“Kobal.” We were brought up short when the pretty blonde woman who had inquired about my relationship with Kobal weeks ago stepped in front of us. Her shameless gaze swept over his body. The knowing gleam in her eyes caused me to stiffen. I glanced at Kobal to gauge his reaction, his forehead was creased as he impassively stared at her. “We haven’t had a chance to catch up much since you returned to camp.”
“Been busy,” he replied in a clipped tone.
The woman’s eyes ran over me before she dismissively looked away. My hands fisted when her gaze fixed raptly on Kobal once more. Beating the shit out of her wouldnotwin me any new friends, but it was a very appealing idea.
“Maybe I’ll see you tonight. We can spend some time together,again.” She gave me a pointed look with her last word.
The air in the cafeteria became increasingly difficult to breathe, and clamminess slid over my skin. I wanted to jerk my arm away from Kobal’s and storm out of there, but I couldn’t give any of them the satisfaction of doing such a thing. Instead, I stood there and endured the humiliation of his lover and him making plans to meet.
“No,” Kobal replied crisply.
She gave him a sulky look that some would have found cute; I found it simpering and annoying. He went to step around her, but her hand fluttered out and rested against his arm.
“Don’t touch me.”
The low, gravelly tone of his voice caused the hair on my nape to rise as I sensed within it an undercurrent of menace. The woman’s hand fell away, and the pouty smile left her face as she straightened away from him. Her gaze was far more hostile than dismissive when it came back to me again. Kobal released a sound that would have made a wolf cower and run as he tugged me a step closer to his side. The woman remained standing where she was.
The more I was immersed in it, the more I realized I didn’t understand this world I’d been forced into. I felt like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole, and everyone here knew I was an imposter. I didn’t belong in any of the worlds. Least of all here.
“I’ll let you two talk,” I murmured. I had to get away from all of this.
CHAPTER 24
River
I went to step away, but his hand tightened on my elbow and he nestled me closer against his side. “There’s nothing to talk about,” he said.
Unwilling to cause a scene, I remained where I was, feeling like every eye in the building burned into my back. The people closest to us were focused on their meals, but I knew they were hanging on every word. I was going to kill him for making me stand here for this.
“Come.” Kobal nudged my elbow, drawing me forward a step.
I could feel the woman’s gaze boring into my back with every step we took. “I’m not a dog,” I told him when we finally stepped outside and into the fresh air. I inhaled it eagerly, but I couldn’t shake the lingering tension in my body. “I don’t obey commands,” I expounded when he gave me a questioning look.
“Would you like to stay and talk with her?”
“No, I don’t want to talk to your girlfriend.”
“I don’t have girlfriends.”
“Your fling or whatever she is.”
“I don’t have flings. Our world is not so boxed as your human one; it is more flowing.”
“What doesthatmean?”
He stopped walking, and releasing my elbow, he turned to face me. “It means we don’t place the constraints on ourselves like your species does by having to define and label everything we do. When demons meet the one they are Chosen to be with, they mate for life such as Verin and Morax, but the rest of us do what we please until then, and for many, finding their Chosen doesn’t happen.”
“I don’t think she realized that when she got involved with you; maybe you should have made it clearer to her.”
“I’m not in the habit of having to explain anything I do to anyone. I’m not about to start now with some silly human who should know better to begin with.”
“And why should she know better?” I demanded.
You should know better!I screamed at myself in my head.Listen to what he’s saying and keep your distance.Women and sex mean nothing to him; remember that, and keep your libido in check, dumb ass.
“I do not make promises of relationships to anyone, especially not a human.”
I managed to keep myself from recoiling at his words. With the sun behind his back, an aura surrounded him that should have warmed him. All I felt was coldness and indifference wafting from him.
