Chapter 7
It was hard not to watch him. Even in his sleep he wasn’t relaxed. Not like he’d been when she found him. But he hadn’t really been sleeping then, had he?
No, he was unconscious at that point.
She sighed and laid on her side. She could tell that leaving the dragons’ house was hard for him. So much disappointment was written all over his face as shown by the crease in his brow, the set in his jaw, and the near pout of his mouth. If it wasn’t so sad, she might find it sexy. He had that look about him. The hidden danger that lurked behind the surface, yet she knew he had a history, and it couldn’t be perfect. Or why else would someone have tampered with his mind? She wanted him to know that, no matter what he told her, she wouldn’t run.
He opened his eyes and stared at her with a sleepy smile. “Good morning, love.”
Thump-thump-thump. “Are you feeling better?”
He seemed to check his body and nodded. “I’m okay.”
“But Willow said–”
“She might not be right. Just because it’s that way for them doesn’t mean it will be for me.”
Callie rested her fingers on the stubble on his jaw. “But it could be.”
He turned his face and pressed a kiss to her fingers. “You’re right, but why don’t we worry about that later? I don’t know what’s going to happen now. I had such hope, and now–”
“You don’t.”
He nodded and closed his eyes. Callie realized he wasn’t doing well, but he wasn’t going to admit it. His face was pale and withdrawn. His eyes seemed even darker. She almost couldn’t even see the shade of blue. The darkness contrasted with his pasty-white skin. He was getting worse. She couldn’t ignore the signs. Willow said until she took the female dragon, things wouldn’t be good for him.
It would be up to her to figure this out. She didn’t like the idea of him shunning the others. Even though they were asshats, they still knew more than she did. She had a feeling something was going to bring them back together anyway. Unease filled her. They weren’t finished with the dragons of Stratham. Darkness was coming, and she was going to get caught in the crossfire. Of that she was certain.
Evander reached out for her hand, and she sighed before letting him take her fingers and lace them with his. Warmth settled, and even though a large part of her was freaking out, another part of her–the little girl searching for her prince–was content. She’d found him, but now she had to save him before she lost him. It wasn’t the typical fairytale, but she wasn’t the typical woman either.
This time, when she opened her eyes, the bed was empty. She looked to the side and groaned. She hadn’t meant to fall back to sleep. She’d wanted to go see Willow. She needed more information. That just meant she wouldn’t be able to. Certainly, he would want to try again. It didn’t seem likely he would quit after one bad incident.
Pulling herself out of bed, Callie looked down at her clothes and thought better about leaving the room. Sweat pants were comfortable, but not really what she wanted him to see her in all the time. They weren’t flattering, and she could see every inch of fat that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
She cringed, ignoring the urge to empty her stomach of what little she had left. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d eaten anything decent.
Tears filled her eyes as she shook her head, fighting her own internal battle. Every day, she had to remind herself to keep from caving. Footsteps brought her out of her turmoil, and she wiped the tears that had fallen away with haste. No need to let him see her this way. It was her battle to fight alone.
She could hear movements outside of the room. Just knowing he was still there was comforting. He wouldn’t leave her. She didn’t think he really could.
***
His mate was crying. He scented the salt from her tears, but when he would have tried to comfort her, he listened as she shut off her emotions. It was like he was locked out. He raised his hand to knock just as she opened the door, smiling at him. Her eyes were red, and the smile was fake.
He frowned. “Love, are you all right?”
Her smile widened even further, if that was possible. “Of course. I guess I’m just worried about you.”
She went to move forward, and he noticed how she turned to the side and slid past him, not allowing her body to touch his.
Was she upset with him?
In such a short time, she’d changed his life, and he wasn’t sure how to cope with it. He was no closer to figuring out what to do. He really wanted to come clean. But now that she was pulling away, he wondered if he should even bother. No matter how strong he was, this feeling was one he’d never felt before. He was insecure.
He followed behind her. “We can try the dragons again if you think we need to.” He really didn’t want to, but he could tell she wanted the help. And if that was what was bothering her, it was easily fixed.
She glanced over her shoulder at him and nodded. “I really think you should. Maybe this time not in their house, though. Meet just one of them, I guess the head guy. In public. Maybe with Willow.”
He nodded. That might work. “I guess we could try it, but if it turns out the same, I’m not going to bother again, okay?”
“I understand.”
She said all the right words, but it didn’t seem like her mood lifted. Maybe it wasn’t him. He wasn’t used to women. He had no idea what he was supposed to do. Was he supposed to force her to talk, or leave it alone?
She went into the kitchen and stood frozen in the middle of the room. Her body was tense, her shoulders low. He still had a lot to learn about Callie. She had her own past, secrets, and hurts. He walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her, ignoring the way her body tensed at his touch.
“Are you upset with me?”
She spun and shook her head. Her eyes filled with tears, and his heart ached to take whatever pain she had away. This was a new feeling–this utter distress for someone else. He’d shut that part of him off, and it was like ripping off a giant Band-Aid to open it again.
“No, not at all.”
“Then what’s wrong, love?”
She opened her mouth, but shook her head again and buried her face into his chest. “I can’t.” It was mumbled, but he understood.
He ran his hand over her hair, gripping her head against him. “Shh, it’s okay. When you’re ready, then.”
She nodded.
He didn’t want to worry about himself just then. Something was eating her up. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like it. “Do you want to go to the diner and see if Willow is there?”
She looked up at him and smiled. It was small, but this time, it was real. “Yes.”
He wanted his mate happy, even if he didn’t want to be around the beasts he was supposed to kill. How could he do it? The woman was with child. He couldn’t kill a mother. Not when his was taken from him so young. He sucked in a breath as if he had been kicked. There was no way in hell he’d do what the Council wanted now. The only problem was finding a way out of the situation and doing so without dying in the process. He wanted to be able to be with his mate, and for the first time in his life, he wanted to be around his kin. He wanted to find acceptance and love, something he’d only felt from one person.