Page 106 of Visions & Shadows

I lower my eyes from his, then ask, “So you have to kiss me in order to heal me?”

He lets out a chuckle as he shakes his head. “No, but the kiss got you to focus on me so I could do my job.”

The words sting like hell, and I quickly glance away so he won’t see the disappointment in my eyes while I mutter, “Right.”

I begin to move so I can get off his lap, but he grips hold of my hips and frowns at me. “What’s wrong?”

I shake my head, refusing to make eye contact with him. “I’m just exhausted.”

When I move again, he doesn’t stop me. The cut at the back of my leg is tender as fuck from the position I sat in, and the stitches pull, but I suppress the pain so Raighne won’t pick up on it, because I can’t handle another kiss right now.

“Thank you for healing me,” I say as I walk to the bed. “At least I’ll be able to sleep now.”

Raighne doesn’t get up and just stares at me.

“Why are you withdrawing from me?”

“I’m not,”I lie.“I’m just tired. You should get some rest as well.”

Still, he doesn’t budge from the chair.

I climb beneath the covers and pull them up to my chin as I gingerly lie down, careful not to agitate my broken ribs.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I will sleep to come quickly, but instead of my wish coming true, I lie awake, highly conscious of Raighne.

“Did I make a mistake by kissing you?”

Avoiding the truth, I answer,“It helped with the healing.”

“But?”

“No buts.”

“Alchera.”His tone is much harsher this time around.

“Just leave it,” I snap out loud.

I hear the chair creak, and a moment later, the bed dips beneath Raighne’s weight as he sits down beside me.

“Don’t shut me out.”

I pull the covers up higher to hide the blush on my face as I admit,“It was my first kiss. I thought it would be more special than just being used for healing purposes.”

Raighne is quiet for a moment, and then he climbs to his feet and walks out of the room.

“Raighne?”

“Rest well, Alchera.”His tone is cold and clearly unhappy with me.

Was I wrong to admit that to him?

Confused as hell, I lie for close to an hour thinking about what happened tonight, but by the time I drift off to sleep, I’m no closer to an answer.

Chapter 20

Raighne

It feels like every timeI make progress with Alchera, she pushes me away and the distance between us grows.

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