Page 43 of Wolfkissed
“You won’t allow that, though,” I say, not even sure why that rings so true, “will you?”
“Damn right I won’t,” he replies. “But I’m kind of tied up right now, if you get my drift.”
Very funny.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
ROSAMUND
“My lady!” Kier rushes toward us, but I glower and simply walk past him. “I couldn’t believe it when they told me you came out here. You should be inside!”
“Kier,” I snap as he falls into step beside me. “You may have helped raise me, but stop questioning my decisions. You’re being insolent. I’m not your daughter.”
“Of course not.” He’s quiet as we enter the manor, Valen a hulking presence behind us, leaving puddles all over the floor. “I’m merely concerned about you.”
“Don’t be. This is out of your control.”
“It doesn’t have to be. Let me and Bert grab this animal and take him out in the woods. We’ll bury him there. Your family doesn’t even have to know.”
“But I’d know,” I whisper.
“I know he saved your life. Twice. But he’s still a dark fae, my lady. You can’t ever trust a dark fae. They’re evil creatures, twisted by magic.”
“I know. You don’t need to lecture me about it.”
“Yet, you keep acting as if you don’t know,” he says, “as if you forgot every lesson you ever received. What he did last night?—”
I cut my hand at him. “I won’t discuss this now, Kier.”
“But if you let me take him?—”
“He’s with me!” I shout.
We have stopped in the middle of the great hall. I’m breathing hard, feeling warm despite the cold water that has soaked through my long green dress to chill my skin, the mass of my wet hair pulling at my scalp.
Kier is staring.
Everyone is.
“I’m only trying to protect you,” Kier eventually breathes, then his eyes narrow, and I know without turning that Valen has stepped closer to me.
“And yet he’s the one who saved my life,” I say. “Not you.”
I know it’s unfair. Kier is human, not a werewolf, and apart from that, he wasn’t even there.
Yet, it’s the truth.
“If that’s how you feel,” Kier says, rubbing at his beard.
“It is.”
His expression closes down. He gives a stiff bow. “My lady.”
“Would that be all?” I need to get out of this hall, away from all the prying eyes.
“No. I was coming to inform you that there will be a reception.” Kier swallows hard. “To bid you goodbye as you ride away.”
Controlling my recoil is harder than ever. “Today?”
