Page 67 of A Dawn Of Blood

I sense Nymeria follow me. Poor thing, she’s been restless ever since we brought him in and she smelled him. Good thing I forbade her from coming to see him right away, despite the pouting she threw in my face.

In the Junkyard, I slump down onto our bench and fix my eyes on the tree, Nymeria coming to stand guard next to me. The shock doesn’t wear off, but the solitude almost instantly makes actual emotions start to surface.

I’m devastated, and at the same time, there seems to be only one thing going through my mind.

What the hell just happened?

I mean, our interaction in Lilith Tower was one thing. I did find it odd, the way he responded to me telling him we were mates, but I had plenty of things to excuse it with. We were in the middle of a goddamn fight, for one.

Butthis? He’s not just finding it hard to believe what I’m telling him. He’s not just straight out refusing to believe it.

No, he’s refusing to eventalkto me. And he seems to be doing it in a surprisinglycontemptuousway, even for a guy whose supposed enemy I am.

What isthatall about? Why does he seem to actuallyhateme?

I spend some time pondering this, but nothing comes to mind.

There’s just more desperation, because kidnapping him was supposed to be the solution to the Cain problem. And the only thing I got from it is more trouble.

I mean, I didn’t exactly go into this thinking I’d actually be keeping a prisoner. I thought I only needed a chance to talk to him in peace.

Now Idohave both an actual prisoner, and a man who’s supposed to be my mate but who hates me for some reason.

Not to mention the fact that we’re three seconds into this situation and there’s already talk about using force to get information out of him.

But at least remembering Lorcan’s words serves one purpose — getting me to snap out of it.

Right now, it doesn’t really matter for me to figure out what the hell just happened and why the man who’s supposed to be my mate seems to hate me.

At least not until I take things into my own hands and make sure they don’t start torturing him.

But before I can make a move, I hear Raven call out “Anna,” and I look to my right, seeing her poking her head through the archway with an apologetic look on her face. “We’re having an urgent meeting. Nuala would like you to come straight away.”

Chapter 51

Cain

My eyes narrowing, I watch the members of the Resistance file into the room one by one, everyone except for the little shifter girl and the witch herself. They all throw either reluctant or disgusted glances at me sitting in the cage before taking their seats around the table they seem to be using for meetings.

And as soon ashewalked in, the fae male did use his magic to temporarily sound-proof the cage, but he doesn’t seem to realize not all ofmypowers are being blocked.

I can still hear them.

Observing them carefully, I listen in on their conversation, noting their roles within their little organization. The older of the shifter women seems to be the leader, the fae male a capable Divine Magic user, the faefemale… She’s a little harder to decipher.

And there’s this tension in the air, but they’re all being so… familiar with each other. So much so, I’m finding it strangely mesmerizing.

It blows my focus, when the scent drifts over to me again and I watch her enter with the little shifter girl in tow.

As she walks, her eyes dart to me, but I’m much more prepared for her now than I was the first two times we came into close contact. Remaining calm, I just throw daggers at her, trying to scare her into looking away.

She does, but it doesn’t seem to be out of fear.

She just takes her seat at the table and glances around it.

“We’ve given you your minute, Anna,” the leader says in a firm voice, “but we’d like a report now.”

The witch seems to hesitate. “There’s nothing to report,” she finally replies. Her eyes dart to me again, and it makes me pleased, when she refers to me without using my name. “Right now, he seems to be refusing to even talk to me, let alone tell me about his father’s ancestors.”

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