
I took his hand in mine. “I'm not defending Sawyer by any means, but whydidyou wait to say anything? I mean, we werewith each other for hours and you didn't say a word.” How did he do what he did to me, with all that weight on his mind?
His silence told me that if I wanted him to open I was going to have to work at it a little. He needed to vent, and though I wasn't one to shy away from a challenge, I didn't want to push him.
“Alright, if you don't want to talk it's fine, I understand.” Maybe he just needed some alone time. I stood up and started towards the door, but his grave words stopped me.
“I was five when I saw my mother’s head severed clean from her body.”
My head shot up and I pivoted back to face him.
“I was six when my father made me watch while he murdered the parents of the one who killed her.”
I took my place beside him again.
“I was seven when I first executed a person.” His knuckles gripped the sheets. “I was eight when I killed someone younger than me.”
I had no words. Absolutelynone.
