Page 91 of Savage Fate

“I don’t think I can sleep right now. Too anxious.”

“If you let me, I can help with that.” Saint brushed ebony locks out of his face. “Since you and Fane are mates, he couldprobably use your help during the spell. It’s best if you’re rested.”

Of course Saint said the one thing that would make me relent. “I’ll try.” My lips puckered as I studied him. “How exactly are you going to help me? I don’t have to do something weird like snuggle your hand like a stuffed animal while I sleep, do I?”

Saint chuckled softly. “I can just rest my hand on your arm. Skin-to-skin contact should do the trick. It doesn’t have to be some romantic gesture.” He shrugged. “Think of it medically.”

I needed to be as strong for Fane as I could. If this spell didn’t work…

It had to. There was no other outcome.

When I grabbed the blanket and pillow from the back, Saint’s masculine pine scent clouded around me. Did he purposely take them from his bed so I’d smell him while I slept? Was this his way of attempting to strengthen the bond and?—

I shut off the paranoid thoughts and positioned the pillow against the cool window. “If I start doing something embarrassing like snoring or talking in my sleep, you better wake me up.”

“I will.” Saint’s hand slipped under the blanket and rested on my forearm, where I’d pulled my sleeve up for him. “You don’t have to worry, Tate.”

My head angled toward him. “Worry about what?” I was always worried about something.

“Me doing this,” he gently squeezed my arm. “Spending time together won’t strengthen our fated mate bond.”

“It won’t?” Everyone kept telling me that, but I wasn’t sure I believed them.

He shook his head and tried to hide the streak of sadness in his gaze. “It doesn’t work like that. The bond is already there. We can’t change that. If we actually mated and claimed each other,that would certainly deepen it and give roots to it, but that’s not going to happen.”

Damn right it wasn’t.

“The only thing that might come from this is a friendship between you and me.”

“We can be friends.” The moment the words dropped from my mouth, I wanted to shove them back in. Saint and I couldn’t really be friends. Once we rejected the bond, he wouldn’t want to see me. Hell, seeing me now, knowing I loved someone else, was probably torture for him.

Plus, Fane wouldn’t be too happy with us being friends. I’d have a meltdown if he and Marissa were.

“I’m sure everything will be better once Fane removes this spell and we reject our mate bond.” His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. “Now I’m free to choose a mate without worrying about suddenly discovering my fated.”

“Maybe we should hold a contest. You could be like the bachelor.” I laughed at his scowl. “You won’t have a problem getting women to vie for your attention. Nightworld’s hottest alpha.”

“So you think I’m hot?”

I scoffed. “Anyone with eyes can tell you’re hot, Saint.”

“I might consider it.” He winked. “Only if you help pick the candidates. I trust your judgment.”

“Sadie would fight tooth and claw to win that contest.” I yawned.

Saint cocked his head as his lips pursed. “Sadie Montana? Nah, we’ve been friends forever.”

“You can’t seriously be that dumb, Saint. She’s totally in love with you.”

His mouth parted as he stared at the road ahead of us. “I never really entertained the idea of mating with anyone in caseI found my fated.” He drummed the steering wheel. “Sadie is sweet. And pretty.”

A tiny, minuscule twinge of jealousy coiled in my gut, but I shoved it away before it fully manifested.

A lineof cold sweat dribbled down my nape as I clenched my fists so tight my knuckles turned white. Illyria’s beautiful scenery of vibrant trees and emerald-green fields whizzing by the train’s window did nothing to calm the anxiety rushing through my veins.

But it wasn’t all because of Fane or any magic the witches were performing on him.

I fidgeted in the leather seat again, the walls closing in. The passengers around us casually chatted, oblivious to the storm raging within me. Some had given Saint and me curious glances when we boarded the eastbound train about an hour ago. They didn’t get many shifters in Illyria.

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