Page 103 of The Spider Queen
“So you said you’ve been to Ireland before,” I reminded him.
“With my Dad. I was sixteen. It was a rite of passage, if you will. He told me what was expected of our family line and of our duty. He told me about Thane.”
I held in my sigh. So much for being able to push Thane out of my mind. “That must’ve been a lot to deal with at sixteen.”
He shrugged. “I guess so. I always knew there was something my parents weren’t telling me, ya know? And I had been waiting for it for years…but of course I had no idea…” He let out a laugh. “Man, I really hadno idea.”
“At least you had people to prepare you,” I said.
His gaze was solemn. “Yes. At least I had that. I’m sorry, Poppy.”
Tears gathered in my eyes, but I shoved them back. Tears were useless. “You know what, Hunter? Stop saying that. It doesn’t mean anything after a while.”
Anger didn’t disappear just because you forgave the one who hurt you. Both Hunter and Thane could’ve told me something about all this. They’d had plenty of opportunities. But they hadn’t. Both of them had remained silent and let me suffer.
Let. Me. Suffer.
I took a gulp of Guinness, trying to wash away the bitterness coating my tongue.
“You’re allowed, you know. To be mad. At me.”
“Thanks,” I snapped. “For letting me have my emotions.”
“I didn’t mean it that way.”
The bartender chose that moment to saunter over, plop down two baskets of fish and chips, point to the malt vinegar on the table, and then leave.
I grabbed the bottle and shook it until it was well past the point of needing shaking. And then I doused my fried fish.
“Why won’t you fight for me?” I asked him, staring him in the eyes.
“What would you have me do?” he demanded, finally losing his seemingly endless patience. “I have a duty, an obligation. Do you know how much this will shame my father?”
“Right,” I sneered. “Because that’s the price of being with me, right? Your precious duty?”
Hunter stilled, his face going cold. “You still have no idea who Thane is, Poppy.”
I scoffed. “So tell me. Oh wait, you can’t, can you? Another one of those fucking rules? I’m not allowed to know who he is until I free him, is that it? Well, guess what! I’m not doing it and you can’t make me!”
Poppy.Thane blasted through my mind with a growl.Enough.
I pressed a hand to my head and glared.I thought you couldn’t hear my conversations with others?
You’re letting me hear this conversation.
No, I’m not.
You are!
Bite me, I mentally growled back.
Don’t tempt me.
“Poppy? What’s going on?” Hunter asked.
“Thane is showing me his displeasure—and weighing in on our conversation.”
“He can hear us?”
