“The High Council and our wyvern,” Brylanna answered with new trepidation, obviously afraid of the crazed woman I had morphed into as I stood there and digested her little newscast.
“Looks like you win the prize for biggest bitch I’ve ever met, Brylanna.”
It was so quiet that the tick of the water heater seemed to boom and echo in the room. I turned on my heel and walked slowly to the front door, but not before I looked at Bahlin with bitter eyes.
“Maddy, wait,” Bahlin said, grabbing my arm.
I looked down at his hand and said in a deliberately soft voice, “Get your damned hand off of me you pestilant ball sack. You’ve lost the right to touch me, Bahlin. Don’t you dare speak to me. Not when you’ve lied to me and manipulated me from the beginning. Don’t. You. Dare.” He dropped his hand, and I walked out the front door without another word.
Chapter Fourteen
The sound of raised voices exploded as the door shut and latched behind me with a distinct click. I could hear snippets of the developing argument as I walked down the lane leading from the house. Male voices were raised in anger, interjected now and then with a softer voice—likely Bahlin’s mother. Brylanna’s voice was suspiciously absent.
I had no idea where I was going to go, but I knew I had to get away from here. I picked up the pace, breaking into a slow jog. What had been a lovely night had, appropriately, turned misty and cold. I shivered in my jacket, though whether it was from the chilly night air or my frozen soul was beyond me. I felt like such a fool. I’d done everything Bahlin had told me to do from the moment he’d shown up in my dream. He’d dictated my acceptance of my heritage by manipulating my emotions. He’d set the pace of the investigation by using what he learned of me to influence my decision-making. And he’d coerced me into his bed and wormed his way into my heart by playing on my need to be loved. Worst of all was that I’d fallen for every single bit.
I tripped over an unseen rock and went to my knees. I stayed there for a moment, unable to move, the tears dripping off the end of my nose. When had I started crying? I heard a car start and I scrambled to my feet, brushing my hands off on my jeans. I took a few running steps and realized I’d never make it far enough down the single lane road to pick up another ride before the driver of the car caught up to me. Looking over my shoulder I saw headlights swing away from the garage, twin shafts of light slicing through the night as the car started down the long, desolate drive. I hopped over the low stone fence into the bordering pasture and lay on my stomach, face-down on the ground so that the majority of my pale skin was covered by either clothing or my dark hair. The sound of the car’s engine got closer and closer, finally roaring passed me. I’d made it farther from the house than I’d originally thought. I was relatively certain that Bahlin was driving. If it was him, he was unquestionably looking for me. Fine. Let him look. I lay there on the cold, wet ground and rubbed furiously at my eyes. I didn’t feel I had any room available for new grief in my heart when I hadn’t yet fully processed the grief of losing my parents. Bahlin didn’t deserve to share space with them. Instead, he’d have to settle for being a nasty little black piece of my mind, or a kernel of hate in my gut, or something cold and calculating in my soul. Because my heart was not his. Period.
The car came roaring back down the lane, and I stayed hidden behind the stone fence. I heard gravel scatter as the car ground to a halt in the dooryard of the house, and the driver’s door slammed seconds later. Shouting renewed inside the house, but I was up and moving as soon as I knew the lights of the car were extinguished. I figured if I could get to the road I could either hitch a ride back to the city or find my way into a town where I could rent a car. I jogged slowly away from the