Page 80 of War of Her Heart

“Last night, when you insinuated that Calum was . . . with Nathara. Was that true?”

He didn’t say anything, which told me everything I needed to know.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you like that.”

“No, I needed to know,” I said as I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to work the tangles out.

“Violet?” Calum called.

When I heard his voice, I ran out of the bathroom. I looked down to see Sebastian was nowhere to be found. I guess his shadows told him Calum was coming so he left before he got there.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“We need to talk about what happened. I haven’t had a chance to get away from her since . . .” he paused, glancing at my bed, “you know.”

“Since you fucked Nathara last night? Just say it. You fucked Nathara. In front of me.”

“I wasn’t given a choice, Violet. If I had told her no, she would’ve had you killed.”

No. He wasn’t going to convince me to just get over it.

“That doesn’t make it hurt any less. I’ve had to watch you make over her for weeks, and I found a way to get over it. But this is different. I can’t even look at you the same.”

“I did that to protect you.” He took a step towards me, but I took a step back, keeping the distance between us.

“Had you been with her before?” I asked.

“What?” His eyes widened.

“I haven’t put out for you lately, so did you go to her instead?”

“No, I haven’t. That was a one time thing.”

I didn’t know who to believe. Calum had never lied to me or given me a reason not to trust him, but Sebastian had protected me every chance he’d gotten, and I’d learned to trust him too.

I should tell him what his mother did, but how could I tell him I just remembered it? I couldn’t tell him about Sebastian. That would only make it worse.

We still hadn’t talked since he commanded me to stay away from him, and if I brought him up now, I didn’t know what Calum would do.

“I don’t want to see you right now. I can’t keep doing this back and forth while we are here. And now that she knows, she will be watching closer.” I needed him out of my room.

“So what? You’re done with me now? Everything I’ve done has been to protect you.”

“No. Get out of the marriage and then we can work on this. But until we are back in the Mountain Realm, I don’t want to see you.” I was grasping at straws with that. I knew it would take a miracle for him to find his way out of this marriage, but I couldn’t continue this conversation with him now.

The longer he was around me, the more opportunity he would have to notice something else was wrong. He had always been able to read me based on my facial expressions. My mind was so clouded, and I needed space from him.

“Violet,” he said, pleading with his eyes.

“Leave, Calum.”

He knew I was serious, and he knew I was right. Nathara would be watching his every move now, and if she found out he was still coming to my room, there would be no protecting me. I watched as Calum transferred out the room.

“Why didn’t you tell him what his mother did to you?”

Sebastian had transferred unannounced enough times now that I’m not even startled when I heard his voice.

“How did you hear that?” I knew the ward on my room worked because he didn’t find out about mine and Calum’s relationship until I followed the paramic to the woods.

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