Page 53 of Dance of the Phoenix
What the hell had just happened?
Pain slowly built in my head, but I knew I could hold on for at least twenty seconds more, thanks to my training with Ragnor. So I held on while I tried to figure out the situation.
Did Logan think that by assaulting me back, he would be relieved of his trauma?
The fury exploded inside me, and I had to hold myself back from striking him. Because deep down, beyond my anger, I knew I deserved it. He was a victim ofmypast choices.
Everything in me wanted to respond in kind. To attack him back. To tear into him for what he’d just done.
My instincts and emotions battled with rationality. Because the rational part of me knew I had to let it go if I were to work with him and survive the Hecatomb.
But could we really do this? What if Logan did it again? What if this was a warning that he would abandon me when the actual Hecatomb happened?
Taking a few deep breaths, calming my racing heart and forcing my anxieties down and away, I cautiously thought,Release,and watched as Logan fell on his knees, fighting for breath, whipping his head up, looking so inhuman with glowing eyes and fangs still coated in blood.
He was no longer the Logan I knew.
Just like I was no longer the Aileen he knew.
“Did you get it out of your system?” I asked, unable to hide my disgust but successfully masking my own fears.
Logan growled in response, slowly rising to his feet, eyes flashing as if to say,Hell no.
I braced myself, preparing for defense against an attack. Because I wouldn’t let him get close to me a second time. There was a limit to how much I could sacrifice and suffer to make him feel better.
But suddenly the glow in Logan’s eyes dimmed and he sheathed his fangs. Confused, all I could do was stare at him, fearing it might be a tactic to get my guard down, until I heard the door open.
Wiping the blood on my hand with my black shirt and pulling my ponytail over my shoulder to hide the bite mark, I turned around to see Ragnor entering. His eyes narrowed, probably feeling the unbearable tension in the air. “What’s going on?” he asked at once.
“Nothing, my Lord,” Logan answered immediately. “Aileen and I were just discussing optional techniques that we could use in our strategy in addition to Iovan’s Imperium.”
I had to physically stop myself from gaping at him. The Logan I knew couldn’t think of lies to save his life. This shocked me far more than it probably should have.
Ragnor glanced between Logan and me a few times in silence before he nodded and said, “All right, then. Tell me what you were thinking about.”
For the next twenty minutes, Logan laid down what seemed to be an extremely well thought-out tactic that made me realize he’d thought about it prior to our training. All I could do was stand there, unable to look at either of the men as I was still reeling from what had just happened with Logan, and listen as he detailed the idea.
I did manage to gather that this strategy, in essence to divide and conquer—keeping my powers under wraps until a case of emergency, if either of our lives was at risk—was probably the best we could come up with when it came to fighting together in the Hecatomb. We stillneeded to work together, but at least we would each be facing another foe instead of standing together.
Nearing the end of the training, though, I began losing my focus as Logan’s assault took over my mind, and I was so out of it, Ragnor kept sending questioning looks my way.
But Ragnor asked me nothing. Not when we had lunch together, nor when we went to his town house for private training. In fact, he followed my act of “business as usual” right up until it was late at night, when we were in his suite.
That’s when our fragile peace threatened to break.
Chapter 24
Ragnor
Ragnor traced Aileen’s figure with his hand as the two lay in bed, facing each other silently. Ragnor could tell she was on edge, even though she was in his bed, showered and supposedly relaxed. There was caution in her hazel eyes that had been there the entire day, ever since the morning training with Logan.
He’d debated whether he should broach that topic. Talking about her relationship with Logan had become a minefield. Ragnor did not want to go back to the way they had behaved before making up the night before.
But he also knew this couldn’t go on.
“Talk to me,” he murmured, drawing her eyes to his, his hand stopping on her waist.
She grimaced. “Ragnor . . .”
