“I’m coming with you,” he growled. “It’s my job to protect the army’s assets. Where you go, I go.”
That vow would have caused butterflies to flutter in her stomach a few weeks ago. His promise would have been romantic, and it would have warmed her from the inside out.
But now…
If Brynleigh closed her eyes and forgot about the tracking bracelet, the torture she’d endured, and the fact that his sister had killed her family, it was almost as if none of their problems existed.
“Is that all I am to you? An asset?” She regretted the question the moment it slipped off her tongue, but she wanted to hear the answer.
It took far too long for him to respond with a whispered, “Maybe.”
She wanted to be angry with him for that answer. She wanted to hate him for it. How dare he feel that way?
But instead of hatred, her idiotic heart fluttered because he didn’t outright say no.
Stupid fucking emotions.
Brynleigh missed the box where she used to keep her feelings. Life had been much easier when she didn’t have to deal with them.
“I’ll have to shadow us both,” she warned.
The Rosewood was too far to travel through regular, mortal options.
“I know.”
She pressed her forehead against the door, feeling each grain of wood as her hand landed on the knob.
Memories of a different wall in a library during a time when they weren’t yet broken flashed through her mind.
“Ryker?” She breathed his name, the word barely a whisper as it left her lips.
A human wouldn’t have been able to hear her—but he wasn’t a human.
“Yes?” He sounded close. Was he also pressed against the door?
She squeezed her eyes shut, gathering her courage. “I… I need to tell you something. In case tonight doesn’t go as planned.”
There was always a chance that things would go wrong on a job. It was a liability for what she did. Someone could fight back, or the police could show up, or she could be injured.
Risks were a part of her life. They had never really bothered her before the Choosing. Back then, she hadn’t had anyone. No one would have cared if she’d died.
But now?
Even with everything dividing them, Brynleigh’s heart still beat for her fae captain. The past six days of silence had confirmed that for her.
She still loved him—she would always love him.
But she didn’t think love would be enough to fix them.
He growled, “Brynleigh, nothing is going to?—”
“You don’t know that,” she breathed. “Please, let me say this.”
A resigned sigh came from the other side of the barrier, and her heart broke a little more. She’d done this. Ruined them. None of this would’ve happened if she’d figured out a way to tell the truth before the wedding night.
“Go ahead,” he said after a minute. “I’m listening.”
Brynleigh drew in a deep breath. Nerves twisted her stomach. Her mouth dried, but she placed her palm flat on the door and forced her lips to form words.