“Thank you.” I smiled, grateful. “Oh, Rosalind. Can I borrow your phone?”
“For sure.” She reached into a loose sweater pocket, pulled it out, and handed it to me. The door clicked as she shut it. The room dipped into darkness, and I rested my forehead against the closed door. I pressed the button on the phone. It illuminated and blinded me. I hoped Annie answered this time.
“Rae.” A voice broke the quiet from my side.
I squeaked and threw myself to the side, hitting the bed and falling on my butt on the ground. I gasped and looked up, able to make out a familiar outline leaning against the wall.
15
“What the hell are you doing here?” I hissed.
“I need to speak to you.”
I scoffed at his words and got to my feet as my eyes adjusted to the dark. He was in the same state as when he’d been dragged into the castle. “Aren’t you supposed to be in the dungeons or whatever? More specifically away from here.”
My teeth ground together as he stepped forward, and I took a subconscious one back. I stopped my retreat and tilted my chin up and narrowed in on him. My heart thudded in my chest. He scoffed and took another step forward. I trembled like a stalked gazelle.
“I helped design the holding cells. Of course, I could get out, especially after resting enough to heal.”
“Stop doing that,” I said between clenched teeth.
His head tilted, a small smile playing at the edge of his lips. “What?”
He took another step forward, mirth in his tone. The action placed him in a shaft of moonlight, allowing me to see him clearly. It took me back to when I’d first met him.
He was a complete one-eighty from how he had acted at the castle. It was as if he knew he had me trapped. Or as if he sensed the desire running through my veins. I swallowed as my eyes ate him up without permission. It had been so long. And his scent. I inhaled deeply. It was riveting. Under that dirt, I smelled forest and something purely male. I exhaled, puffing out my cheeks. Back at the castle, I hadn’t allowed myself to take him in, but I was absorbing now.
With a hard swallow, I yanked my gaze away from him and brought them back to his face. His eyes softened me despite his smug demeanor. They devoured me as if he hadn’t seen me in centuries. The hunger in them tore me up, but it was the pain that undid me.
Before I did anything stupid, I squeezed my eyes shut and reminded myself of everything he’d put me through in excruciating detail. I called on the feelings and pain he had personally or inadvertently brought to me. My chest tightened.
Finally getting a hold of myself, I opened my eyes. Roark stared at me, no longer smiling or smug, as if a switch had been flipped. Regret was written on every line of his body.
“I am sorry.”
I swallowed and crossed my arms. “I need you to go.”
After a drawn-out silence, he was suddenly next to me. “I tried to leave you alone,” he rasped, and I felt his breath move my hair from how close he was. Roark’s hand reached for my face, but I jerked away. He fisted his hand and pulled away. “I spent every moment without you hunting her. I couldn’t stand the distance from you, but I knew I was the last Fae you’d want to see.”
“Then why did you come back.” The words were on the verge of being a yell. My teeth snapped when I closed my mouth at the burst of emotion. I refused to acknowledge the way my voice broke.
“I need to protect you,” he snapped in a harsh tone. His jaw worked and he tugged on his ear.
“Did you ever find her?” I asked, ignoring all the other things he said that sent shivers rushing through me.
“No, she slips away just as I get close enough to kill her. It wasn’t until recently that she let her guard down and I realized she was trying to get to you.”
I snorted, embracing the bitter. “Right. Because you melded and now there’s a connection between you two.”
I held onto that sting and swallowed again. He was essentially the Fae version of married to her and then some. It would have never been possible if it wasn’t for my blood and darkling magic mimicking the mate bond. Their lives were bound together now, and if one died, so did the other. The pain of his proximity was unbearable. My chest ached and plead for relief. I squeezed my fist tighter, relishing the sting of my nails.
“Please, leave.” I turned further away from him.
He exhaled in a rush, pained. “Fine, but I will be close.” He stalked to the window and paused. “Until I end her, I will savor every second I am able to be around you.”
My shoulders tightened at the threat. His gaze seared me, but I didn’t turn to meet it. There was some rustling, and then he was gone.
A rush of air came out of my mouth in a sob, and my shoulders slumped. Choking the tears back and steeling myself, I rubbed my eyes and searched the floor for the cell I’d dropped. Seeing the outline, I dipped to grab it. Flipping through the phone, I input Annie’s number and plopped on the bed. By the third ring, I had lost hope.
“Hello?” my sister’s distracted voice came through the speaker.
“Annie!”
“Who—is this Rae?” Annie squealed at my affirming hum. “I heard your voicemail. I’ve been waiting for your call.”
“Where are you? I’ll come see you.” Hopefully, Rosalind had a car I could borrow.
“I’m actually on my way to work. I have the late shift today. I was trying to get out of it after you called, but my boss is a dick.”
My heart sank. “Tomorrow?”
“Promise,” she
