Page 58 of Chosen
Silence engulfs the room as he holds me to him. I allow the heat of the water to sooth my aching muscles. My body has been thoroughly ravaged and I don’t have to the strength to do anything besides, lean against him.
“I’m sorry,” he finally speaks. “I just came back from a run and I needed to see you.”
I have this strange feeling that he’s not just apologizing for a lot more than he was letting on to.
He continues. “I’ve made a mess of things. I should have given you time adjust to the idea of coming to my sector. But I arrogantly thought I could protect you.”
I still don’t understand what he’s getting at but I hear the heaviness in his voice and an unexpected vulnerability.
“I don’t understand,” I finally reply.
“There’s something happening in the fortress beyond my control. And the truth is, I’m not able to keep you safe. I’ve failed as a Sector Leader and I’ve failed you.”
The wariness in his voice scares me more than his actual words. What does he mean he can no longer keep me safe? I wondered if it had to do with Chancellor Braeden.
I twist my body around to face him. “Is this about your relative?”
He nods slowly. “I understand you encountered him during your tour.”
“How did you know?”
“I’m given a report of your activities every day, even when I can’t be with you.”
“I don’t know how I feel about him essentially spying on me but it’s not like I can do anything about it.
He cups my cheek in his palms and stares down at me with his intense gaze. “Jamie, I need to tell you something so please listen without interrupting. Can you do that for me?”
I nod silently.
“Tomorrow, there’s going to be an uprising in the fortress. I didn’t realize what was happening around me until it was too late. And I don’t know what the outcome will be but when Ayla comes to your room in the morning. I want you to go with her. She’ll get you off the premises and take you to a safe house. I want you to go there until someone either from my team or someone from Sector 2.”
Magnus? What did he have to do with any of this? I want to ask him more but I’d already promised not to speak until he finishes.
“If by chance I survive tomorrow’s coup, I want to make things right by you. You may have been assigned my breeder but my feelings for you run deep. I think I felt it from the moment I laid eyes on you. I’ve been in denial because up until now, I didn’t understand what this feeling is. I’m reluctant to use the word love because that doesn’t come easy to someone like me. You’re special to me Jamie and I want to take care of you and cherish you. But I also want you to want me. I don’t want you to feel obligated to be with me because you’re my breeder and I’m the Sector Leader.”
He takes another deep breath.
“So, after tomorrow. I’m going to return you Sector 2.”
My heart instantly drops when he makes this declaration.
Chapter
Twenty-One
DRAKEN
Ididn’t intend to confess to Jamie so soon, especially during all this turmoil, but I also realize that I may not survive this coup Braeden has started. My instinct tells me it’s going to happen soon and I need to act fast.
Shortly after my call to Magnus, I’d left the fortress to go on a run. Shifting and running usually cleared my head but all I could think about was Jamie and how I was going to protect her.
My mind was still in shambles by the time I made it back to the fortress. I headed straight to Jamie’s room wanted to hold her and be with her knowing it might be the last time.
After my confession, Jamie remained speechless but I didn’t expect to receive an answer from her at least not yet. Besides, I couldn’t ask her to love me back. She’d experienced so much trauma at the hands of thesuperious. My only hope was I came out on the other end of this mess alive, maybe she could come to care for me a little bit.
Though Jamie doesn’t speak after I’ve said what was in my heart, I bathe her and wash her hair. After drying her off, I get in bed and hold her until she falls asleep in my arms.
At some point, I dose off as well, but I wake up some time later in the night and slip out of her room to go to my own.
