Page 57 of Dance of the Phoenix
But the restrictions he had were nothing in comparison.
Because he knew far too much for a mere vampire, even a vampire Lord. If he were to share what he knew, even with Aileen, his lover, his Alara Morreh, then he wouldn’t be the only one to suffer the consequences.
He hated that his only way to protect Aileen from dangers beyond her understanding was to lie.
But seeing as she was already in hot water because of her status as the last Child of Kahil, he knew adding to it wouldn’t just be unwise but utterly dangerous.
And so Ragnor had to live with his guilt as the cost for keeping his loved one safe.
Chapter 29
Aileen
Ragnor’s entire demeanor changed.
I didn’t notice it at first, since the day after our talk, Logan and I, along with the other Hecatomb pairs, joined together for an ensemble training session, practicing mock battles and honing our cooperation skills.
Since the cojoined sessions were overseen by Magnus and Margarita rather than Ragnor, I didn’t see him until it was time for my private session that evening.
He acted the same as he always did and was affectionate enough to sneak in kisses and some fondling in between practice rounds, but I couldn’t help but feel he was keeping a measure of emotional distance.
Perhaps it was because he’d told me something extremely private about himself and he didn’t know how to acclimate to feeling vulnerable, or perhaps he regretted telling me in the first place. Whatever it was, it made me feel uneasy.
And unfortunately, my being uneasy showed.
“Fuck, Aileen,” Logan growled at me as I landed on my ass after Neisha easily dodged my attack and sent me flying. “What the hell is wrong with you today?”
“Nothing,” I snapped at him, scowling as I climbed to my feet. “I’m fine.”
Logan glowered at me, eyes glowing. “I thought you wanted us to put our past behind us,” he hissed at me quietly enough so only I could hear. “But now you’re acting as if I don’t exist? Very mature.”
His words irked me to no end. In fact, Logan’s entire attitude since he’d forced a kiss on me two days prior had been grating on my nerves. I’d done my best to move on from that because we genuinely had no time for such scuffles when the Hecatomb was right around the corner, and yet he acted bitter and cynical every time I dared speak to him.
So now when I wasn’t, he suddenly cared? What the fuck was that all about?
“You know, not everything in this world is about you, Logan,” I hissed back at him and walked to the table at the far end of the room to grab a bottle of blood.
He followed me. “Then at least be professional and put whatever it is out of the training room,” he sniped, as if he were itching for a fight.
And since I wasn’t calm enough myself to put a stop to it, I whirled around to face him, only to find he was barely an inch away, his body plastered to mine. “Back off, Logan,” I growled in warning, and it wasn’t just about the physical proximity.
“No,” he said in a low voice, eyes holding mine. “I think it’s time we talked and cleared some things up so you won’t act like a little bitch.”
His sheeraudacityhelped me to momentarily forget Ragnor and focus solely on him. “I’macting like a little bitch?” I said, shocked. “Who’s the one that ignored me first? Who’s the one whoforced a kiss on meas if it would get rid of his fucking trauma?”
His face turned thunderous. “And whose fault is it that I have this trauma?!” he yelled at me, hands grabbing my shoulders.“The very leastyou could do is take fucking responsibility instead of acting as ifI’mthe one at fault!”
An animalistic growl escaped my throat as I completely lost it. Before I knew what I was doing, I punched his face.
He gave me a humorless, wild smile in return and punched me in return.
Ignoring the pain on my cheek, I screamed in rage and pushed him to the floor, straddling him as I sent my fists flying at his face one after another, seeing red.
Suddenly, someone grabbed me from behind and forcefully took me off him, while I saw Neisha helping Logan to his feet as he spit blood.
I struggled against the hold. “Let me go!” I shrieked, thrashing around.
“You’ve got to calm down, Henderson.” I heard Oberon’s voice in my ear. Apparently, he was the one who held me. “You don’t want to make more of a spectacle out of it than it already is, do you?”
