Page 78 of Shadow Caster
“Do not speak to anyone else about what happened today,” he said. “The last thing we need is panic. The shadow knights will deal with this threat, and I’ll inform Brunner when I return.”
None of this made sense to me, and being cut off from the action was unfair. “Shouldn’t we be helping?”
“Right now, you’ll just get in the way. You’ve still got a lot to learn about the mist and the creatures that inhabit it. Focus on the trial. If you pass those, you’re one step closer to being exactly what we need.”
There was no arguing with that. I’d gone out without my axes today, a rookie error.
Harmon and Thomas began to climb the steps, and I made to follow.
“One moment, Justice.”
Harmon looked back, but Hyde lifted his chin. “Carry on, you two.”
Thomas continued up, but Harmon lingered a moment longer before following his lover up the steps.
Hyde looked down at me. “Are you all right? I know you said he saved you, but Brady said you got knocked out?” His hand came up and hovered by my cheek for a split second before he dropped it.
His gaze was warm. Not a tutor concerned about a student but something more. No. I wouldn’t do this again. He’d made his feelings, or lack thereof, clear.
I remembered to breathe. “I’m fine. The bump’s already healed. He wanted to save me, and he had to knock me out to do that.”
Hyde’s expression smoothed out. “Then he’s the exception to the rule. Fomorians may want a lot of things, but our survival is not on their list.”
“Hell, what do I know? I’ve been doing this for a couple of weeks, and you’ve been doing it for years. But what I do know is that he could have hurt me, and he didn’t.”
Hyde sighed. “I’m glad you’re safe. You shouldn’t have been out there alone in the first place.” His mouth tightened.
Crap, what if Brady got into trouble for this? “It was an AM post repair. It doesn’t take more than one person to do, and Devon and Aidan were on patrol too. I wanted to go alone.”
He took a step closer, and suddenly, there wasn’t enough air between us. His proximity forced me to lift my chin to look at him. His lips were so close that if I pushed up on my toes, I’d be able to taste them. His eyes were hooded and heavy with desire.
Desire?
There was no imagining that. And just like that, my blood was rushing around my body in a frenzy of contradictive emotions.
“There you go,” he said. “Being rash.” His voice thickened. “Being a shadow knight is all about being part of a team, Indigo.”
I loved it when he said my name. “I’m all about the team efforts.”
The warmth of his gaze made my mouth tremble with need.
Do it. Kiss me.
Oh, God. Just do it.
This was agony.
His breath brushed my cheek in the softest of sighs, and then he took a measured step back.
I caught myself before I could take a step with him and bit the insides of my cheeks to stop myself cursing.
His hands were fists at his sides as he studied me for a long beat, and in that moment, it was impossible to read him.
“I won’t be formally reprimanding Brady.” His tone was distant and cool. “However, in the future, all excursions into the mist must be undertaken in pairs. No exceptions.”
He’d turned it off, whatever he’d been feeling, because there was no doubt in my mind now that he was attracted to me too. He just didn’t want to be. Needles of frustration stabbed at my chest. “Fine. Is that all?”
“That’s all.”
