Page 147 of Deadwood
“Stop.” Auria shoved off the bed, wobbling on her feet. “Please. Just stop.”
I wanted to go to her, wrap her up in my arms and never let go, but I stayed put against the wall.
She kept her stare on Lander, steadying herself on her own. “What do you want?”
He looked down at her, noticing she wore my shirt. His jaw pulsed. “Tell him to leave.”
“Whatever you have to say, you can do it in front of him.”
The corner of my mouth threatened to lift in a smirk as Lander sucked on his teeth, unpleased with my presence and the fact she’d just chosen me over him in this moment.
Finally, he dropped his fight. “Auria, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt. I didn’t know the wolves hunted during the day. I thought they only came out at night and that we’d be safe.”
Her lashes fluttered, and I could tell she wasn’t ready for this. The attack was all too fresh.
Lander moved forward and took her hand in his. My body tensed with the urge to slice every finger that touched her off his body. He lowered himself to one knee, and I nearly rolled my eyes at the dramatics. Though, it did send a bit of satisfaction coursing through me at the sight of him practically begging for forgiveness. I just hoped she wouldn’t give in.
She dipped her chin, looking down at him. Her hair was slightly mussed from slumber, my shirt hanging loosely around her upper thighs. Siara had helped me change her clothes while she had been passed out. The ones she wore before had been caked in blood, and I’d wanted nothing but to get her out of them as soon as she was healed enough for us to move her.
“Please know that it wasn’t my intention to leave you vulnerable out there.”
“It’s always a risk,” Auria whispered, pain laced in her words.
“I know. And I was an idiot for thinking it was safe to bring you to the mines.”
I arched a brow. The mines? Why would he have been taking her there?
“It’s safe if you take the proper precautions.” If Auria wanted to see them, I didn’t want her to fear the thought of ever visiting them. I’d take her, if she’d let me. “Your spur of the moment decision to take her out there with no backup, no proper weaponry, could have gotten you both killed. The forest is passable if you’re smart.”
“Are you calling me dumb?” Lander asked, dropping her hand as he stood to face me.
I shrugged. It was too easy to get under his skin. “If the shoe fits,Prince.”
“Leave.” Auria’s tone left no room for argument.
Lander shot her a questioning glance as I kept my eyes locked on him. One wrong move, and I’d sink a dagger in his throat and watch as the blood drained from the wound. “You heard her.”
He rolled his lips together, likely contemplating staying. “We’ll talk about this later.”
He turned on his heel, leaving me and Auria alone in the room. I watched as she stared at the door, wondering what she was thinking. Did she hate him? Forgive him? Want to end his life as badly as I did?
“Can I get you anything?” I shoved off the wall and dropped my arms to my sides.
She shook her head, sitting back on the bed almost as if in a trance. From feet away, my gaze caught on the tear that escaped her eye, rolling down her cheek to drip off her chin. In an attempt to hide it, she turned her head away from me. But out of everyone, I was the last person she needed to hide her emotions from.
I crossed to her, easing down to my knees, and gently grasped her chin between my thumb and pointer finger. I used my other hand to wipe another droplet away. “Don’t waste a single tear over him.” I held her eyes with my own, darting between the two, before coasting my gaze down to her shoulder, sliding down the pale skin of her arm as my hands fell to the bed on either side of her. Not long ago, she had been broken—dying in my arms. And she very well could have, had Vulcan not come to grab me in time.
What if he had been minutes later?
Seconds?
What if she had died before I arrived?
What if she never knew it was because her coward of a fiancé hadn’t a clue what to do to stop the bleeding or that he could attempt to remove the venom?
I was kidding myself, though. He wasn’t smart out in the world—only in his castle hidden away in Torbernite, where his parents and brother told him what to do and when. He wouldn’t have sacrificed his life for her, and that was the difference between him and me.
I’d give anything to keep Auria breathing, even if for just one more breath.
