Page 25

He flicked his chin behind me. “Need to get my clothes.”

“Oh.” I glanced at the pile on the chair by the window, a rush of embarrassment flushing me. “Right.”

I tried to move at the same time he went for the chair. The room was so small I had nowhere to go, forcing my body to bump and slide against his as he angled himself around me, feeling his wet skin and his cock under the thin towel drag across my stomach.

Gulping hard, my body flamed to life, dropping a bead of sweat down my back, halting me in place as he carried on, totally unaffected. My teeth drove into my lip as I turned away from him, feeling, for the first time in my life, completely unsure and awkward. Why was I so discombobulated? What was wrong with me?

I had never been shy around men, or anybody for that matter. Raised to stand toe-to-toe with power and authority, I was born confident and fearless. Nothing spooked me. Until… well, everything had changed lately.

My gaze lowered to my boots, my fingers playing with the toxic bracelet around my arm, a stab of pain thickening my throat.

“Hopefully you can get someone to get that off you.” Ash nodded his head at the band on my wrist before pulling on a vintage black band T-shirt over his head, drawing attention once again to the deeply carved V-line at his hips.

Whipping my head away, I rolled my lips together, fiddling more with the bracelet.

“Yeah.” I barely heard my own voice.

“Goblin metal is a bitch.” He shucked on a pair of jeans, letting the towel drop. “Though you are handling it really well. It made me lethargic and achy. Completely useless to fight or stop anything…” Darkness creased his brow, his jaw twitching. It was as if I could feel his memories seep around him, feel them like tangible objects.

Sensing my gaze upon him, he shook it off, shoving his feet in his boots. “We still have plenty of money to get some food and train tickets.”

The earrings I pawned gave us a nice little chunk of change for basics, but if anyone actually knew the worth of the one-carat diamonds they possessed and who gave them to me, they’d probably pass out. I was raised to understand and appreciate my family’s standing and be humble enough to feel for those who had less, but it never registered as profound until here. Ash had called me out on the train, and now I saw how oblivious I was to money. I never had to worry about it. The earrings were such little trinkets to me, I’d never imagine someone killing me to get them. To be able to feed a family for a year or more from them.

“And enough to hire someone to get you back to Vienna.”

“Hire?” I snapped, my lids narrowing.

His green irises met mine with determination. “You’re right. It is risky for you to head back alone.”

“So I go forward with yo—”

“No. It’s ten times worse going forward,” he talked over me.

“I don’t care.” A rush of anxiety came out of nowhere, forcing out my words. The thought of being alone knotted under my ribs.

“This is no longer up for debate.” He stood up, using his height against me. “Not only is Romania extremely inhospitable to anyone not from there, but their own people are being murdered daily. This is not a cute little adventure. It’s no place for you.”

“But—”

“Don’t you get it?” he shouted. “I don’twantyou here. I’veneverwanted you here.”

Hurt stuck like a lightning bolt, the harshness penetrating deeper than it should have. I usually persisted until I got my way, and I had thick skin. Not much fazed me, but this felt like a dagger. My teeth locked together in an effort to hide any emotion.

“It’s not personal.” Ash pinched his brow, lowering his voice.

It felt as though it was.

“If it’s so dangerous, why are you going in?”

“There is something I have to do.”

Revenge. It was what he told me on the train. “If it’s soinhospitable, isn’t going in by yourself pretty much suicide?”

His lips quirked in an almost cruel smile. “I wasn’t planning on coming back out.”

“What?” Air lashed through my lungs, my chest pulling in sharply at his confession. He was going to Romania with full understanding he would die there? The idea of him no longer being in this world had me dizzy and panicked, though it made no sense. I barely knew this guy. We had only met, what, two days ago? Yet the notion crashed into me like a wave.

“No.” I shook my head. “Nooo.”