Page 99

“Compared to Miss Legs and Tits, who descended from the heavens?” She rolled her eyes. “Or what about Ms. Fertilize My Pollen Tube and her horny cross-pollinating cousin,” she spat back.

“Jealous?” I leaned into her, almost accusatory. We stared each other down, our chests huffing with anger, a tension that was constantly there now.

There was a line… and I sensed I was about to cross it. The need to kiss her burned through my body, wanting to grab her by the hair and bend her over the exam table. And I was a breath away from acting on it.

“Fuck off,” she seethed, stepping back. Twisting away, fury wrung tight across her shoulders.

“Hey.” I grabbed her arms, already regretting what I said. “I’m sorry.” I breathed out, turning her to fully face me. “What happened? Why was the Druid staring at you like that? Why are youstillshaking?”

She swallowed, not looking at me.

“Raven?” I held onto her biceps, trying to lower myself to look in her eyes.

“Do you really need a reason?” she huffed out. “We haven’t been through enough in the last couple of days? And going from almost being caught by Lazar’s men, freezing snow, to spring break in the Bahamas, to this horny fae camp edition?” She gestured around. “It’s a lot.” She pulled away from me, peeling off her heavy coat and tossing it on a chair.

“Yeah,” I muttered, knowing what she said was true, but also it wasn’t the full truth.

“Not going to tell me what was going on between you and Dubthach?”

“I have no idea.”

“Raven…” I sighed.

“I don’t!” She turned away from me, inspecting the room.

Too exhausted to fight her, I struggled out of my own coat, peeling down to my T-shirt.

“Let’s get some rest and reconvene in the morning.”

She snorted, her head shaking.

“What?”

“Reconvene?” She chuckled at my choice of grammar. “Okay, old man.” She patted my shoulder, strolling past me toward the beds.

“Old?” I muttered with a snarl. To be fair, I was. I may look like I was only in my mid-twenties, but sheactuallywas. And I needed to remember that. “At least when I was your age, we spoke in complete sentences, not this text talk.”

“You know you’re old when you use phrases like ‘back in my day.’” She tried to mimic my voice.

“Think it’s past your bedtime, young lady.”

Laughing, she dropped onto one of the mattresses, leaning back on her hands, her smile lighting up her face under the glowing lanterns, her eyes glistening.

My throat went dry. Fuck. Raven was so beautiful, but her beauty went deeper than her skin.

What made me extremely uncomfortable was my response to the women offering me free, uncomplicated, and unbridled sex earlier. It should be a no-brainer since my cock seemed to be working again. I should walk out and take them up on it. Any of them. All of them.

It wasn’t just that I felt nothing at their offers, but I glanced at Raven like I should feel guilty they were hitting on me. That I wasn’t up for offer. But when that fae twat offered her his bed…

My hand went through my hair with frustrated anger. I strode away from her to the washroom. The thin door snapped behind me, firebulbs lighting up the simple room with a small stand-up shower, toilet, sink, and a cabinet with towels and extra toiletries.

I leaned over the sink, staring at myself in the mirror. For so long now, I felt as though I was staring at a shell of some guy. A husk that functioned only out of necessity. Now, my reflection held a man with flushed cheeks from the warm air, bright green eyes, and a verve I didn’t expect. A few flakes of oats were still in my hair, and I looked tired and dirty.

Butalive.

Maybe a soul was still in there somewhere.

My plan to come to Romania was never to leave it. To seek my revenge in killing Sonya and Iain and die contently avenging Kek and Lucas. To be with them. The only people I imagined I could ever love in that way.