the carriage, he glanced over his shoulder and saw the two humans were awake and half standing out of their seats, trepidation and concern in their expressions. “Double fuck.”
Rose pressed into him as she addressed the strangers. The skin on the back of Fionn’s neck prickled as he inhaled her scent; at the same time, he felt the touch of her body in every molecule of his being.
Triple fuck.
He stared down at her, resentment flooding him, as she smiled apologetically at the other passengers. “It’s all okay. My brother just got off a military tour. I startled him awake.”
One passenger relaxed instantly, smiled in understanding, and then spoke in Spanish to the other passenger relaying what Rose had said.
“Your brother?” he queried.
Rose glowered. “They’re more likely to think I’m safe with a sibling over a lover, and we couldn’t have them calling the cops now, could we?” She pushed past him and shoved the broken carriage door aside.
She was pissed.
Great.
He caught her as she stepped into the next carriage, feeling the strength in her small biceps as he wrapped his hand around it. “You startled me, but I apologize.”
Rose halted and heaved a sigh. “It’s fine. I just had kind of a weird dream and then you attacking me … I’m tired and cranky. It’s all good.” She tugged on her arm, making him realize he was gripping her too tight.
He released her as if she’d just bitten him.
She contemplated him with suspicion. “Is there a reason you jumped me? Is everything okay?”
No.
Far from it.
14
“Everything’s fine. I just spoke with Bran.” Fionn pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Rose. “Call your parents. They’ve booked a flight to Zagreb. You need to dissuade them from getting on that plane.”
The sudden announcement momentarily confused Rose. One minute, she was angry at Fionn for proving he could squish her in his big warrior fae hands if it amused him to do so, and the next she was wondering what those hands would feel like if they were caressing her rather than squishing her.
And now he was telling her to call her parents?
The truth was, Rose wasn’t just pissed that Fionn had attacked her in his semiconscious state. She was pissed she’d found him sleeping in another carriage, as if he needed to get away from her.
“Is that what you were doing? Talking to Bran? You weren’t sleeping?”
He frowned. “I didn’t want to wake you so I called him from the quieter carriage.” He nudged her gently. “Let’s get back to our seats. I’ll use the headphones so you can make your call in private.”
Rose started down the carriage. People were trying to sleep, and they shouldn’t have this conversation on a train at night, but still … “Why were you sleeping?”
“I wasn’t. I’d closed my eyes for a second.”
“You need to sleep.”
“Perhaps I will once we get back to our seats and you make that call.”
The call.
To her parents.
Emotions rattled through her in a chaotic kerfuffle. She knew she had to speak to them but that didn’t make it easy.
“Do you wish me to isolate your conversation so even I can’t hear?” Fionn asked as they entered the first-class carriage.
As Rose slid into her seat, she felt a little dazed. Fionn could be unexpectedly perceptive when he wanted to be. More unexpected was the realization that she didn’t mind if he witnessed this important call.
Where once she shied from anyone who perceived weakness in her, she found she didn’t mind sharing that part of her with Fionn. Despite how vulnerable her position with him had been since they’d met, he’d never made her feel anything but empowered.
“It’s okay.” She tapped his phone screen. With a small, nervous smile, she held it out to him. “You need to unlock it.”
He did so swiftly and returned the phone to her. Then he conjured the headphones; she felt magic prickle her skin as he used them to envelop them in privacy.
Stomach flipping, Rose dialed her parents’ house phone in Maryland.
They rarely picked up the house phone, but the line clicked open on the third ring. “Hello?” her mother asked, sounding frantic.
Guilt pricked at Rose, despite all they’d kept from her. “It’s me.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” her mom sobbed. “Oh, Rose—what, yes, it’s her. Rose, I’m putting you on speaker so your da can talk to you too.”