Page 21 of Shadow Warrior
Six
Brady didn’t show. He should have been here over an hour ago. Maybe he’d been held up at the barracks?
Henrich had ordered me off duty till after the holiday, but he hadn’t said I couldn’t be in the mist. Fuck it.
I’d stick on my armor and go find Brady. I was headed out of the lounge to find him when Hyde’s citrus scent hit my senses. I froze, heart pounding. I didn’t want to be alone with him. I wasn’t ready.
But he was here, and he was blocking my exit, his body still encased in armor, his expression unreadable.
“Going somewhere?”
“I need to see Brady.”
He held out a note. “From Brady.”
I stared at the proffered note suspiciously. “He askedyouto give that to me?”
A flicker of annoyance crossed his face. “My cadets know they can trust me.” His eyes narrowed. “Obviously, you don’t.”
Fuck, the last thing I wanted to do was fight with him. But since we couldn’t be together, our whole dynamic felt off, and the emotions churning inside that couldn’t be channeled as they wanted became twisted and angry.
I plucked the note from his fingers.
Indigo, I’m sorry I had to leave early. I’ll make it up to you.
Brady.
Disappointment tightened my chest. I folded the note and tucked it into my pocket. “Thanks.”
“I’m sorry,” Hyde said softly.
Part of me wanted to hug him, just to touch him, the other wanted to punch him in the face for making me feel these contrary emotions.
“I’m good.” I walked toward him, expecting him to move out of the way and let me exit, but he held his ground. I stopped and looked up at him. “Are you going to move?”
He locked gazes with me. His eyes were more green than blue today, darker around the edges of his irises. His pupils dilated as he drank me in. Heat rose up my neck and across my collarbones as tension bloomed between us.
“Stop looking at me like that.” My voice was hoarse. “You don’t get to look at me like that.”
“Do you love him?” His voice was soft, dangerous, as if he was balancing on the edge of something, and my reply had the power to tip him over.
Delicious possibility skimmed over my skin, but I tamped down on it. No. I wouldn’t go there.
“Do you love him?” he asked again, his tone harder, insistent.
“Yes.” The answer sprang to my lips easily. “I love him.”
“Does he know?”
I narrowed my eyes. “That’s none of your business.”
He swallowed hard. “And me?”
The question was like a punch to the chest, leaving me momentarily breathless. “Why are you asking me this? It doesn’t matter how I feel about you. You and I … We can’t be together.” I hated that my voice cracked.
The air crackled, a warning that we were treading on dangerous ground, and then his hands were cupping my shoulders, fingers biting into my flesh.
“Answer the question,” he rasped.
