Page 112 of Seer Prophet

“Is that not allowed anymore, either?” he asked, frowning.

He had a point.

We both pretty much read one another with impunity. The unspoken rule seemed to be that anything one of us didn’t actively shield from the other was fair game. We never came out and said that, of course, but we’d been living it for a while now.

Still, his sudden change in mood threw me.

“No,” I said. “Of course you can read me.” I pushed my upper body up on my elbows. “Really, I was more impressed,” I admitted. “What did you get off me just now? Or are you trying some sneakier-than-usual way to get me to ‘fess up names? Pretending you know when you really don’t?”

“Jorag,” he said, blunt. “Balidor. Chandre. Pagoj. Chinja.”

I blinked. “Okay. Wow. Iamimpressed. Either that, or I should be worried.”

He clicked at me, but the annoyance didn’t fade from his expression.

“Did he really stare at you like that? Or are you trying to wind me up? Because if it’s the latter, there are better ways to do that, wife. Safer ways, anyway.”

“Safer for who?” I cocked an eyebrow.

“Safer for Jorag,” he growled. “Safer for you, if you were serious about wanting me to unlock you from that wall anytime soon.”

Seeing the genuine irritation in his eyes, I clicked at him.

“It’s not a big deal, Revik.”

I hesitated, trying to decide if I should bring up the Terian thing. Part of me thought I should wait until after I’d coaxed him into sex, especially now that he was already annoyed. He might be a little more amenable to the information after sex, I reasoned.

Or, realistically… he might not.

Maybe, if I was being totally honest with myself, I wanted sex, and I was pretty sure sex would be off the table once he found out about Terian. Then again, maybe that wasn’t the best basis for making communication decisions regarding my husband. Particularly not in relation to topics he was obviously still sensitive about.

“Where were you all morning?” I asked. “Balidor had no idea.”

He shook his head, clicking at me. “Don’t change the subject, wife. I’m really not in the mood.”

I exhaled, exasperated. “Whatisthe subject, exactly? I said I was sorry.”

I was still trying to decide what was going on with him, whether I should bring up Terian or not, when the pain coming off his light abruptly worsened. He was looking at my eyes then, his mouth hard. I felt his frustration at his inability to make me understand. I felt his irritation that I hadn’t said anything about Balidor and the others coming in here, but somehow, that felt mostly like worry, too.

Looking at him, I realized he was talking himself down.

He was trying to calm himself down from an adrenaline rush.

The fact that someone came in here without him knowing really scared him.

I studied his face, perplexed. It occurred to me that some of this might really be about his fear of something bad happening to me again.

He let out a low snort, staring at me incredulously. “Youthink?”

I felt my face warm. “You really think Jorag could be a plant?”

“Jonwas a fucking plant, Alyson!”

“But Jorag?” I frowned, skeptical. “I mean, the genius of the Jon thing was, there was no way we’d ever suspect him. And he wasn’t a ‘plant’… they temporarily screwed with his mind. But Jorag? I mean, how many times has Balidor looked at him?”

“He was in both Rebellions.”

“Yeah, pretty much my point,” I said.

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