Page 54 of The Anointed's Paladin

Talon

Ileaned forward, rubbing my forehead. I didn’t really have any experience with this, but Kaine had just…left. He’d practically run out, not even looking at me, and it made my cheeks hot. I mean, maybe this was part of his play? So far, he’d seemed to intuitively know exactly what I wasn’t able to voice, perfectly delivering the degradation that made me fall apart. But if this was calculated on his part, it was the first mistake he’d made. Rushing out and leaving me alone in this mess was humiliating, sure, but also just made me feel unwanted.

I slid off the stone table and slowly pulled on my pants. My eyes pricked, and I blinked, hard.

Grow up,I told myself. Ugh. Kaine had no reason to give a shit about me. But I certainly felt very different about him, now that I wasn’t trying to kill him. I’d thought, after he’d told me about his past and how relaxed he’d been with me today, that he might have felt a bit differently too.

Obviously, I’d been wrong. Of course, I had. He’d made it quite clear I was nothing more than a distraction for him.

I sniffed, clenching my jaw, Mirilith’s fervour stirring as I struggled to remain calm. It was my own fault, my lack of experience that was causing this pain. I needed to suck it up and accept that Kaine just wanted me to be his fuckboy. Which was agoodthing, really.

It’s a good thing he didn’t care. Why would he?

I told myself that over and over as I made my way back to camp, each time hoping that, maybe, it would hurt a little less.

25

What’s at stake

Kaine

Islid back into the room and paused as I took in… Well, I wasn’t sure what I was looking at. Nidori was buzzing around frantically, straightening wall hangings. The floor had been swept, so there was no longer a layer of dust covering the floor. The empty candle holders on the wall had been stuffed with glowing mushrooms.

I raised my eyebrows. “You all right?” I asked.

Nidori’s head snapped toward me. “Welcome back!” she sang in a cheery voice, coming over to plop a kiss on my forehead. She was sweaty, and her curly hair was frizzy. Something didn’t seem quite right, but I was clueless where to even begin.

“You seem to be in a good mood,” I said.

She nodded. “Just thought I’d clean up a bit.” She tucked a curl behind her head. “Have a good fox?”

I chuckled. “You have no idea,” I said, and her face flickered a bit.

“Yeah, well, I’m not quite done yet,” she turned back to the room. “Got to make it perfect!”

She flew down to a large pile of rocky debris and started to try and move a particularly large rock.

“Can I get that for you?” I asked, stepping forward.

“No, I’ve got it,” she said lightly.

I crouched down, reaching out for it, but she rounded on me, teeth bared.

“IsaidI’ve got it,” she hissed, and I took a step backwards.

She was freaking me out a bit.

“Suit yourself.” I shrugged, going to sit down by my stuff. She went back to trying to lift it, coming at it from a different angle.

Talon came in, shirtless and still looking a little dazed.

I smirked, but he didn’t look at me. He blinked at Nidori, who was still tugging at the huge rock. It was bigger than her.

“Need a hand?” he asked.

“Tried that, mate,” I said. “She almost bit my hand off.”

Nidori glanced up at Talon. Her face was flushed. She was dripping with sweat.

---