Chapter 15
For a moment, Tyce stalled in answering. Finally he answered, “It means that you’re staying here. You can’t leave now.”
“Am I like a dog? Like your property?” she bit out, lifting a hand to jerk on the halo more firmly. “Is it a shock collar?”
“No. It’s not a shock collar, and you couldn’t be further from a dog.” His expression hardened as he continued to hold out the glass of water.
Cautiously Briel reached for it, pulling it from his grip to hold it close to her chest before dipping her head and drinking slowly. After a few shallow swallows, she swiped the back of her hand across her lips and looked up at Tyce where he towered over her. “I want to see Fena.”
Tyce dipped his head once. “Of course.”
He stood up and turned and Briel expected him to leave the room. Instead, he crossed to the door and opened it.
As if summoned up by her wishes, Fena bounded into the room. “Sissy! Holy, you slept a long time. Uncle Tyce said you were really tired.”
Briel’s eyes flicked to Tyce as she embraced her little sister. “Yeah well, Uncle Tyce was right. I was really worn out.” After a brief hug, Briel held her sister at arm’s length, looking her over closely. “How are you? You doing okay? What did you do while I slept?”
Fena wriggled out of her sister’s grasp. “Oh, Uncle Tyce showed me the house.” Her eyes grew huge. “It’s like a castle!” Fena climbed to her feet on the bed and began bouncing up and down near Briel’s feet. “Did you know I have my own princess room? And Uncle Tyce has a wolf. A really big one, I saw it.”
Briel tried to look interested but Fena’s jumping was making her queasy.
“Come on sweetheart.” Tyce clapped his hands and spread his arms wide. Fena took one big bounce and jumped for him. He caught her easily, swinging her to the floor. “Why don’t you go see if Aries and Wynter finished baking those cookies?”
Fena didn’t look back as she bounded out the door, “Okay!”
Briel slid her eyes from the now vacant doorway to Tyce. “Uncle?” her brows rose mockingly.
He shrugged one shoulder. “It helped put her at ease.”
Briel lowered her brows, realizing she should have been thanking him for taking care of Fena while she’d been incapacitated, but her gratitude was swiftly replaced by anger when she remembered that he’d been the cause of her incapacitation. “Who are Aries and Wynter?” she bit out tersely.
“Aries is the wife of Commander Drago. You met her in DC. The maid. Wynter is Aries and Conn’s daughter. They’re good people. Aries’ll take care of Fena.”
Indignation swelled in Briel. “Good people don’t kidnap innocent women and children. And I’ll take care of Fena.”
Tyce’s lips thinned. “When you’re recovered. For now, you’ll rest.”
Briel slid her dark eyes from him to frown at the curtained window. “Why am I sick?”
“It’s the collar. It’ll pass. Pyper’s on her way to check you over.”
“Pyper?”
“She’s our resident doctor. She’s very knowledgeable. You’ll like her.”
Hearing Tyce speak favorably of another woman was surprisingly irritating. To mask it, she growled, “You can’t keep us here you know.”
When Tyce responded there was amusement in his tone. “As I said, Aries is married to Commander Drago. His team resides here with me permanently. They keep our enemies out, and keep who I want in.”
“It’s illegal.”
Tyce laughed. “We’re Walkers. We do as we please.”
“Like killing an innocent man?”
“We didn’t kill your father, Briel.”
“Yeah? Well, who did?”
“Don’t know, but I’ll find out.”
Briel frowned up at him. “And I’m supposed to just trust you? I’m supposed to just take your word? You collar me with this…this…thing that’s making me sick. And you won’t even tell me what it’s for.” Her eyes welled with tears. “Is it killing me slowly?” With each question, her tone grew more shrill. “What does it do? Why is it on me, Tyce?”
“It’s not a collar,” Tyce sounded offended. “It’s called a halo.”
Briel sniffed and waited.
“It means that…” His words faltered, and a flash of uncertainty washed over his savagely handsome features before he straightened to his full height, steely silver eyes boring into hers. “It means that you’re my…” At the last second, he chickened out. “My responsibility.” She needed time to adjust, and heaping everything on her all at once, wasn’t going to help, but fffffuck, how he ached to tell her the truth.