Page 69 of Theirs to Rule

“Like I said last night, there’s nothing to talk about,” I replied evenly.

I wasn’t necessarily angry or upset with him. It was a shitty situation that neither of us could do anything about. But he needed to give me time to work out my feelings and protect myself. He owed me that much.

“Rebel—"

“I get it, Kage. I really do,” I assured him. I even smiled to show him I wasn’t angry. “It is how it is, but you need to give me space when I need it so I can process my feelings.”

“I will—so long as you come back to me,” he murmured, searching my face.

"You don’t just get to tell me what I’m going to do," I fired back.

His eyes narrowed. "I’m not telling you.”

A few people glanced over, and I was sure my cheeks were bright red. "Yes, you are, Kage.” Couldn’t he see it? Or was he just that used to getting his way?

His grip tightened on my arm. "Promise me you’ll come back to me after school. Promise me we'll talk then.”

It was as much a command as it was a question–-he never would have begged, but this was as close as he’d come to it. Something in my chest softened.

"You know I can’t stay away, Kage," I muttered. He should have known that by now. His engagement, the danger, none of it had been enough to push me away from him completely. If that hadn’t done it, what would?

His shoulders relaxed. “Good,” he nodded, satisfied. “Now tell me what else is bothering you.”

"How do you--"

"Just tell me, Camille."

“Drew left.”

“Drew. Your tutor.”

“Yes. We had a tutoring session today, but he was a no show. His roommate said he left school. No text or anything. I’m worried, Kage."

His expression grew serious. "He probably just had to deal with something last-minute," he replied, sliding his hand to mine and giving it a squeeze.

“He cleared out his room. His roommate has no idea why. Dante said he would look into it."

"See, that's good. Dante has connections with the registrar. He'll figure out what's going on."

I nodded. "You're right."

“Come on,” Kage said, taking my hand. “Let’s go home and get some lunch.”

* * *

The moment we walked inside the chateau, my senses were overloaded with the mouthwatering aroma of Ty’s famous sandwiches. My stomach rumbled loud enough for Kage to raise his eyebrows at me.

“Hungry for Ty's sandwiches, are you? You’re lucky my girl always gets what she wants.”

“Yeah, good luck getting Ty to make one for us.”

“Watch and learn,” Kage said.

Ty didn’t even look up as we walked into the kitchen. I took a seat at the table and watched as Kage walked over to the fridge and grabbed some eggs, the leftover rice from the night before, a jar of hot sauce and some pickles. He dumped them on the counter and pulled out a bowl.

Ty raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”

Kage’s eyes darted up to meet Ty’s for a moment, and I saw a flash of the anger he’d shown yesterday when he had seen the marks on my neck. But he pushed it down.

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