Sean dug his knuckles into his temples, fighting a headache. “You see the next steps so clearly. You should be the one doing it.”
Green eyes didn’t waver. “I’ll be there with you. Every step of the way.”
“Til the end.”
David twisted away from the window and crossed his arms. “By the way, your girl is as irritating as she is pretty. As soon as you were gone, she was yelling at me, telling me your injury was my fault.”
“Uh. How’d she reach that conclusion?”
He made some move with his hand that said,How am I supposed to know?“Maybe you could keep your dick out of her long enough to ask.”
Sean smirked and leaned into the joke, even though he couldn’t actually remember the last time he’d slept with Isobel. “That doesn’t seem to be in my best interest.”
David shot him a vague, strained smile. “Sean. I think she was born with a special gene just to piss me off. I swear she wants me to snap.”
“What exactly would it take to get you to snap?” Because for as long as Sean had known him, David had done nothing without absolute control.
“A lot.”
Curiosity was a dangerous thing. “I think I might like to see that…”
“You don’t,” David said, “but if you lie to yourself long enough, you might start to believe it.”
The headache eased with Sean’s laughter. “You can’t really believe that.”
Pressing a hand over his heart, David made an offended noise. “These are the one-liners I live my life by. You want to share my soul, you have to get familiar with them.”
“Alright, give me another one,” Sean replied, perfectly happy to substitute dire prophecies for nonsense.
“It’s always acceptable to replace reality with heavy drinking.My father used to say that.”
Sean nodded. “He might have been a low-level genius.”
“This is one of his favorites:Regret the crash, not the high.”
Hmm.When would the memories of David’s past began to creep into his own brain? Sean swallowed. “There’s a life lesson somewhere in here.”
“Yeah.” David rubbed a hand over his tired eyes. “Don’t ever listen to your parents when they’re stupid as fuck.”
CHAPTER 32
ANNA
“You’re driving me insane,” Maddy said as Anna paced their common room.
“I know.” She wrapped her arms around her roiling stomach. “It’s just…I can’t stop thinking about them out there, barely trained. What if they get hurt?”
Maddy laughed from her usual place on the couch, knitting needles in hand. “Isobel is with them. How could they possibly get hurt?”
But what if David got injured and Isobel refused to heal him? For how much Bel’s emotions heaved when David drew near, she was definitely capable of such malice.
The thought of him hurt and alone was like she’d swallowed a dozen thorny rose stems. Her insides ached. Peoplediedin Viterra. Why had they been sent so quickly? The rule was five years of training before making Honor Guard. Five years was nothing to an immortal. It would have been so easy to wait.
Maddy threw up her hands. “Anna, what is the matter with you?”
Anna perched on a nearby chair. What could she say that didn’t make her sound pathetic?
I’m worried about this guy who slept with me a few days ago and has barely spoken to me since. I’m sick thinking of him hurt even though I’m pretty sure he doesn’t care about me, and I care about him way too much.
