Page 81 of A Promise of Peridot
And then I was topless. In front of Kane. In the very small, dimly lit tent, only thin canvas and the backdrop of thundering rain to insulate us. His eyes fixed on my burns. If I had thought he was angry before... the look on his face now could have ended worlds.
I crossed my hands over my breasts, avoiding the burn as a flush crawled up my chest and onto my cheeks.
“Someonebrandedyou?” The canvas of the tent shook. Birds flew from trees, creatures scampered away in the rain. I wanted to flee, too. He was terrifying. More terrifying than I had ever seen him.
“I thought—” It barely made sense in my own head. “That somehow you already knew? The look on your face when you found me...”
“Mari bound me to your spirit. To find you.” His jaw clenched. “I felt what you felt.”
Oh, Stones.
“Your hands being tied. When someone—” He nearly grunted. “When someone removed your clothes, lifted your blouse. When theyburnedyou. I didn’t know where you were. Who or what was harming you. The pain—I assumed it had to be magic... That you were still in the caves. I didn’t realize it was a mortal with...” Kane examined the burn above my navel. “A fucking hearth poker?” His eyes were like silver flames of lethal rage. “That and a fucking death wish.”
“Kane, I’m all right. You’re getting all worked up for nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“I’m here now. I’m safe. Yousavedme.”
“Not soon enough.”
I glared at him.
“Sorry,” he said, blowing out a long slow exhale. “I’m trying to be less of a vindictive asshole these days.”
“You are?” I wished I hadn’t sounded so incredulous.
“And I didn’t save you,” he said, ignoring me. “You got yourself out.”
His words buoyed my spirits. It was true: I had escaped Halden on my own.
Kane released an uneven breath. “Who were they?”
“If I tell you, you’ll go after them. Word could get back to your father that we’re here.”
“Do not play with me right now, little bird. I have been watching you flit in and out of a pitiful sleep for hours. I felt you flinch. Listened to you weep. You have no lighte left to heal yourself, which tells me you were forced to put up one damn good fight to escape. Someone needs to be ripped limb from limb for laying their hands on your precious fucking body.”
His words stirred something in me. Heat rose up my neck. “Promise me you won’t go after them tonight.”
“No,” he growled.
If he went to the Amber encampment, at best he’d murder numerous men, some of whom might be just like my brother. Conscripted, unsure what or who they were fighting for. At worst he could draw attention to us, or be harmed.
“Please,” I tried. “Stay here, with me.”
His eyes skipped from shocked to pained. “Tomorrow then,” he relented. “At first light.”
“Give me your word.”
His silver gaze softened on mine as he said, “You have it. I won’t go anywhere tonight.”
I sighed. “It was Halden.”
Blistering silence. And then, “I should have killed him when I had the chance.”
“I made it out of the tunnel, and was rescued by pirates—”
Kane rolled his eyes. “I can’t lose sight of you for even one moment.”
