Page 44 of Awakened Light

“Misguided or not, my mother doesn’t change her mind. About anything.”

He clucked his cheek. “So, that’s a hard no to me visiting the island?”

“I think I can safely say it is.”

“So, back to the lonely island for you. I can’t imagine living on an island day in and day out. It must get so boring.”

I shrugged it off, but inside I felt the searing pain of my reality. “It’s all I’ve known.”

“Until now.” He waved a hand over the views that stretched out before us. “Now you’ve seen a tiny part of the world. Think you can go back to your island and still be satisfied?”

After a long moment of silence, I shook my head. “It’s not about me being satisfied... or happy. It’s about my destiny and commitment to my people.”

“God,” he said, exasperated. “I get that you want to fulfill your duty or whatever, but Christ, Cat... enough of the martyr ‘for the good of my people’ shit. This is your life. Your choice.”

“And I’ve made it!” I shouted back. “I’ve made my choice, and it’s to return.”

“No. You’ve made your mother’s choice. Your choice would be here to stay longer. I know it would. For being such a badass, you sure do have a problem standing up for yourself.”

My eyes saucered as my blood heated to boiling. “Just because I’m going back does not make me weak. In fact, it makes me strong. I’m strong enough to deny myself everything I want for the good of others. I’m sorry that you see that as a weakness.”

He let out a heavy sigh. “I didn’t mean that. I know you’re strong. I know why you’re doing what you’re doing, but I don’t have to fucking like it.”

“No, you don’t. It doesn’t affect you.”

His eyebrows shot to his hairline, and he snorted. “Doesn’t affect me? Wow. Guess that answers that.”

I knew instantly what he was talking about and immediately regretted my choice of words. “That’s not what I meant.”

Thorne just shook his head. “Apparently, that kiss this morning meant more to me than it did to you. I thought we had something between us... something rare, special. But the fact you don’t think your decision to return affects me means that what I’m feeling is one-sided. Message received. I’ll get you back to your island. You can get on with your life, and I’ll get on with mine.”

“It did,” I whispered. “It did mean something to me, but it can’t. We can’t.”

“Why?” He turned toward me, and his gaze drifted to my lips. “So what if I’m a fucking vampire and you’re a Pict. Just because I’ve been your enemy for centuries, doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. We can figure something out.”

I swallowed hard as I shook my head. “I can’t be with you.”

“Give me one good reason why.”

With a long exhale, I dropped my eyes to the ground. “Because I’m betrothed to another.”

“What?” he choked out the word.

“Uradech, the warrior you saw on the beach. I’ve been betrothed to him since I was born. It’s a pact in our tribe and a commitment I cannot deny. It’s tradition and my duty to marry him before I take my position as the leader of our tribe.”

He pushed off the ground and stood, and I reached for him. “Thorne. Wait.”

Instead of stopping to talk to me, he just strode off toward the dirt bike. I jumped up and trotted after him, grabbing him by his muscular bicep and tugging him to a stop. “Please stop and talk to me.”

“Why?” He spun around, and those intense eyes bore into mine. “You’ve made it pretty fucking clear that I’m not a factor in your decision. And you know what? I would be less pissed about it if it was your decision. But it’s not. You’re gonna marry that fucking oaf of a dude and take over for your mother, and no matter what I say, nothing is gonna change that. So, why bother talking about it anymore? I think it’s bullshit that you’re not even allowing yourself to consider another possibility... a possibility that includes me.”

He stepped closer and leaned down until I could feel his breath on my face. I swallowed hard as I glanced at his lips.

“If you tell me right now that what you want is to go back to your island, marry that fucking oaf, and lead your people, then I’ll throw you on the back of that bike and bring you home right now and not say another word.”

He leaned closer.

“But if you think you could, even for one second, think about making the choice you want, then stay here and think about it. Don’t rush back. Think about a life where I’m in it.”