Page 14 of Fated Unkindness
Raelle nearly jumps out of my lap and my reach. The cold rushes in at me all at once, and I rub my hand down my face. Looking up at Trent, I roll my eyes at the wide-eyed look he’s giving me. I hadn’t even noticed that Trent and Kait weren’t on the patio with us anymore. My gaze drifts back to Raelle. A blush blooms across her face, and it’s sexy as shit. I give her a menacing grin locking my gaze with hers. The flush deepens, and she bites down on her bottom lip.
A bloodcurdling scream so loud it could have woken the entire kingdom comes from the garden on the side of the estate. Close. Too close. I stand abruptly, grabbing Trent by the front of his shirt with one fist. I’d know that scream anywhere.
“Ella.” We gasp at the same time, as we immediately begin sprinting into the night.
Chapter twelve
FOUR WEEKS AGO
I clench and unclenchmy fists, my heart is pounding in my ears as I purse my lips and stare at the uneaten lunch sitting on the table in front of me. How many times has this happened recently? The tension in town is running rampant and I'm starting to understand why. Cano is not showing the leadership he should be. Every time I turn around he’s disappearing or not showing up to something we have planned. I push away from the table, the chair squeaking across the wood floors in protest. I'm done playing this game with him. Ravendene deserves better. Mel deserves better.
Istride into the training center late in the afternoon looking for Cano. He didn’t show up to our lunch, yet again. Flynn came into the library at the time Cano was supposed to meet me saying that he was held up in a strategic meeting with the regime. I call bullshit. Cano has been avoiding me for the last two weeks. Likely because I won’t give up trying to convince him to allow a mission to try to find Mel. The poor girl was only eleven years old.
I forcefully shove the door open, it clunks against the wall and I look around the dimly lit space. Nobody is training in the late afternoon, only the smell of sweat and the metallic tang of blood clings to the air.
“What are you doing here, Raelle?” Cano’s voice comes to me from a dark corner of the room where he’s sitting in one of the spectator seats, his feet up on the chair in front of him.
“I'm here because you’ve been avoiding me.” I pin him with narrowed eyes.
“I’m avoiding everyone.” He says blandly.
“Cano, you have to understand. It’s his sister. Mel is only eleven years old. If there was ever a cause for going out with a crew on a rescue mission it’s now! It’s already been two weeks since she went missing. Do you know what could happen in two weeks out there?”
“I know precisely what could happen!” He bellows, dropping his feet from the chair in front of him he stands and storms over to me. I lift my chin to meet his gaze.
“Do not yell at me, Cano Croix. Be the man I know you to be and talk to me in a way I deserve.” I seethe with my lip curled in disgust. Cano looks down at me, his eyes clouded in darknessmaking his already dark eyes appear pitch black. He sucks his teeth, spinning on his heel as he aims to leave the training center.
“CANO!” I won’t stand for him walking away from me like this.
“Don’t follow me, Raelle. This conversation is over.” He says without even turning to face me. I run to catch him, reaching out I wrap my fingers around the crook of his elbow pulling to stop him.
“Cano wait. Please just talk to me about this.” My tone softens as I sense a shift in him.
Cano spins, his hand comes up to my throat and he slams me against the wall. My head bounces at the impact. I scrunch my face up, my eyes squeezed tight as I try to push out the instant ache ricocheting through my brain. His fingers tighten around my throat to the point of pain. My breath only sneaks through in wheezes. I reach up clawing into his hands trying to get a reprieve from his tight grip.
“I told you not to follow me. I’m done talking about this. I’m done talking about him. The girl is gone. GET THE FUCK OVER IT.”
His grip is removed from my neck forcefully, and his body goes flying to the side in a flash of speed, the momentum takes me down with him. My elbow hits the hard stone floor splitting the skin there. The room grows darker by the second. My vision is tunneling, bright white spots bloom and float as I regain my breaths. Panting on the floor, I reach up, smoothing the ache in my throat. I look up to see Dax lifting Cano. He slides his body up the wall with only his toes touching the ground.
“How does it feel, motherfucker?” He growls. Cano’s feet struggle to find purchase as he grips Dax’s wrists, coughs, and sputters, spittle dribbling out of his gasping mouth. “You put your hands on her again, I’ll cut them from your body, one fucking finger at a time. Do you understand me?” Dax says through clenched teeth. He drops him to the ground like a child dropping a toy. Cano slumps down the wall in a heap gasping for air like a fish out of water. “I’m about done with this bullshit, Cano. I’m not going to warn you again. You are not the man I once knew if you’re willing to put your hands on a woman like that.”
“I’m not some defenseless damsel in distress,” I mutter. Dax pins me in his gaze.
“You’re not, but you were also not fighting back were you, Raelle?” He has a point. I wasn’t. I wanted to see how far Cano was willing to take his rage.
“I was making a point,”
“And what point was that?” He snorts a laugh turning on a heel to leave. A hum in my chest begins to build urging me to follow Dax and I grit my teeth as I watch him strut away. Turning back to Cano I narrow my eyes as I look down on him.
“He's right, you know. You’re not even the same person I have come to know since arriving here in Ravendene.” He doesn’t say anything, just spits to the ground. His lips curl into a sneer as he moves to stand. I shake my head and storm from the training center aiming to catch up with Dax. Cano doesn't follow.
Dax’s long strides have taken him farther than I thought and as I enter the square I see him turning a corner heading toward the boat house. I break into a run to catch up to him.
Finally, I see him standing by the bench at the water’s edge. The same bench Trent had brought me to all those moons ago.
“You shouldn’t have followed me,” he says flatly, his gaze fixed on the motionless water of the lake.
“Yeah, well, I guess I didn’t learn my lesson with the males around here.” I roll my eyes and he turns his body to face me.
