Page 43 of The Hunt of Night

He shakes his head, making my chest tighten as I realize just how much the distance I placed between the two of us hurts me as well.

Fuck.

“You’re making me see past the end of my own nose,” he mutters with a sigh, and my eyebrows pinch in confusion.

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’ve spent my whole life with one thing in mind…me.”

I scoff at the well-known fact everyone is aware of. “Okay.”

“And now you,” he adds, sending a shiver down my spine.

“Me.”

“You make me consider how things would affect people that aren’t me. By people, I mean you.”

I feel light-headed, lost to his words, but I naturally shift to tamp down his affect on me with the humor I’m eager to hide behind.

“Aww, you’re growing,” I joke, hearing the patronizing tone to my voice, but he doesn’t acknowledge it.

“Growing? I feel like I’m falling.”

“Falling?”

“For you.”

18

RAIDEN

Idon’t think Adrianna ever looks as beautiful as she does when she’s left speechless. I love her fire and sass, but watching her jaw fall slack as her lashes flutter with every blink does something to me. Her cheeks turn the palest shade of pink as her pupils dilate, searching my stare for answers I’m more than willing to give her if only she would ask the damn questions.

My heart races as the silence stretches between us, despite my appreciation for her in this state. I shouldn’t have said that. Just because I’d decided to come to terms with it myself doesn’t mean she was ready to hear it.

I can handle this silence, though. It’s the deadly silent treatment she delivers that’s driving me insane. There’s no way in Hell I can handle another moment more of it. Especially not after today. There are no words that can describe the heart-lurching feeling that rippled through my body at the sight of her falling through the ice.

She took a piece of me with her.

That’s why I dove right in after her, giving Cassian, Brody, and Kryll no chance to consider their options. Ithadto be me. I had to save her. After I led the damn council to her, I knew deepin my bones that I had to be the one to do it, with the weight of impending guilt if I didn’t. But that’s not the case. She’s here.Righthere, and I’m done wasting time letting her be mad at me. Well, she can stay mad, but I’m done staying away.

“Raiden, I?—”

I wave her off, not wanting whatever bullshit is about to fall from her sweet fucking lips. “All I need to know from you right now is whether you can forgive me or not.” She blinks at me, mouth moving with no words coming out. “I told you I’ll figure out how to grovel, but just tell me that you can.” It’s a plea, one that would have had me rolling on the floor in a mixture of embarrassment and disgust before, but for her, it’s worth it. I know it.

She leans back in her seat, her gaze assessing as she searches my eyes. “How did the roses end up back in my room?”

My eyebrows rise. That’s not where I was expecting her to start.

Scrubbing the back of my neck, I know I just have to be straight with her. “Wow, you’re going straight to it, huh?” I murmur, earning a pointed look from her. “While you weren’t there, I snuck in and hid the roses in the back of your closet and replaced the ones on your desk with standard roses. No blood involved.”

Frown lines form on her forehead as her lip pulls into a thin line. “So I threw normal roses?”

She’s mad.

Clearing my throat, I quickly adjust in my seat to brace my elbows on the table between us. “The shattering could have been heard from here, so if it makes you feel any better, I gathered them, and they’re in my room.”

Her body relaxes, the relief for the roses prominent, before she frowns back at me again.

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