Beyond the Next Star by Melody Johnson

Author:Melody Johnson [Johnson, Melody]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781735149905
Publisher: Incendi Press, LLC
Published: 2020-06-22T16:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

Something was terribly wrong. Well, more terribly wrong. The entire day had been a nightmare even before someone had tried to poison her, but she of all people knew that no matter the nightmare, it could always take a turn for the worse. Just as suddenly as Torek had saved her, his expression deadened. He stood, calm as could be, and tugged on her tether.

“Come.”

That one word had more bite than the nip in the air, and Delaney froze. Their replacement food hadn’t been served yet. Their second waitress hadn’t chatted with Torek for half an hour, and they hadn’t eaten or paid. And they were leaving?

The tether pulled taut as Torek left the restaurant, and Delaney rushed to catch up before he choked her.

He didn’t speak to her on the ride home, which was just as well because he knew that she wouldn’t speak back, but he didn’t look at her either. He didn’t touch her or pet her or help her down from the hover vehicle. She’d come three inches from anaphylactic shock, for heaven’s sake, but he didn’t steady her when she inevitably slipped on the snow in the courtyard, and he didn’t pick her up after she cracked a puddle of ice with her ass. He just tugged on her tether, and she trudged along in his wake, knowing that something was very, terribly wrong.

They rode the elevator up the mountain into the castle, stomped past a line of saluting guards, turned down the back hallway with its floor-to-ceiling windows, and, once they were alone in the privacy of his room, the door firmly shut—and locked—behind them, Torek turned to her, finally meeting her gaze.

His eyes pinned her in place. The anguish in them took her aback. He didn’t move to unbuckle her collar. He didn’t move at all, and neither could she under the weight of that stare.

She tried to speak, but between fear and an entire day of disuse, her voice croaked. She cleared her throat and tried again.

“Torek?”

He continued to stare at her, his gaze becoming more focused and resolved with each passing second. Resolved to do what, Delaney couldn’t begin to hazard a guess, but the force and intensity of his regard was unnerving.

“I tell you it not safe,” she murmured.

“I told you I’d protect you.” His lips compressed to a thin, disapproving line. The tips of both fangs peeked out. “Did I not?”

“You did.” Delaney took a deep breath. Maybe anger was easier for him to process than fear, something she understood intimately. She reached out and caressed his forearm. “You save me.”

He recoiled from her touch. “This isn’t about that.”

“No?” She let her hand fall back to her side, stung. “I not imagine what more pressing than the second attempt on my life,” Delaney said drolly.

Torek pointed his finger at her. “Don’t start in about the knife. You can’t distract me, not from this.”

“What ‘this’?”

Another few seconds ticked by in silence. Torek’s expression was naturally disapproving, but he was being especially enigmatic this afternoon.

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