Page 241 of Split or Swallow

They are not usually so eventful.

I should hope not.

He kissed her cheek.

“You must be tired,” he whispered. “We should sleep.”

Tem nodded.

Caspen lifted her off the table before setting her on the cold stone floor. He took her hand, and they wound through the passageways together. When they reached his room, they collapsed onto his bed, folded in each other’s arms. The last thing Tem heard before she fell asleep was Caspen’s voice in her mind:

Thank you.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

“What did Rowe call me?”

Caspen opened his eyes.

“I see we are already asking questions,” he said, stretching his arms before pulling her against him. Tem had been awake for a while, watching him sleep. But now she needed answers.

“Caspen,” she insisted. “Tell me.”

“Rowe called you a blunt,” he said, his voice still rough with sleep. “It is an insult used to describe humans.”

“But I’m not human—I’m a Hybreed.”

“You are part human. That is already too much for Rowe.”

“But why ‘blunt’? What does it mean?”

“It refers to your teeth. Humans do not have fangs like we do. They will always be…blunt, so to speak.”

Tem absorbed this information slowly. She thought about Leo’s gold teeth, and how they were shaved into points. Fangs, for all intents and purposes.

But false ones.

“Do you think I’m weak?” Tem whispered.

The rage on Caspen’s face was unmistakable. He cupped her jaw, looking her straight in the eye as he said:

“You are perfect, Tem. I will not allow you to think otherwise.”

She appreciated the sentiment. She just didn’t believe it.

Caspen pulled her closer, pressing his lips to her neck.

“Rowe is a fool if he thinks you are weak.”

“He’s just a fool in general,” Tem muttered.

She felt Caspen smile.

“That he is.”

They were silent for a moment. Then Tem said:

“I meant what I said.”