“Thank you.”
“Anytime and always,” I whispered.
Big, big promises I shouldn’t make.
She nodded again before she pulled away, pranced over to her brother, and lifted up on her tippy toes to peck a kiss to his cheek.
Then she was out the door with it clicking shut behind her.
“Huh. I guess she wasn’t so mad, was she?” I mused quietly.
Silas didn’t answer. Instead, he stalked over, and he dropped the bag he was carrying to the floor on his way. A wraith slipping through the dancing shadows of his room.
Severity fired from him in a way I hadn’t seen it do before.
He leaned in close, and he planted both hands on the bed on either side of me.
I might as well have been taking a big gulp of whiskey-soaked cherries.
I needed to be careful, or I’d get drunk on that scent.
“What was going on in here?” he demanded in that growly, surly voice.
I blinked. Stunned for a moment by his proximity before I found my footing.
“Other than you being overbearing and bossy, as usual?” I sent him as much sass as I could muster.
Irritation rolled out of him. “With Elena.”
“We were just talking.”
“About what?”
Cripes, was this man nosey.
“That was bestie talk.” I lifted my chin like I was going to prove some kind of point.
Show him that Elena deserved at least a modicum of privacy.
Some grace and belief.
“I’m not playing, Brinley. You think I didn’t notice she was crying?”
I got his worry, but I didn’t think he comprehended that he was sheltering her in a way that left no room for growth.
“News for you,King,” I snarked, hoping he’d get the clue. “You don’t need to know every little move your sister makes.”
Some emotion I couldn’t quite pinpoint crashed out of him. Banged at the walls and battered against my chest.
“You don’t get it, do you? How dangerous these people are?”
The intensity that flash-fired from him blasted me back. My head hit the pillow, and a gush of air ripped from my lungs as Silas crawled over the top of me.
He pinned me without any part of us even touching.
“How could I when I have no idea who you’re talking about?” The words creaked.
It was a wonder I could even release them.
