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"Not if I turn immortal." She cracked one eye open. "When I get to the village, the first thing I'm going to do is find a nice immortal male to bond with, and once I transition, all my blemishes will disappear. So, you see, you have nothing to worry about. You can leave for Tibet with a clear conscience."
Frankie
Frankie had never resorted to the underhanded tactic of making a guy jealous to get him interested.
She was awesome enough not to need silly tricks like that, but she was at her wits' end with Dagor. He was so stubbornly clinging to his rigid convictions and ignoring what was obvious to everyone else that she needed to shake him out of the mental cage he'd locked himself in. He needed to internalize what it would feel like when she chose someone else because he had left for Tibet.
When he said nothing, Frankie opened her eyes to look at him, and seeing the glow in his eyes and his elongated fangs, she felt a sense of profound satisfaction, but when he still remained silent, her temporary giddiness evaporated.
"What, nothing to say?" she taunted. "You can start with wishing me the best of luck on finding my perfect mate, or with just having a great life after you leave, or maybe even asking me to send you a picture of my firstborn. That's what a friend would do. Someone who cared about me."
The angrier Dagor became, the more alive Frankie felt. Maybe she didn't need his blood to heal faster after all. Maybe all she needed was to continue poking the dragon and to enjoy his squirming as he tried to deny his feelings for her.
Dagor pushed to his feet. "I'm going to look for a syringe in case you decide to accept my offer."
"Coward," she murmured under her breath. "Running away when things get uncomfortable."
He scowled at her. "I'm not a coward. I'm just pragmatic."
"Whatever you say." She let out a breath and turned her head away from him.
She would have loved to turn on her side, but with all the tubes and wires connected to her, it was too much of an effort.
As Dagor huffed out a breath and turned around, a part of Frankie felt guilty for pushing him, for making him confront his emotions and push the boundaries of his comfort zone. But the other part of her, the part that had gotten her in trouble countless times, felt exhilarated. She had managed to make a crack in his resolve, and that was satisfying, even if it amounted to nothing.
At least she had fought for them.
The little human had more guts than the god. Figure that one out.
As the door closed behind Dagor, Frankie let out a sigh, her gaze drifting to the cream-colored ceiling of the clinic. She was tired of the games, tired of the unspoken words and buried feelings. She had always been direct, always spoken her mind, and sometimes it had gotten her in trouble, but it never felt wrong. She was living authentically, truthfully, unswayed by the convictions and expectations of others.
She was a rebel and proud of it.
As a dull ache in her chest made breathing difficult, she closed her eyes and concentrated on drawing enough air into her lungs.
Perhaps it was the wound's fault or whatever was dripping into her veins from the IV line, but most likely it was her silly heart that was aching for Dagor and wishing he would wake up and tell her he loved her.
If he would just admit it, she would wait for him to be done with his expedition to Tibet, maybe even meet up with him from time to time if her new job allowed it and if she made enough money to afford the plane tickets.
Frankie had never had to chase after a guy before or manipulate him into chasing after her, and she wasn't going to do it now. She didn't regret showing him the consequences of his stubborn refusal to admit his feelings, but this was as far as she was willing to go.
If Dagor didn't get it, so be it.
She would get over him and find someone else.
Yeah, keep saying that to yourself until you actually believe it.
She would be no better than Dagor if she pretended that was an option.
Perhaps she was approaching the whole thing from the wrong angle?
Dagor doubted that she was a Dormant, which to be honest she doubted herself, and as long as he thought of her as a human, he couldn't envision a future with her.
It wasn't even a remote possibility.
But if she turned immortal, that would change everything. He could no longer hide behind the excuse of her short lifespan causing him tremendous heartache if he let himself love her.
Glancing at the medical equipment around her, Frankie felt oddly reassured by the steady hum and the beeping of the heart monitor. The dull pain in her side and the lethargy she felt was a reminder of her brush with death and her fragile state, but the machinery was a reassurance that she was in good hands and that she wasn't going to die from her injury.
