Page 17 of Oh, Sacred Dark
Tyler had never hunted anything, but this was probably what people meant when they said not to run from a predator—every instinct in Tyler sparked into being ready to tackle Roman to the floor.
He’d fuckingknownRoman was up to something, and the expression on his face was proof.
“Hey,” Tyler called out. Roman seemed absolutely frozen as Tyler started walking towards him.
Then, stunning Tyler to a dead stop, Roman fell to his knees.
“I’m sorry,” Roman said, pressing his forehead to the ground,subjugatinghimself for Tyler. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Tyler struggled to find words in his scrambled brain. The fucking fear coming off Roman was…unsettling. “Jesus, what did you do?” It had to be bad, for that sort of reaction.
If Roman had killed someone, Tyler would never forgive himself. Despite his suspicion, he hadn’t kept a close eye on Roman—not as much as he should have.
Roman was gasping into the dirt. Tyler took a step closer, halting again as Roman flinched. “What did you do?” he repeated.
“I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry, I’m—”
“Okay. Stop. I need to know what you did, Roman. Now.”
For a second, it seemed Roman wasn’t going to speak, gasps garbled, but then his trembling voice said, “For leaving my room without permission. I went to the forest—it’s the third time. And I ate something when it wasn’t dinner.”
Tyler had to take a breath to process that bullshit. What did that have to do with anything? “What were you doing in there? The forest, I mean.”
“I was using my magic,” Roman confessed.
Bingo. “Using your magic for what?”
“I was Listening.”
That threw Tyler off. Roman had Listening Magic? “Listening to what?” he pressed.
“To the trees. To—to the forest.” Roman was trembling, his whole body shaking with violent tremors. Tyler didn’t know why that was happening, but he had to push aside his instincts to comfort the man below him.
“For what? What were you searching for?” Roman wasn’t answering the fucking question, acting dumb about what Tyler was actually after.
“For…for my own selfish purposes. For…” Roman choked on nothing. “I don’t know. It’s weak, I need to stop. I’m sorry.”
This wasn’t going anywhere. “Okay, stand up.”
Tyler hadn’t realised exactly how much Roman was shifting and flinching until all movement stopped. He simply crouched there, bent over his knees like a statue.
“Roman…” Tyler warned.
Roman sprang into motion, scrambling to his feet. He was dirty across his front, his hair, his face, but he didn’t even try to brush it off. He just stood there, gaze down, face paler than Tyler had ever seen it.
“Roman,” Tyler said, keeping his voice steady. “Have you hurt anybody? Or an animal?”
Roman’s eyes widened, although he still didn’t look up. “No.”
“When you came out of the forest, you were scared. Why?”
“Because…because you didn’t give me permission to leave my room today, and I did anyway,” Roman whispered.
“What does that even mean? You don’t need my permission to leave your room. You know that, right?” A sick feeling was taking over his stomach as Roman didn’t reply. “Roman. You know you can leave your room without my permission.”
“I wasn’t sure. I should have checked with you. I’m sorry.”
“No, that’s—youdidn’thave to check in with me. You can go anywhere in the coven. I’m not your keeper.”
