Page 34 of Sienna Rossi: Beyond Shattered Trust

“You’ll recover,” I continue emotionlessly. “Korina, the head healer, will monitor you.”

“Why are you…” she trails off as if not sure what to say.

Silence stretches between us.

She looks me over, but then looks down at herself.

“Thank you,” she says quietly.

“Get some rest.” With those words, I turn toward the door, ignoring the urge to look back at her.

As my hand closes around the handle, I feel her trying to gain access via the mind-link, as if probing whether I have my walls up or not.

She is not my strength; she has been nothing but my weakness.

Not even if Zeus himself approves of her.

Without another word, I leave the room, only to stop when I spot Ahren leaning against the wall; a sad smile crosses his face.

“Don’t punish her for a mistake she made with the right intentions in mind. We’re all allowed to make mistakes, aren’t we? And if the ones we love punish us the most, then who can we be vulnerable around?”

I don’t respond; I take my leave.

My Proposal

Sienna

Something about last night changed my perception of everything. Maybe my approach isn’t right, wanting to get closer to him, wanting him to give in to those feelings I know he still has for me. But now it feels wrong to try to push him, even though I hadn’t even attempted to push his limits. I broke something that isn’t going to heal so easily.

There is no wound left on me or any trace of the injury, but his touch remains. I felt him – felt the way his power flowed into me, felt him pull the pain from me, felt him hold me close as his heart raced, felt his breath on my lips, my ear, my neck…

I felt everything, and I felt so much pain. It hurts, and I just don’t want to hurt him anymore, but I am hurting him by even being here. I keep hurting him. I know that I love him, and that he loves me, even after I poured gasoline over our relationship, lit the match myself and watched it all go up in flames.

Korina didn’t let me leave the infirmary until she was fully satisfied I was fit and well, which meant she observed me until noon the next day. Her curiosity regarding my relationship with Jayce came up a few times in subtle passing, but I said nothing. There wasn’t anything for me to say.

It’s now late afternoon, and I enter the common room where Grandpa Alejandro, Mikhail, and Jayce are poring over some patrol reports. It might not be the best of times, but I may not find them together again with no one else around.

“Excuse me, can I have a word?” I ask as I stop a few yards away, not wanting to invade their space as they work.

They all glance at me, but my eyes are on Jayce; his eyes flick over me as if checking if I’m ok before he looks away.

Gods, he’s so handsome…

“What is it?” Grandpa Al asks me.

Taking a deep breath, I begin, “I understand that those who are touched by a god can harm me through the barriers.” Jayce stiffens ever so slightly before turning his attention back to what he’s doing. “However, as far as we know, we don’t know of anyone from the enemy who has been touched. I think it’s a good idea for me to put up barriers around our outposts.”

“No.” Jayce’s single word cuts through the room, making the other two men look at him.

“But it would buy our people time to get into position and be prepared for the attack, not to mention save lives,” I protest.

“We already know the risks of those barriers, and next time it happens, the one who inflicts such an attack on you won’t hang around to fix it. There’s a high chance that even those favoured by gods could cause harm.”

A theory that has crossed my mind, but until we test it, we can’t be sure.

“What if Aunty Kiara moved here? I know it’s not what you’d want, but you two can be together?” I suggest to Grandpa Al.

“Someone would need to govern my pack,” Grandpa Al murmurs, but the way he’s combing his fingers through his beard makes me wonder if he’s considering it. I know it’s hard for both of them to be apart.