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“Do you really wanna know?” I rasp, my throat feeling like it’s got a cactus lodged inside it.
“Yeah,” he says. “Are you okay?”
My eyes fill up. “No.”
“No?”
“Not at all.”
He reaches out and hooks a hand around my neck and crushes me to him. I gasp in surprise as his mouth crashes into mine and he groans.
“Everything’s fucked up,” he says against my mouth. “I’m fucked up.”
I choke on a sob, nodding. He kisses me again, hungrily and almost… desperately, holding my face now with both hands as we fall onto our sides on the pillows.
Why is he kissing me? Why is he holding me?
“So fucked up,” he adds and then he’s purring.
I nod some more.
The purring halts.
“I’m so fuckin’ angry. I’ve been steaming mad for days. Angrier than I’ve ever been.”
“I’m so sorry, Riley,” I whisper. “I…”
“Shut up.”
I flinch.
“Shut up and let me talk.”
I wince.
He’s holding my face tenderly in both hands. His gorgeous eyes are liquid green pools. “I’m fucked up beyond all recognition, witch. Because of what you did.”
“I know… I fucked myself up, too.”
“Shh.”
I clamp my mouth shut.
“But, Rikki, even more than what you did, what they did. The assholes who punished you. Who punished us.”
My back straightens as he stares into my eyes. “What would you have done if they hadn’t taken you that day, if they hadn’t magicked you out of there? When you let me think you’d fallen into the river?”
God, his eyes hold so much emotion. Then again, that’s one of the things that first drew me to him. Because every time I’ve looked at this man, those eyes hold so much.
Laughter. Camaraderie. Lust. Anger. Hate. I don’t know what I’m looking at right now but they’re soft, hurt, and so, so beautiful.
My answer tumbles out quickly. “I’d have gone wherever you wanted to go and done whatever you wanted to do, Riley.” I swallow and then add, “I wanted to be yours the first minute I saw you. I would’ve clawed my way back over that cliff to you through anything and everything in the way if they’d allowed it without those severe consequences. I swear it on everything I am. I didn’t want to stay away; I had no choice. No choice.”
His eyes close and his mouth contorts painfully as he swallows. “So then you don’t need to be sorry. You didn’t set out to hurt me. You wanted me. And you’re supposed to have me. They need to be sorry because they got in the way. They chose to be so goddamn cruel to not just you, but to both of us. Don’t ya think?”
I swallow with difficulty and then my mouth drops open. Words don’t come out. I must look like a gasping fish because after a minute, he continues talking.
“Did the punishment we got fit the crime when we’re supposed to be together anyway? I wanna know who made that decision. Who did this to us?”
Me. I did this to us. That’s what I’ve always felt.
“No,” he says, caressing my face. He must be reading my expression because I haven’t said anything in response. “It’s not your fault. Who sentenced us to this punishment?”
“Members of the council did.”
“Who?”
“It… it was a committee of four of them.”
“Who, baby? Who?” he demands.
Baby?
“Um, Lucinda Alexander, and-”
“Who’s that?”
“A witch. A very powerful one.”
“Who else?”
“Uh, Sergei Voitenko, vampire. Looks young but he’s one of the oldest in the world. Also a wolf shifter named Mitchell Blakely, and another witch: Aviva-”
“Mitchell Blakely?” Riley cuts me off.
I nod. “Yes.”
“He was just fuckin’ here. He was here and…” He jumps out of bed and starts pressing his phone screen with aggression.
He paces the room a minute while I stare at him, feeling something dangerous crackling in the air. He’s absolutely livid.
“Mitch? Riley Savage here. You need to fuckin’ call me. Or show up. You have some goddamn explaining to do and I think you know why.” He tosses the phone, and it hits the wall.
I jump.
“He was just fuckin’ here.” He rakes his hands through his hair, staring at me, looking infuriated.
I swallow hard.
“Tell me what happened.”
“We got the impression there was a deadlock type vote, that the vampire and the shifter held out on agreeing with the punishment the witches chose. We waited days for them to come to an agreement. Finally, my sentence was delivered, and my sister Ronnie saw Sergei leave immediately after that, looking pissed off. He and Mitchell obviously agreed before he left, even if he was mad about it. We figure he held out the longest.”
“Be back,” he mutters and walks out, making another call.
A minute later, I see him outside, pacing while barefoot, wearing a pair of grey lounge pants low on his hips while talking on the phone.
I get out of bed and clip on a clean bra and then struggle to put a pair of panties on, stumbling around the room like a deer with new legs. I throw on a brown and cream floral halter top maxi dress that comes to my ankles. I twist my hair into a bun, grab an elastic to hold it in place, and go to the bathroom. I use the bathroom and then wash my face and brush my teeth all while thinking that I don’t know what the heck is happening here. I’m skittish, shaky, and just… thrown.
