"He was seriously injured." I looked up at him, hoping he could read the annoyance on my face.
"He was fine the last time I saw him!"
"Yeah, well... while we were dragging your unconscious body back to the castle, Tynan was out there fighting Rutherford. Took a real beating."
“What about Sol?”
“Sorry, I’m not following you. Are you...? Are you complaining that I saved you?” I straightened up in the chair.
Never before had the idea of throwing him off the balcony seemed so satisfying as at that very moment.
“Yes, I’m complaining. You brought me here without asking what I want, without any food or water. Maybe you thought that dying in a comfortable bed was too merciful? Do you think that slowly starving, and then being eaten alive by the crawlers was a much better idea?”
At first I was too shocked to respond. Did I really expect that he would show any gratitude for everything I went through? He has always been extremely selfish and difficult. He could never respect my decisions. Maybe, deep down, he was still upset about me becoming a part of his circle of friends.
“If I could’ve asked you, I would’ve. But, you were already half eaten by infection. Preparing to pay a visit to our dragon ancestors. What choice did I have?” I snapped at him.
“You should’ve let me rot, then!” He raised his voice.
“You know what? Next time that’s exactly what I’ll do. I’ll sit around and just watch. Maybe I’ll borrow one of Ty’s stupid books, or...” I gave him one of my smiles. “Maybe Alina will teach me how to crochet napkins and I can make a whole damn set while you bleed out.”
He said nothing, looking at the street.
“What are you doing?” I asked at last.
“There’s a well on the corner. I wonder if the water’s clean. I’m not in the mood for crawler juice.”
“Fine. I’ll go check it out.” I got to my feet.
“There are tons of crawlers out there.” Victor walked to the closet and picked up his flying suit.
“What are you doing?” I watched him drop the fabric on the floor.
“What do you think? Going with you.”
“No. That’s out of the question,” I said.
“What are the chances that, if you die, or get infected, I could make it there and carry you to the temple?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“That’s why I’m going,” Victor added.
“You’re too weak.”
“Let me be the judge.”
"Why are you so damn difficult?" I hissed.
"You're the one who dragged me here," he shot back. "Should’ve left me alone."
“Well . . . that’s settled then. I’m not helping you ever again . . .never . . . ever.”
I watched him pull on his suit as every tender feeling toward him evaporated into thin air. Why did I carry this ungrateful male for days, in a storm, risking my own life; just to be continuously nagged? He was absolutely insufferable. There was no way we could ever be together. We would simply kill each other. We could not agree on anything. Even though I found him physically attractive, he drove me absolutely insane. Annoying and infuriating, he truly made me the worst version of myself.
“Like what you see?” he suddenly asked and I realized that I openly stared at him while he was adjusting himself in his pants.
“Screw you.” I got to my feet.
