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“I ken you didnae mean it—you didnae mean what ye said in the forest.” Her Scottish lilt had surfaced in the woods, but now it was in full force. She moved a last step in at him, her breasts touching him, her green eyes pinning him. “You told me I was everything and I ken ye meant it. No matter what ye think to do now—how ye think this will make it easier for ye to leave. It doesnae—all it does is belittle what you are to me. What I am to you.”
His teeth grinding together, his head shook.
She grabbed his arms and her touch broke him into a thousand pieces.
“Say it, Roe. Say it. Tell me I mean nothing to you. Say it again and I’ll believe you. I’ll believe I never meant anything to you. It will shatter me, but I’ll believe you.”
His resolve only lasted three seconds. Three seconds and his soul splintered, unable to crush her heart again.
His look left her, lifting to the coved ceiling of the hallway as his heart thundered in his ears, his mouth opening and closing twice before sound made it past his lips. “Telling you that in the forest killed me, Tor—more than you can imagine.”
His gaze dropped to her, taking in everything that she was, meeting her green eyes with his soul bared. “You are my everything.”
Her grip on his forearms tightened, her eyes closing as she exhaled. “So stay.” Her eyes opened to him. “Stay with me. Des and Weston will take care of Bockton—you know they will. You yourself said they would not rest until Bockton is buried in the depths of the sea. So let them do it. Why do you have to?” She shook him. “Why you?”
“Because of you, Tor.” The words escaped him in a growl. “Because of you. Because he saw you.”
“What? He saw me?”
“Yes—Bockton bloody well saw you. He saw you on the ship—he knows I abandoned the attack to protect you. You will not be safe until the man is dead.”
“Just because he saw—”
“He plans on using you. What he needs from me, he thinks to use you to get it. He put a price on your head.Your head.”
“Use me how?”
His steel grey eyes pierced her.
She took a step backward, her hold dropping from him and her right hand going to her throat, her words a whisper. “Torture. What he did to Folback’s wife.”
“Exactly. Bockton needs me alive. He doesn’t need you alive. He only needs you as leverage to get me to tell him exactly what he needs to know.”
“What does he want to know—what does he want from you?” Her eyes went wide. “It’s that box—that box you mentioned at that alehouse—the Box of Draupnir, isn’t it? Tell me what that is.”
“Dammit, Tor, you need to stop.” His fingers ran along the back of his neck. “For the life of me, I’ll not saddle you with that knowledge.”
“But—”
“No. This ends with Bockton’s death, or my death, but it doesn’t end with yours.”
“Or you can just stay.” She grabbed a hold of the lapels of his coat, yanking on them. Begging with every tug. “Please dinnae go after him. Dinnae leave me. Dinnae do this to me.”
“You’re the only one I’m thinking of here—I have to protect you, Tor. He won’t stop until he has you, so I have to stop him.” A crooked smile crossed his lips. “You run like hell into hell to save those you love.”
Her lips pulled back hard, her head shaking. “Then take me with you.”
“No, I—”
“Then tell me where you’re going.”
“No.” He grabbed her wrists, yanking them off his coat, his voice harsh. “I can’t stay and I can’t tell you where I’m going. I can’t love you. I was always going to leave you in one way or another, Torrie. Let it be like this. Let it be for something good. Let it be so that you are safe.”
She stood, dumbstruck for a breath and the look on her face sent such a brutal blow through his chest he swayed.
“You were always going to leave me?” she screeched, springing toward him, her fists thudding onto his chest.
He took the blows, not stumbling an inch backward. The harsh line of his mouth cut tight across his face. “Yes. I was always going to leave you. And now I am.”
