Page 53 of Broken Fate
Enough. This is serious.
“Kiel,” I said. “No more.”
“No more,” he repeated, considering the words, still wandering deeper into the trees.
Away from the others. Until it was just the two of us and the gentle sounds of the breeze rustling the leaves high above.
“You’re holding back,” I said, throwing out the accusation. “I know you are.”
At last, he turned, his face pulled into an unimpressed frown. “Of course I am.”
I blinked. “You admit it?”
“Yes. Freely and easily,” he said calmly, folding his arms across his chest, the motion causing responsive ripples through the rest of his naked body.
For once, I was too shocked to look at the rest of him. I was too focused on what he’d just said.
“So, you just don’t care that you’re lying to us?”
Kiel growled warningly, his head lowering slightly, eyes boring down on me with an intensity I couldn’t match. “Watch your tongue.”
I squared my shoulders, trying to stand up under the weight. “You just said so,” I protested, wishing I didn’t sound as mewly as I did.
“No,” he corrected with a sharp shake of his head. “You’re twisting the words. I told you I was holding back. That I wasn’t telling you everything. That’s not the same as lying.”
I licked dry lips. He was right. “Why?”
Kiel shrugged. His thick cock bounced with the motion. I cursed myself for being so easily distracted.
“None of you are ready to hear everything,” he said, stating it like it was an unchangeable fact. Like the sky was blue or water was wet. Something that could nevernotbe true.
I seethed at the general lack of trust. “Really. Just like that. None of us are good enough yet, is that it? Tell me,Kiel, will any of useverbe ready to hear whatever you’re hiding? Or do you view everyone as lesser compared to you?”
To my utter disbelief, he looked away, running one hand over his jaw, stroking his beard as he tried to cover up the impact of my comment.
“You don’t understand,” he said, obviously hurt by my implication that we weren’t good enough for him. “You can’t understand.”
“Try me,” I said.
“Not yet.” I had to strain to hear his reply.
“When?” I pushed. “When will it be enough for you?”
“After we destroy the stones,” he said almost immediately. “Hopefully.”
I noted how he pluralized it, though we’d only ever talked about the Arcadian stone. His plans were bigger than he was letting on.
“But that’s what I need to know,” I said. “Whynow? Andi says you’ve been leading this rebellion for a long time.”
“Longer than you know,” he rumbled, still unwilling to meet my eyes.
What would I see in them if he did?
“Then why have you never tried before? What is it you aren’t telling us, Calli damn you!”
Kiel whirled on me, eyes ablaze. I stepped back in sudden fear.
“Do not say that to me,” he snarled, his chest rising and falling rapidly.
