Page 104 of Savage Empire

“Sorry?” he echoes. “Sorry for having a nightmare?”

“For waking you up,” I correct.

“You weren’t that loud.” He nods over his shoulder to where Yordan is sound asleep. The machines he’s hooked up to are all dimly lit and beeping so quietly it’s almost undetectable, but steady. “I just hear everything.”

“That must suck,” I grumble, rubbing my eyes. “How do you ever sleep in a house full of people and babies?”

“My room is soundproofed.”

“Of course it is.” Swinging my legs off the bed, I push my feet into my slippers and stand up. “I need to walk it off.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“What?” I ask, confused. “Why? Just go back to bed, I feel bad enough already for waking you up. You don’t need to chauffeur me around the hospital too.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, did that sound like a question?”

“Fuck,” I mumble, pushing past him with a grimace. “He wakes up snarky, doesn’t even need time to load it.”

“Are you talking to yourself about me, in front of me?” Apollo chuckles, footsteps quietly following me out of the room.

Looking back at him as the door shuts, I take in his long sleeve silky-looking top and matching pants. “Are you wearing the pajama equivalent of a satin suit to sleep?” I snark, yawning as I adjust to the brightness of the hallway. I didn’t see him return to the room last night, but I did see a nurse bring in a bed for him on the opposite side of mine.

“Would you prefer I have opted for my typical nightwear?” He lifts a lazy brow. “I agreed to share a room with you and your teenage brother, I doubt you would appreciate me walking around in only boxers.”

“Ugh,” I grumble. “What is it with men and sleeping half-naked? Yordan is the same way.”

“Men typically run hotter than women at night,” he replies almost diplomatically. “With more muscle mass and a highermetabolic rate, we often generate more heat than a woman’s higher body fat percentage would.”

“Do you just scientifically call me fat and cold?”

His eyes widen, an utterly baffled look crossing his face. “That’s what you got from that?”

“Well, you’re not denying it. You know, you really shouldn’t bring up a woman’s weight. Or anyone’s weight, really. It’s not polite.”

“I assure you,micina, you are not fat. Nor would I imply otherwise, or even care if you were. Your weight is not something I find myself thinking about. If we’re being scientific, as you say, you know you look like you’re not starving and could bear children. Congratulations, can we move on?”

Rolling my eyes, I start to walk toward the end of the hall. I need to shake off the sickly feeling my nightmare left me with. “So not fat, just cold.”

He huffs, beginning to walk along my side. “And you accusemeof waking up with a snarky attitude.”

“We can both be snarky.” I shrug. I’m not stubborn enough to pretend that I don’t know I’m being ridiculous. I’m finding anything to argue with him about, and nitpicking his words is the easiest way to do that. “It’s just more annoying when you do it.”

Apollo is quiet for a moment. Blissfully quiet. Until… “Are you attempting to distract me from asking you about your nightmare, Rayna?”

“No,” I reply far too quickly. Far too defensively. “I didn’t think you’d care to ask, why would I try to distract you from it?”

“Was it Yordan?” he asks, voice soft.

“No.” I shake off his question.

“No,” he agrees. “If it was about Yordan, you wouldn’t have left the room. At least not without checking on him directly.”

“You think you know me so well,” I grumble. “You don’t know shit, Apollo. We’re not friends.”

“I’m hurt,” he drawls, sarcasm dripping from the words. “Was it me?”

My neck aches as I snap my gaze to him too fast. “What?”