And I feel so damn foolish for not seeing it before. He’s purposely pushing me away. Why? I’ve no idea. Perhaps so it will hurt less when I die—it’s hardly the first time that’s happened.
But me missing it? I was so damn stupid.
Rafferty breaks eye contact and stalks toward me, though he doesn’t bother saying anything to me as he brushes past and heads into the tent I’ve been sleeping in.
Fin grips my shoulder, and my stomach plummets. By the time I open my eyes again, we’re standing just outside the entrance. “Thought you could use a little help.” With a wink, he’s gone.
I stare straight ahead, heart in my throat. Then, using my stick for balance, I move inside. Rafferty’s back is to me, his hands splayed on the desk just ahead as he stares down at a map. “What happened?” I question as I move around to the other side so I can see him. “Are you okay?”
Rafferty casts his gaze up, regarding me with a level of heat that steals my breath. “I’m fine.” Then, he straightens and crosses his arms. “What the fuck are you doing here?” he demands, voice cool.
“What happened?”
“None of your concern.” He marches across the tent to a chest and reaches in to withdraw a white shirt. As he moves, I study his muscled torso, the scars that showcase him as the powerful warrior he is. And as I stare, I long to run my fingers over each of them.
To taste the marred skin.
To feel his hands—I swallow hard.Shit.This cannot happen. “It is my concern because I care about what happens to you.”
“Certainly appears you do. Since every chance you get, you’re running away with Fin.”
His words surprise me. “Running away with Fin? Seriously? I was out for a walk, you jackass, and ran across Fin.”
“You two certainly stood close enough, as though you’re the best of friends. Need I remind you that you barely know him? That he already had a mate and is dying?” The black band around his irises thickens, and I step forward.
“You can’t seriously be jealous.”
Rafferty chokes out a laugh. “Jealous? To be jealous, there would need to be an ounce of anything substantial between us.”
“There isn’t?”
His upper lip turns up in a sneer. “You are a weakness, Ember. A fascination and nothing more.”
“I know what you’re doing.”
At the accusation, he narrows his eyes. “And what is that?”
“You think you’re the first person to get scared and push me away?” I barely manage a step before my vision wavers, exhaustion choosing this exact moment to wash over me. “I never figured you for a coward.”
Rafferty’s eyes narrow, and he glares across the tent at me. “A coward?”
“That’s what you’re being right now.”
“I’m the coward, yet you feel the need to insult me every time I turn around. Tell me, do you get off on treating me like I’m nothing?”
“Insult you, what are you—”
“Was it not you who told me I was unable to help you? That I did not possess what it took to kill Taranus?”
Tears fill my eyes as my throat burns. “That is not what I said. Those were not my exact words.”
“No?” He takes a step closer. “But that is what you meant, was it not?”
“Raffe—”
“I do not need your pity, Ember. You are here now solely to keep you out of the clutches of my brother. As soon as the bond is broken and he is dead, I’ll take you back home since you so long for the death awaiting you there.”
His words are a slap to the face. A punch to the gut. Why? I have no damn clue. After all, this is what I wanted, isn’t it? A way to separate us? To make things easier?