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"You?" I prompt, but softer this time. I even reach out and place a hand against his arm, feeling the strong muscles beneath his clothing. My heart leaps to attention and I bat it back down. That's not going to get me anywhere. Stupid muscle responding to the adrenaline. "I'm right, aren't I?"
"No."
"Liar," I respond. I can't lie to myself, I'm a little smug that he's been so easily caught out by me. It's more than a little amusing really.
"Ashryn," he growls. Nope, I'm not falling for that one. It's not my fault he's grumpy. Mostly. Though it may be. If I have a target on my back, which is what he's been saying all along anyway, then it is my fault we got caught. If no one had been after me, then no one would have been after him, and he'd be safe back at the den brooding and doing what he normally does.
I stumble slightly. Which is odd considering I'm standing still, but luckily manage to steady myself on Bram's arm. I feel him push up against my grasp, giving me the support I need without making me ask for it.
"It's all my fault," I say out loud, barely holding back the sob that's welling up inside me. What's with that? I've never been a crier before, and yet here I am with tears threatening to leak like a fountain. Maybe it's something in the blood I've been drinking? That's the only thing that's changed. Except for my entire body chemistry.
"It's not your fault," Bram counters. Damn vampires and their insane hearing.
"It is. If I wasn't here, would you be in danger?"
"If you weren't here, I'd be in danger from you," he points out, and I snort.
"Okay, you may have a point."
"I'd still have had the same mission, whether you were with me or not," he adds.
"The guild," I reply, remembering the very little I'd been told before we left the den.
"Aye, the guild. We need to get in and find..." he trails off.
I sigh. "You still don't trust me enough to tell me, do you?" I ask, not sure whether I should be more hurt or relieved. A little part of me was never going to forget my training, and him not telling me was completely in line with that. One the other, I'm waltzing into a potentially dangerous situation, with no idea what my end goal is. That sounds...dangerous. Beyond dangerous.
"It's not that, it's just that it sounds weird when I think about it now."
"Okay...." I draw out the word, hoping he'll get the hint and actually clue me in.
"Dimitri sent me after a knife."
"We almost died for a knife?" Didn't that just take the piss? My life for a fucking knife.
"He says it'll cripple the guild to lose it."
"I highly doubt that. The guild wasn't built on the basis of anything but training and hard work. A knife isn't going to make any difference at all." I'm not even lying. The only knife to play an integral part of the guild, is the one used during the initiation ceremony. The one used to make a cross across the skin of a new hunter's upper arm. The process stung a bit, but it really wasn't a big deal.
My face fell.
"Ashryn?"
"Shit." If the process stings, maybe that's because there's more to it? Something far more sinister than just cutting into the arms of children anyway.
"You okay?"
"No. I need you to do something for me."
"Can it wait until we find somewhere to stay for the day?"
"Definitely not," I reply. If I'm right, then we have big big problems. And being in one place for the day wasn't going to help that. If I'm right, then I'm amazed the hunters didn't find us in the bunker. Then again, maybe the thick metal walls block stuff.
"Right then, tell me what to do."
Instead of answering, I shrug off my jacket, quickly dropping my holsters to the floor, and whipping off my long sleeved shirt underneath. My tank top is ridiculously thin, and plastered to my skin. Bram doesn't seem to mind, and his eyes are straying down from my face. I should tell him off for that. I'm not going to.
