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Chapter 12

“That was reckless,brother,” I said sternly.

Why had I followed him willingly?

Why hadn’t I waited until he forced me to go with him?

If he wanted to get himself killed, it should benoconcern of mine.

I was between his legs, feeling the tip of his shoulder carefully, peeling away his shredded shirt to dab a wet cloth on the claw marks. They bled a bit as I dabbed them, then smeared a heavy, odiferous salve on them. I’d already done the same thing to where Ronan had sunk a butcher knife in his calf. It had been a deeper wound and was now tightly bound.

“I cannot wait until I see you on that land,” Rhyder said, bending his head to nip gently at my neck. “We can’t fail with the Allfather behind us.”

My nerves felt frayed and flayed open, the adrenaline at his reckless behavior on Ronan’s lands still clawing at me.

“What does it matter where I am?” I snapped. “You’ll just make me do whateveryouwant like you always do.”

Rhyder seemed to still.

“What do you mean?” he asked, frowning. “Why are you still acting like you don’t want to be here with me?”

There was something else slicing through there, too.

“I don’t,” I said, swallowing past the huge lump in my throat and turning away.

I moved to walk away from him. But he was behind me, big, powerful, impossible to escape from.

“Temperance,” he growled. “Why are you being like this? Webelongto each other.”

“I don’t know, Rhyder,” I said. “Maybe because you’ve dragged me away from freedom in the city.”

“Freedom?” he said harshly, flipping me around to force me to face him. “They aren’t free there. They’re shackled by sin.”

“What about me?” I said angrily. “Am I shackled by sin, too?”

“Of course not, Temperance,” he said. “You could never be. I cover you. I cast my righteousness over you. Ever since you were taken I have followed all his words and his will so my righteousness would cover over anything that happened in the city. You are covered, sister. I love you.”

His big hand was gentle, and his eyes so filled with desire as he curved his hand around the back of my throat.