Page 74 of Shadow Master
Hyde stepped in front of me. “And I will pay the price. But you will leave Justice out of it.”
Orion’s gaze was speculative. “You’ve made that impossible, Hyde. I could ignore your infatuation while you were merely mooning over her, but now you’ve consummated your relationship …”
“So what?” I stepped around Hyde. “You’ll have us killed?” I snorted. “Take a look around, buddy, we’re about to be fucking slaughtered.”
His mouth pinched. “She knows?” He looked to Hyde.
“Yeah, I know, and it didn’t come from Hyde. Your secret isn’t as secret as you might think, and it won’t be long before it becomes common knowledge. At least if you’re going to be an arrogant arsehole and forbid your bloodlines from making unions elsewhere, you could be more transparent about it. At least the nightbloods are open about their prohibition.”
His left eye twitched. “This isn’t about arrogance.”
“Then what is it? Huh? What more could it be than you wanting your bloodlines to remain pure? Is that why you kill people? Huh?” Anger was rising inside me. Anger aimed at his icy features and his arrogant demeanor.
His jaw clenched, but he didn’t respond.
I was sick and tired of running, of fighting. Of denying my heart. “You know what? Fuck it. You’ve seen us now, so do what the fuck you want. As for me, I’m going to be me. I’m going to grab love and hold on to it as long as I can.”
He looked perplexed. “Even if it could get you killed.”
My laugh was bitter. “You know what, you remind me of me from a few months ago. I would have asked the same question. Love … it didn’t matter to me. I didn’t need it, and I didn’t want it. But that was only because no one had ever willingly offered it to me before. Once that happens, there is no going back. Once that happens, the feeling … It’s addictive.” My smile was bitter. “It’s worth dying for.”
His gaze flitted from me to Hyde and back again.
I gathered my hair back into its tie and arched a brow at Orion. “The fir bolg are coming. The odds are stacked against us, so if you want to have me killed, then you’re going to have to get in line.”
I slipped my hand into Hyde’s, and he gripped my fingers a little too tight. He was barely breathing, and it hit me … I was playing with fire. This man, standing before us, was pure fey. He was a billionaire. He was fucking dangerous. All reasons to be scared, and yet … I wasn’t.
What Orion could do to me would pale in comparison to what was headed over the horizon.
Orion blinked slowly and then nodded. “Duly noted, Miss Justice.” And then he turned and strode out of the fucking stables.
* * *
Hyde wassilent and grim as we made our way back to camp. Talking wouldn’t help. Orion would do what he wanted, but not now. Not until this war was over.
Hyde stopped suddenly. “This is my fault. I should have stayed away. All my fucking fault.”
“Enough.” I grabbed his biceps. “It doesn’t matter. What will be, will be. Right now, we have a war to win.”
He exhaled sharply. “How do you do it?”
“What?”
“Compartmentalize.”
My smile was wry. “Practice. Lots of bloody practice.” I shrugged. “If we’re going to die anyway, we might as well make the most of the time we have.”
“I doubt Brady, Kash, and Harmon will agree,” Hyde said.
Fuck. He was right. “Then we say nothing to them. Not yet, anyway.”
Hyde’s lips thinned. “Maybe there’ll be no need. We’re at war, and there are casualties during times of war.”
Wait … what was he saying? Was he intimating we should kill Orion?
I searched his face. “You can’t mean—”
“Come.” He turned and began to stride toward camp. “We should get back.”
