“I demand an appeal. And if you don’t ask for one, then I will.”
Silence.
I was surprised to find her mind was open to me as I spoke to her. “What are you doing? He’s furious, back off before he puts you in Rest, Delara.”
“Danni was tortured, and you protected her despite knowing the consequences. You don’t deserve Rest. But, there’s something else. If you’re put in Rest, then something bad will happen to Danni.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” My chest tightened and my heart started pounding wildly.
Delara’s gaze shifted to Waleron, and her expression hardened. “That’s why I’m here, Balen. I wouldn’t have returned otherwise. If Waleron puts you in Rest, Danni will die.”
“What the fuck?” I shouted and all eyes turned to me.
Delara grunted and rolled her eyes. Obviously, she hadn’t intended for the others to know that we’d been speaking to one another.
Shit, Waleron looked livid. Facing his wrath was not on anyone’s list of things to do in an immortal lifetime. “Now! Delara.” Without a word, Waleron walked from the room. Delara glanced at me then followed.
“Don’t ever disobey me again.” Waleron’s voice was tight, restrained—deadly.
Okay, he was pissed. I’d overstepped. But damn it, I wanted to hurt Waleron the way I was hurting.
Fuck, I should’ve never come back. But, this time it wasn’t my choice, and defying the order was not in my best interest, nor was it in Balen and Danni’s.
“You send him to Rest, Danni will die.” I tried to keep my voice steady, but being anywhere near Waleron when he was this pissed off put a quake in it. I had to leave here before my heart, which I’d spent years repairing, broke again. I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t live like this being around him all the time.
“You mean she’ll kill herself?”
“No. I mean she’ll suffer and then die.”
“Stop playing games, Delara. And lower your block.”
I’d never let him read my thoughts again. It would be like allowing him to strip me naked, fuck me, and then have him walk away. Screw that. “If Balen is sent to Rest, she’ll die. If he is exiled, depending on the distance, she’ll suffer every minute he is away from her.”
“What are you talking about?” Waleron’s stance shifted and he crossed his arms over his chest.
As soon as the punishment had been passed on Balen, I’d had a visitor and found out what had been done. It was bad. Shit, it was worse than bad. “She’s human. She can’t survive if he is away from her. I can’t tell you how I know this, but you’re going to have to trust me.” Yeah, swearing to keep the culprit under wraps sucked, but blackmail spoke volumes. I had no intention of letting anyone know where the hell I’d been spending my nights recently.
“That trust left the day you walked away from us, Delara.” Waleron’s eyes roamed over my body and my breath hitched. Why did he have to look at me as if he wanted to fuck me and destroy me at the same time?
“Don’t do it, Tac.” I called him that because he was tactical about everything he did since he’d come back from the hell he’d been in. Shit, he was even tactical about breathing.
“Who is responsible?” Waleron began pacing and I shifted uneasily. He rarely paced. He was always steady as a mountain. Well, the mountain was having an avalanche right now and I was sitting at the bottom.
Okay, lie when you have to. “I don’t know.” I tried to keep my eyes directed on him, but within seconds, I was looking away from his intensity.
“Who?” Waleron repeated.
He was pounding on the door of my mind. If he broke the barrier down, he’d find out who told me and I’d be in serious trouble. “I . . . I . . .” Goddamn Waleron was forcing me to tell the truth. I fought his power, a struggle of minds he’d soon win.
A sudden sharp pain bolted through my body and I staggered, falling to my knees and breaking Waleron’s mental hold.
“What the hell?” he said.
He went to reach down and help me, but I quickly leapt to my feet. Waleron’s touch would heighten his ability to get into my mind and I couldn’t let that happen.
Okay, get this done and leave. “If you care at all for Balen and Danni, then you’re going to have to trust me.” I put my hand to my head as I felt the push on my mind and it wasn’t Waleron doing it. The push was debilitating, and I winced as I lowered my block. Heat seeped into my body, and then he spoke to me.
“I don’t like that asshole near you.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Waleron grabbed my arm, his fingers bruising.
“I . . . I have to go.” His eyes flashed red, and then my eyes drifted to his neck where his snake tattoo sat. It was uncoiling—fuck. “Let me go, Waleron. You’ve been quite eager to do it before. It’s the same process.”
His eyes narrowed and his hand dropped from my arm. “Are you in trouble?”
A whole hell of a lot. “Don’t put him in Rest.”
I turned and walked to the front door.
“I can force you to stay.”
“Yes.” My hand trembled as I reached for the doorknob. “But Tarek did that already and look what happened.” I knew that would get to him and from the low hiss of his snake tattoo—his Ink—it had. Waleron was feeling—what a concept.