Page 105 of Deadwood
I retrieved my coin off the table, pocketing it. “I don’t suppose you’re trying to control me now, are you?” I asked, doing my best to keep the irritation in my tone, despite wanting to let it go.
He looked at me again, his eyes narrowing as he leaned closer. “Not in the way you think, Princess.”
His gaze moved to something behind me, and I turned when his body stiffened. In the crowd, Paxon stood still among all the bodies moving every which way around him as they shopped and chatted. His eyes were trained on us, watching.
“You keep an eye on him,” Bowen muttered, his voice low with warning, like he wanted to say more.
“You don’t like him?” I questioned, wondering how much he knew about Paxon.
“I don’t trust him.”
His reluctance to explain why filled me with annoyance, and I didn’t stick around to see what Paxon might do or to hear some bullshit short response from Bowen. Leaving Siara at the booth she’d wandered off to, I joined the crowd of people, not bothering to say a word to Bowen.
“Auria,” he called after me, but I ignored him.
I pressed through the throng, warm bodies bumping into me from every angle. I needed air and space, and this market wasn’t providing a reprieve for either. I quickened my pace, spotting an empty alley ahead. I shoved my way past the last few rows of people, inhaling the warm air as I stepped into the opening.
As I’d suspected, Bowen followed.
“Auria,” he said again.
I ran my hands through my hair, tugging at my scalp. “Why won’t anyone just be clear with me?” But the question was left open. I didn’t expect an answer. I doubted Bowen had one anyway.
My chest heaved as oxygen filled my starving lungs, and I pressed my forehead to the wooden wall of whatever business stood on one side of the alley.
This entire world was a mystery to me, and as I’d come to learn, my father kept me in the dark for no good fucking reason. It was all to control me, to keep me naive and willing to follow his every demand. He’d succeeded, and I wanted to hate him for it, but a part of me couldn’t. He’d kept me safe, fed me meals, provided me safety and shelter.
“You’re okay, Auria,” Bowen said, his voice a touch softer than it had been in the market.
I whirled on him, throwing my hands to my sides. “You’re an extinct species, Bowen! Hell, this whole fucking town likely is, and I had no clue!”
In a blink, he was in my space, pressing my back to the wall, pinning my hands above my shoulders. “Breathe, Auria.”
I tried to shove against his hold, but it was no use. “I don’t need to fucking breathe!”
“Your mind is spinning in a hundred different directions right now, so yeah, some deep breaths might help.”
I tried again to get him off of me, but his hands remained on mine. I wouldn’t look at his eyes, wouldn’t let myself get lost in them. He’d deceived me. But he didn’t. My father had. If I hadn’t been so blind to the world, I’d have known dragons weren’t actually in hiding, known fae weren’t extinct, that creatures existed past Amosite’s chasm. But it all came down to Bowen. Bowen, standing here, pinning me against this godsforsaken wall as a market full of predators bustled mere feet away.
I let out a frustrated groan, shaking my head and squeezing my eyes shut. “I’m spinning because of you, Bowen!” My chest heaved, my mind a whirlwind.
“I’m not your enemy,” he said.
I couldn’t help it any longer. My eyes met his, and I swallowed the dryness coating my throat. “You’re fae.” And if I had to guess, they were rumored to be extinct for a reason.
His hands pressed harder against mine, his toned, inked forearms flexing with the movement. “That’s right, Auria. I am. Which means I can feel the fear wafting off your skin, hear your heart threatening to beat out of your chest, smell the desire seeping off you every time I walk into the room.”
“You’re wrong,” I spat.
He ignored my protests. “It isn’t me you should fear.” He dropped my hands, and I realized how much I was relying on him to hold me up when I staggered away from the wall. He was an anchor in the chaos.
“Then who? Because all arrows point to you right now,” I said between panting breaths. He’d treated me so nicely thus far, and yet, I couldn’t help but have second thoughts that he was the monster lurking in the dark.
He let me have a moment to breathe, to settle the racing of my heart. “Think about everything you knew, and everything you know now. You shouldn’t trust anyone. Not in Amosite, not in Deadwood.” His eyes held mine, something like pain flashing in them. “Not even your precious fiancé.”
He didn’t give me the chance to press further as he left me in the alley. It wasn’t the first time I had watched him leave, the sight all too familiar after last night, and I wondered if that was how it would always be.
People walking out on me before I could get a real answer.
