Page 47 of Cruel Debts
"It doesn't matter what contracts you signed or who you made promises to. What matters is how much damage you're doing to her in the long run." Harper sighed, and her fingers ran through her hair as she sought out the right words to convey her point.
I felt sorry she'd ever had to suffer the life she did for as long as she went through that whole ordeal. "Trinity isn't you, Harper."
"She's not; you're right. But what sheisis human, and she needs to get out and do something. She needs ways to feel human again, . And if you can't do that for her, she'll bolt at the first opportunity, and you won't find her until it's too late."
Ominous words from a small, wounded woman. "I'll take it into consideration," I admitted finally, though the intent behind them was still wishy-washy at best.
Once I was in the hallway, alone, the words she'd left with me as I departed rose unbidden again in my mind. Were we really doing her harm by doing what we could to keep her safe? Should we be doing it differently?
Did I need to re-evaluate our plan here?
I knew if I mentioned it to Liam, he'd shoot it down in seconds. But the longer I thought about it as I walked back up the stairs, as I entered our dorm, as I found myself alone in the commons, music coming from the one closed door in the place—hers—the more I wondered if I should do something. If I could do anything that would make a difference.
She'd be safe with me. And there's nothing that was discussed that said I couldn't take her with me somewhere. If I didn't disclose to the others where this somewhere was, then that wasn't the same as lying outright.
It was close, but not the same. And hell, there was no one leader in this group. I could do whatever the hell I wanted with our ward.
Who the hell would stop me?
I jumped in the shower, washing away the little bit of blood and gore from the impromptu surgery on a fellow Guild member, and then dressed casually—or as casually as I could, considering what I had in my closet. Something had to be done about the Trinity situation.
I found myself outside her door about a half hour later, after psyching myself up for the inevitable argument she'd no doubt give me until she realized this was a reward, not a punishment.
The first set of knocks went unanswered, so I tried again, pleased and a little relieved when she finally yanked the door open and looked me dead in the eyes.
"What do you want?"
Oh, so it was going to be one of those days? Great. "I want you to go somewhere with me."
"No way," she dismissed me, turning her nose up at the idea. "Last time I trusted a man to take me somewhere, I ended up locked in a gym forhours.Not falling for that shit again."
Damn Liam and his bullshit. "Listen, I'm not him, okay?" I reached for her arm, gripping her wrist so she couldn't run away from me. "I'm going for a walk on the grounds, and I'd like to take you with me."
She stared me down like that was the second-stupidest idea she'd ever heard. "That's so boring, I think my soul just died a little at the suggestion."
"Fine," I sighed, pivoting. I had several things planned. Obviously, she wasn't going to bite on the first one. The safest one. "What if we go out for ice cream?"
Her brow twitched up. "You? Go out for ice cream?" The way she slowly realized what that entailed was adorably cute, and I had to look away before I outed myself. I might be dedicated to the promise to do her no harm and protect her, but I wasn't immune to her. To the way she made me feel inside. "Yeah, right. And what's next? Along the way, we stop at a train station, and you nail me in a crate and ship me back to my parents?"
I grunted at what would have been a wonderful idea once upon a time, but was now just impossible and stupid. She'd break loose in minutes and be here to torture us in an hour if we tried it.
Maybe she wasn't as soft as we kept pretending she was. Maybe the problem wasn't her, it was us, and how we still looked at her like our friend's kid sister.
"I'm not sending you away," I told her, and it was the truth, whether she believed it or not. "Would it make you feel better if I let you drive us there and back?"
Her eyes narrowed. "We have to drive?"
"Only if you want to," I told her, "but it's close enough to walk if you're up for it."
She thought it over for a moment, the gears working in her head. Likely there were pros and cons to both, but ultimately, the lengthened time out of the dorms won out.
"I wanna walk."
"Fine by me," I give in, sighing despite my words. "Put on some comfortable shoes, though. It's not a short walk."
TWENTY-ONE
TRINITY
