Page 46 of Siege of Blood and Betrayal

“Well, you wouldn’t have been if I allowed myself to take you that night. Dammit, Scots, I would’ve devoured you. I wanted you so badly I would’ve lost control.”

There’s nothing but hurt and sadness in her dark blue eyes. The mischievous light that used to sparkle in their depths is goneand it guts me that I did that to her. “You never would’ve hurt me… at least, I never thought you would.”

“Scots, your father almost killed me when you ran away, but he heard me out. He knew the entire story, and he understood. He watched how wrecked I’ve been since you left. Knowing that I love you and would die for you, he knowingly bound our futures. Doesn’t that say something to you?”

Her anguish cleaves my heart, but before her glassy eyes spill their tears, she fights off the emotion and swallows. “I’m here to support you in your time of transition and our time of grief. We’ll find the bitch who did this and get our revenge. I’ve got nothing else to offer you.”

When she pushes away from the counter, her features school into a neutral mask. I want to reach for her, but know she’ll only pull away like she always does.

‘The lass is stubborn as rocks,’Bran always said.

He was one to talk. Like father, like daughter.

But the difference now is that she’s here for the foreseeable future and I have time to chip away at the walls she’s built between us.

I can be patient—I’m an eternal being, after all.

The air conditioning inside is a huge contrast to the summer sun outside and even from twenty feet away, I see the goosebumps rise on her silky skin.

She runs her hands over her bare arms, and I race upstairs, grab a hoodie from my room and am back in the heartbeat of a moment. “Here. You look chilly.”

She glares at me when I hold it open for her to slide her arms into the sleeves. “I have my own hoodie.”

“You mean the one caked with blood and covered in the grime of an alley brawl?”

She rolls her eyes and sighs. “Yeah, that one.”

I give the hoodie a little shake and smile. “You’re here to watch over me, and I intend to watch over you at the same time. You don’t trust me, and I know you don’t forgive me, but I’ll prove myself to you, Scots.”

The furious glare tells me what she thinks of that.

“Scottie, come on. I was an arrogant idiot—a huge one—and I own it. I was ashamed of what I was becoming and a coward. I want a second chance. Your dad knew that and gave me that chance. I won’t screw up again.”

She takes the hoodie from my hand and slides into it without my help. “Da didn’t give you a second chance. He knew there was a traitor in the guards. That’s all.”

“Agree to disagree.” With a resigned sigh, I gesture toward the hallway and lead her to where a section of paneled wall hides the access point to the elevator.

Once inside, we descend into the tunnels below. She may not want to love me back, but at least in clan business, we are still united. The safety and wellbeing of our clan will always come before past pains and unresolved longing.

So, I’ll take what I can get.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Scottie

Why does riding in an elevator with someone supercharge the dominant emotion of the moment? If you’re tired, the ride seems to drag on forever. If you’re horny, the sparks fly, and that small box becomes incredibly intimate. And if your lifelong love tells you he wants a second chance, there’s no hiding from the awkward silence.

Did Da really bind me to Zane because he forgave him?

I find that hard to believe. My father allowed people to make their own choices. He never liked me living in New York, but he never tried to influence my decision. He understood my heartache and my need for autonomy.

He supported my independence.

No. Him gifting me his squire powers is about there being a traitor in the guards or his worry about me escaping Daeva and her thugs. He would absolutely have given me his powers if he thought they would give me the edge I needed to escape and survive.

The elevator opens and we step out into a dark antechamber about five feet wide and three feet deep. Our movement triggers a motion sensor, and an overhead security light comes on.

I wonder what’s going on until I see the numerical keypad of the door security light up. Zane moves to it, punches in a six-digit code and then a metallic click sounds and he’s swinging the panel in front of us out of the way.

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