“I knew I’d be fine. I’m your match. I was the nearest person to you when we went through this in my old reality, and you looked right past me to someone else.”
Cole’s jaw tenses. “I killed apersonthe first time you woke up my glim?”
“Not exactly killed…”
“What happened, Elodie?”
I make an apologetic grimace. “It was one of the assistants overseeing the activation. He… He died of a sudden meningitis infection the next day.”
His voice comes out in a growl nearly as harsh as his wolf’s. “That’s fuckingkilled.”
“It wasn’t you, though. And we made sure it didn’t happen that way this time.”
“You didn’tknow.” Cole grabs my arms by the elbow, squeezing for emphasis, his gaze searing into mine. “I’m not him. This isn’t the same world. You didn’t know for sure that I’d pass you over.”
I try to recover my smile. “Why would it be any different? I’m still your match. I trust you.”
“You shouldn’t have! You shouldn’t—” An anguished noise escapes him. “It would never be worth even the tiniest risk. If I’d hurt you while I was grappling with my glim?—”
“But you didn’t,” I protest. “Not even slightly. And even if you did, I’ve got my own glim, remember? I’d probably have projected it onto you, and then you’d have been the one who ended up hurt. So really I was risking you. Is that okay?”
“You don’t know that for sure either,” he snaps back. “If I never used my power on you before, there’s no telling how it interacts with your glim. Don’t you ever take a chance like that again, especially not when you’re depending on me.”
I can’t restrain my flinch. Cole lets go of me, echoing my reaction with a wince.
He turns away, closing his eyes and swiping his hand over them. “It’s done now. Go home and stay out of trouble until we figure out what to do next. I’ll clean this mess up.”
An ache swells in my chest. “Cole?—”
His tone turns hard and cold as ice. “Justgo.”
The chill in his expression makes me shrivel up inside.
“It’s not that he doesn’t trust you,”Imaginary Other Cole says.“He doesn’t trust himself. I never did.”
Even if that’s true, it doesn’t make his anger any easier to endure. Blinking away a burn of tears, I march out of the room.
Thirty
Elodie
“It would have looked amazing onyou, Elle,” Cadance gushes as we head down the hall toward Defensive Magic class.
She hooks her hand around my elbow to lean conspiratorially closer, but I hardly hear the rest of her story about a new season of designer dresses she got to preview over the weekend.
My friends and their voices feel far away beyond the droning uneasiness inside me. I’m stuck in my own personal Bermuda Triangle.
I haven’t heard from Cole since he berated me in the basement storage room yesterday. Haven’t been able to tune out the memory of his harsh voice cutting into me.
“Go home and stay out of trouble.”
Like I’m a stupid, useless kid, even more inept than the spoiled cheater he saw me as a few weeks ago.
I woke up his glim without fear because I trust him.Because I know him. Was it too much to hope that he’d trust me even if he doesn’t know this version of me well yet?
That he’d to try to understand my reasoning rather than lashing out at me the first moment he’s uncomfortable?
Yes, it took my original Cole nearly ages to fully accept our relationship… but he was never cruel, not after he knew I was his match. He always treated me so carefully, even if a lot of the time that meant keeping his distance.
