Page 23
Before he could stop himself he said, “At least I’m not masquerading at being happy while refusing to fight for the life I wish I had.”
He watched the hurt register in her eyes and where he’d expected to feel smugly satisfied, he only felt awful. Still, he found himself having moved closer to her, leaning in until they were nose to nose. “Let’s talk about something else. What happened to your wrists?”
“I—” She glanced away. Her mouth opened to answer a few times, but every time she tried to speak nothing came out. “I was… bitten.” She gave an aggravated huff. “But they’re better now.”
He wanted to ask if she’d been scared when it happened and if it had been painful. Instead, he arched a calculated brow to annoy her. “Probably from all that wallowing in the mud you do. You know, collecting your Very Important ingredients.”
A laugh caught on the edge of a gasp spilled free from her. “You really are such an ass sometimes.”
Inwardly, Oleander sparked at hearing Wilder say anything remotely crass. Especially directed at him. A smile, warm and genuine, spread across his face. Immediately regretting his display of genuine happiness he loped to his bed before flopping dramatically upon it.
“Nicely put, my dear Wilder,” he said, “But this is not new information.”
“Yes, well, just because your father is the Grand Duke of the Rune Circle doesn’t make you somehow superior.”
Oleander smirked. “Are you sure?”
Her tone grew sharp, laced with condescension. “You do realise, my grandfather is the Grand Duke of the Holy Circle. You’re hardly special.”
“And how much power and prestige has that connection gotten you?”
Her mouth parted in surprise, and she held his gaze for so long that he shifted under it, suddenly twitchy.
She sighed softly, her shoulders slumping. “Can I ask you something?”
An awkward scoffing kind of laugh escaped him. “You’re going to ask no matter what I say. So, sure. Fine. Asked me your damned question.”
She shot him an aggrieved look. “Actually, never mind. I can tell you’re probably going to be mean to me again, and I don’t think I can take that right now.”
He studied her closely; her expression was lined with such earnest concern that it sobered him. “I didn’t mean to offend you… I’m merely surprised you’d want to ask me anything, is all.”
“It’s a surprise to me as well,” she said with a maudlin smile. “I just realised that since you don’t like me, you wouldn’t care about hurting my feelings with a hard truth.”
“I’ll tell you the truth regardless, that’s the trouble with visiting me right now. And anyway, I’d like you just fine if you’d be normal about things and not obsessive. All you do is prattle on about our research paper and that I dislike very much.” He tried to stop himself, but instead he said, “You should try being less annoying.”
This caused her to let out a scoff of pure indignation. “Well, you should try being less of a grumpy little piss stain!”
She shook her head, as if trying to clear it. Then she closed her eyes and blew her breath out slowly—as if that would keep the truth from being pulled from her.
It wouldn’t.
He almost told her then how purification smoke worked, but some rabid part of him decided she deserved a little forced honesty.
She looked to be on the verge of a violent murder, her gaze spearing through him. When she spoke though, her tone was exaggeratedly polite. “I’m sorry I just insulted you. Let’s forget the last few minutes even happened.” She folded her hands politely in front of her. “I actually came here to borrow some shoes.”
Oleander shot up, panic blooming in his chest. “Why would you think you could borrow any of my shoes? My feet are much larger than yours.”
“Well, first I was going to see if Wisteria had any laying around that I could borrow just for the night.” Then she regarded him thoughtfully. “But, as luck would have it, I ended up here and that’s fine with me because I know you have a rune that makes everything you own fit perfectly, so—”
“How the Hell do you know that?” His confidence collapsed all at once, taking every bit of swagger with it.
“I’m observant,” she said primly.
He narrowed his eyes. “I had to bargain with a terrifying troll who demanded my ability to hear music for a year… all to learn of this rune. That magic is my most closely guarded secret!”
“Well then. I won’t tell anyone if…” She tilted her head, raising a brow. He folded his arms across his chest and tried to spear her with a glare of his own.
Eventually, when he didn’t budge, she rolled her eyes. “Look, I only need them for the evening.”
