Page 200 of Seer Prophet

My whole body hurt as I walked across the common space to the door.

When I saw Revik standing there, the look on his face felt like a punch to mine. I didn’t stare long enough to decide what his expression meant.

I looked at Angeline, instead, and fought with words.

“Thanks, Angie,” I said finally.

She threw her arms around me, wrapping them around my shoulders and back.

She held me like that for a few seconds, rubbing my back, as if giving me strength through the sheer force of her will. It touched me, enough to break through some of the fog that strangled my light. When she let go, I found myself clutching her arms, even though the embrace had already stretched longer than a normal goodbye.

It took me a few seconds longer to release her.

She looked at Revik then, frowning, her eyes cold.

“You’re a real piece of shit, you know that?” she said.

When I turned, Revik wasn’t looking at her.

He was looking at me.

His pale eyes studied mine––cautious, sad, openly worried, afraid. I felt his light skirt around mine with careful touches, as if trying to read me without getting too close.

I couldn’t hold his gaze that time, either.

“Come back anytime,” Angie said, louder. It still felt like she was talking to Revik, not to me. “Come by anytime you want, Allie. You can stay as long as you want, too.”

Revik gave her a hard look.

I felt anger on him, even as his fingers closed around my arm. He tugged at me gently, trying to coax me out of that doorway, and when I glanced back over my shoulder, I felt as much as saw the real source of his anger.

Jaden stood there, his blue eyes cold, staring at Revik.

He stared at where Revik held my arm, his face a pale mask.

“Yeah, Allie.” Jaden raised his voice, speaking louder than Angie. “You can come live with us if you want. Just say the word. We have room. Fuck. We’llmakeroom, even if it means sharing beds. You can be sure of that.”

I felt another hard pulse of fury off Revik, even as he enveloped me in a cloak of his light, pulling me closer to him.

That time, the gesture felt overtly protective.

Before I could think about why that might be, we’d started walking.

Or really, Revik started walking, and I followed him.

We were at least twenty or so steps down the hall and away from that door, when the door closed behind us.

I felt Angie there again, briefly, indecision in her light.

She thought she’d given me to an abuser. She’d let my husband come and collect me, and she couldn’t decide if she’d done the right thing.

I wished I could tell her it would be all right.

I knew how that would sound, though. I knew she wouldn’t believe me.

I don’t remember telling them anything, truthfully, about why I was there, but I could guess how I must have looked, showing up at their door. They knew Revik asSyrimne d’Gaos. A murderer. A killer. They knew him as someone who would probably hurt his wife, since he’d done so many other horrible things.

Violent people had a tendency to be, well––violent.

---