Page 76 of Hidden By the Gargoyle

“I can hold it on my own now,” I assured him.

“Maybe, but I don’t want to explain to Minerva how you got burned on my watch.”

I let Dax keep his hold on the cup as I finished off the last of the tea.

“There, I’m done,” I said.

He took the cup and set it aside. “Why don’t you rest until Garrett gets here?”

“Sounds like a plan, Stan,” I replied.

He didn’t even crack a smile, just swept the blanket over me when I laid down.

As I closed my eyes, I said, “I’m getting tired of ending up exhausted and on this couch every day.”

If Dax replied, I didn’t hear it.

* * *

Two hours later,I was awake and watching as Dax walked the police chief out of the cabin. I’d just finished giving him my statement of what little I could remember. When I asked him what would happen with the cat shifters, he told me not to worry about it, which didn’t ease my mind at all.

I felt responsible for this entire mess. After all, it was my inability to control my magic that had caused the issue in the first place.

After Dax shut the front door behind Garrett, he kept his back to me and stared down at his feet, his palms resting on the door frame.

When he didn’t move, I called out, “Dax, are you okay?”

He didn’t answer me. He only sighed and lifted his head. When he faced me, his face was once again an impassive mask.

“I can’t do this,” he said. “I shouldn’t have done this at all.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked. My headache was gone, but my brain still felt fuzzy. I knew a good night’s sleep would help, but the trip up the stairs seemed too difficult right now.

“I shouldn’t have gotten involved with you. It was a mistake.”

I blinked at him as my brain tried to process what he was saying. When I finally understood, I got to my feet. “You mean you shouldn’t have brought me to your cabin? Or that you shouldn’t have kissed me? Or that you shouldn’t have fucked me?”

With each question, my voice rose. A dark flush spread over Dax’s cheeks, but I ignored it. I was too focused on the pain tearing through me. It was worse than when my magic pulsed. Worse than the headache I’d experienced earlier.

It was as bad as what I felt when my parents died.

I knew this pain. It was grief and loss and a sadness that might ease over time but never fade.

“Ally, you know we can never be together. Not like you want.”

I laughed. A high-pitched sound of hysteria that pierced even my ears.

“How would you know what I want, Dax?” I asked. “Have you asked?”

His impassive mask was back. Goddess, it hurt so badly to have him looking at me like that again. Like he felt nothing.

“We’ve made no promises to each other,” I continued. “We’re friends. We’ve only had sex a few times. I didn’t expect you to declare your undying love for me or propose marriage. We haven’t even discussed being exclusive to each other.”

“Exclusive to each other?” he repeated.

“Meaning whether we’ll see or sleep with other people, Dax.”

His face changed and I could read this expression. He was pissed as hell.

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