War of Hearts (True Immortality) - S Young Page 0,67
She shrugged off her melancholy. “Isn’t James the guy with Callie at Castle Cara?”
“Aye.” Conall frowned. “He finally pulled his head out of his arse but Callie was diagnosed before they could be together. I’ve forbidden a relationship between them.”
That seemed out of character. “Why?”
“Because it’ll only cause them more pain in the long run.” His voice was gruff with emotion. “If we lose her … if he loses her, at least he doesnae have to live with the torturous memories of what it was like to be with her.”
“And what about her?” Thea found herself angry.
Conall turned, surprised by her tone. “What do you mean?”
“She’s dying, Conall, and you’re denying her the chance at the only happiness she’ll ever have.”
“That’s not what I’m doing. I’m protecting them.”
“You’ve never been in love, have you? If you had, you’d know you’re wrong.”
He scowled down at her so ferociously, anyone else would quake in their seat but Thea was too pissed to care if he was annoyed.
“And have you been in love? Fallen for some Italian arsehole on your escape across Europe?”
She huffed in disbelief at his insensitivity. “No, I’ve never been in love. I don’t trust anyone that much. But I know what it’s like to lose people I love. So do you. Are you telling me you would rather you hadn’t given them all of your love knowing they would die?”
“Of course not.”
“It’s the same thing, Conall.”
Thea knew her words had penetrated because he was glowering fiercely at the seat in front of him like he wanted to punch through it.
“I think you’re so used to managing people’s lives, you don’t know when you should stop.”
His head whipped toward her. “And apparently, you dinnae know when you should stop talking.”
Thea grabbed her backpack from the floor as the bus pulled into the station. “Yeah, well, the point is moot. I’m going to save your sister’s life, Wolf Boy, but to do that we need to move.”
Growling under his breath, Conall grabbed his own backpack and stood up, stretching to his full height. “I’ve got six years on you, lass. Stop calling me boy.”
Thea thought it was amusing he wasn’t averse to the wolf nickname, merely the boy part. She considered adjusting the nickname but decided she enjoyed needling him too much to bother.
A young woman a few seats down glanced over her shoulder, spotted Conall, and her eyes widened. Then she dragged her gaze up and down his body. She did not look scared of the werewolf.
She looked something else entirely.
Thea felt a sharp burn as she glared at the young woman who gave Conall a flirty smile. Conall didn’t return the smile, but it didn’t lessen Thea’s unexpected annoyance. In fact, she pushed in front of him and shot the woman a death stare that made her blanch and turn away.
Suddenly she felt the wolf’s heat right along her back and then the whisper of his breath on her ear as he bent down, amusement in his words, “What was that, lass?”
She stepped away, needing space, and cut him a dirty look. “We don’t need anyone staring too hard or remembering the big guy on the bus from Dresden to Düsseldorf.”
Conall’s lips twitched, his pale grey eyes dancing.
“What?” she huffed.
He shook his head, looking far too pleased. “Nothing.”
It was probably a good thing everyone started to get off the bus before Thea could punch him in the nuts. They were supposed to be allies after all.
Having grabbed a quick breakfast at a café near the bus station, Thea felt somewhat rested and fed. Conall had insisted on buying toiletries for them both so they could have a quick wash in a public restroom. Afterward he said they both needed a change of clothes.
If he thought they had time to waste, Thea wasn’t going to argue with him. Used to traveling dirty sometimes, the smell of sweat and bus breath didn’t bother her too much, but it clearly bothered Conall. It was kind of cute, actually. If you could call anything related to Conall “cute.”
Since she really was just following him around, she let Conall lead them to a pretty tree-lined street in the middle of the city that seemed to be the central shopping area. She insisted on him doing what he needed to do first and so she waited while he bought a pair of new jeans and a few T-shirts. The cold didn’t appear to bother him, and Thea suspected that the rumor werewolves ran at a