Page 26 of Bound
“Who are you? Where is Captain Whitehorn?” The question is rude, and out of the corner of my eye, I catch Wena’s grimace.
The male shows no reaction to my slight. “He was needed elsewhere.” He stops before me, his size so immense that I shrink back. “I am Horan. Gage asked me to relieve him for a few hours.”
I swallow. “I see. And he did not feel the need to inform me of the change?”
Horan’s lips twist into a cold smile. “Sorry, princess. Gage was here under his own direction. He doesn’t take orders nor does he report to the Fair Folk.”
My lips clamp tight.
As much as I want to snap at him, I don’t.
Besides, it’s not Horan I am angry with.
Gage’s presence was the only thing keeping me focused on something besides Branwen’s kidnapping. And he just left. Without a word to me.
I try not to feel the sting of that dismissal, but it rubs at the already raw nerves inside me.
Turning on my heel, I walk away without another word. Wena’s soft steps follow, and as I push through the door of the conference room, I want to storm right back out.
She blocks my path and urges me inside, closing the door behind her.
“Amoret, I wanted to come tell you, but he made me promise to let you sleep,” she says, her voice pitched low. For my ears alone.
I understand her need for privacy.
Horan is not Fae. I’m not sure what he is, but his power tastes of fresh air and lightning.
I wave off her words. “It’s fine, Wena.”
“You don’t act like it is.”
I glance sharply at her, and her eyes dance. “And what does that mean?”
“I’ve seen the way you look at Captain Whitehorn, Amoret. And he is worth quite a few looks,” she says, making my cheeks heat. “Why are you denying what you feel? What you want?”
My body tenses. “Maybe because my brother is missing, Wena. No matter what I may or may not feel for the Captain, and I admit to nothing, I have other worries to attend to.”
Her expression saddens. “I’m not telling you to take him across the table, Amoret.” She steps closer. “But if he soothes you, if his strength aids yours, why not tell him so? Perhaps his not knowing is why he left? He did not know how much you needed him here.”
I want to argue, but her words seem to dive into the very center of my being.
She’s right.
Gage is like unmovable stone. Resilient and unwavering. His heat alone calms me. Keeps me focused. And it is because I trust him to find Bran. To get my brother back. More than I have ever trusted Jarrah or any of the guards, I trust Gage.
Would it be so much harder to trust him with one more simple truth? That I need him with me?
I know he has other tasks, things that require his attention …
But when he is near, even just in the same room, I can breathe easier.
Now it is like all the oxygen has been stripped from the suite.
“I don’t know, Wena,” I say. “And until he returns, it doesn’t matter.”
“Amoret—”
I hold up my hand, silencing her. It is not a gesture I have ever used for my friend. And judging by the look on her face, she doesn’t like it any more than I do. But for now …
