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Silence fell again. The only sounds were my hisses of pain and glass hitting the ceramic bowl. I sat still on a low ottoman in the massive bathroom, Samkiel behind me. My hands cupped my breasts, holding a thin robe against my torso.
I sighed. “Also, this doesn’t count as me disrobing in front of you again.”
“It’s fine.”
“I’m just saying I’m not trying to tease you, as you put it.”
“I said it’s fine, Dianna.” The way he said my name wasn’t how he normally said it. No, this sounded exasperated, rough, and abrasive.
“Why are you so mad, anyway?” I half turned again to look at him over my shoulder.
Samkiel glared at me. “Turn back around.”
I did.
“Look—”
“Don’t.” The last pieces of glass hit the bowl with enough force to make me nervous. “I don’t wish to hear your excuses for any of it.”
Samkiel never got mad, at least not with me, and I had tried to kill him multiple times. Silver light gleamed across my shoulders, illuminating the bathroom. Even without his hand touching me, I could feel him. A shiver ran up my bruised spine.
Samkiel noticed and paused. He noticed everything when it came to me, attuned to my every breath.
“I’m fine,” I said, shaking my head and easing back into my robe.
He reached out and stopped me, the warmth of his power washing over my back. The wounds tingled and itched as the skin mended.
The ottoman creaked as he stood. I pulled on the robe and tied it closed. He wouldn’t look at me, although my eyes stared a hole through him. He washed the blood off his hands, furiously scrubbing at his cuticles and nails. Vampire dust and blood had turned his council garbs a splotchy gray.
“Do they make dry cleaners for godly clothes?”
His hands slammed against the stone vanity so hard it cracked. “Is this humorous to you? Is everything a joke?”
“You left me for days, and you’re mad I wanted to go out?” I demanded, his anger finally tripping my own temper.
He lifted his head, staring at me through the mirror, his storm-gray eyes filled with rage. “You made it abundantly clear you did not wish for me to be around, Dianna. Again.”
I opened my mouth to respond but snapped it shut when I realized I had no words. Samkiel was right. I had been beyond mean.
Samkiel grabbed a towel off the shelf and turned toward me. “Your life means nothing to you. I get it. You have told me and shown me often enough. Fine, but what about the people it does matter to? What about those that do care about you? Have you thought of that? Are you that damned selfish you think of no one else now?”
My mouth fell open. “How dare you?”
“How dare I? How dare you! You are not innocent in this. Do not pretend that my feelings were ever one-sided. You were there with me every step of the way through Onuna and every godsdamn place you dragged me. What about me? You may be replaceable to Kaden and his ilk, but you are not to me.”
I had been prepared to lash out, but when he spoke to me like that, his voice echoing with such raw pain, it extinguished any desire I had to fight. My heart thudded in my chest. Whether I wanted to admit it, his words soothed the bruised, aching part of me. I wrapped my arms around my chest.
“Look,” my voice was barely a whisper, “it wasn’t like before. I didn’t go there to get killed, okay?”
“Then what were you doing?”
I tossed my hands up in defeat. “I was just tired of staying in this stupid palace waiting for you to come back.”
His face softened slightly as if my words tempered the storm raging beneath his surface. “You told me to stay away unless you called. You did not. I abided by your wishes.”
I swallowed the growing lump in my throat. “I know. I just… Look, I didn’t know she was there or was even going to show up. I just wanted to have fun. Or attempt to at least.”
His eyes flashed as if me stating that kindled some spark of hope in him.
