The words ripped out of her before she could stop them. He looked as if she’d struck him, hurt blazing in his eyes before he locked it down. Regret crashed in instantly – she wanted to snatch the words back. But the damage was done.
His anger flared, hotter than before. “Hale hasneverrespected Thorne. What we do, what we endure, to keep Vallenna safe–”
“That’s not–”
“–you thank us by looking down on us for getting our hands dirty–”
“I didn’t mean–”
“We’re tooviolent.Tooacceptingof death. We know what you think of us.”
“No! I don’t see you like that–”
Not anymore.
“Iamlike that,” he raged.
“You know that’s not what I meant–”
“I thought you were different, Kara.”
He started to turn away, but she grabbed his arm on pure instinct. “Sebastian, don’t walk away from me again. Not like this.”
He looked down at her hand on his arm, then back to her face. Something raw flashed in his expression.
“Why, Kara?” he asked. “It’s like you said. Hales and Thornes don’t mix.”
Kara stared at him. She opened her mouth with no idea what she was going to say, but – too late. He pulled his arm away and stalked into the night, leaving her standing alone for the second time in two days. Silent tears fell thick and fast and she threw herself into a small room off the corridor behind her, out of sight. Once she was safely inside, she began to sob in earnest. They were the kind she couldn’t have muffled if she tried. She hated him – and she hated herself more for wishing he’d stayed. Footsteps approached from the corridor. Light, hesitant, and familiar. The door creaked open.
Sienna.
She didn’t say anything at first, just sat beside her and offered a clean handkerchief. Kara took it with shaking fingers.
“You care about him,” Sienna said gently. It wasn’t a question.
Kara dabbed the cloth on her face. “Don’t.”
“I’m not judging you.”
Kara’s voice cracked, quiet but certain. “Yeah. I care about him. More than I should. I–” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him.”
Sienna’s expression softened, but Kara pressed on, “I can’t, Sienna, I can’t feel this way,” she cried desperately. “And he doesn’t.” She buried her face in her hands.
“He does. I saw it during the trials.”
“No, it wasn’t like that – he said–”
“Kara.” Sienna pulled her hands from her face. “Ifeltit – his emotions. In the Fire Trial, when you went into that burning house, he was terrified for you.”
Kara’s breath caught. She wanted to believe that, but she forced the hope down. “That doesn’t mean anything. He’s trained to protect people.”
Sienna shook her head. “And tonight – after the engagement was announced – he was careful with his face, I’ll give him that, but his feelings? They were screaming at me. That wasn’t training. That was you.”
Kara swallowed hard. “What did you feel? Exactly?”
Sienna hesitated. “Pain. Sadness. It hurt just to sense it. Then everything went cold. Furious.”
Oh Gods.
