Rise Of The Shadow ||A Contemporary Fantasy Romance||

06: You Dullard

VINCENT

"Are you going to talk to me?" I asked once we made it back to the hotel room. The car ride over had been quiet, as I had suspected it would, but the weight of the silence was heavier than I had anticipated.

Having to explain to Caeli that I hadn't just let Hunter join us, but that I'd also paid to get him here, was... fun. But I couldn't blame her for the anger, not when I hadn't given her a single heads up over what would happen and I'd spent the money she'd made us in the process. In this case, a double negative didn't make a positive. It kind of just made an even worse negative.

Her silence was her way of telling me just how pissed she was. It was a response to let me know that if she did say anything it would be something she'd regret, and she hated wasting her words. The stupid part was that I knew this was exactly how she'd respond, that she would shut down on me. There were things I knew she could forgive without question, but making decisions for her wasn't on that list.

Well, that and ignoring her when she warns me against doing something.

"Kid..." my chest tightened as she busied herself with taking out her earrings before she turned her attention to the dagger in her stomach. And I let her continue ignoring me as she walked into the bathroom to change out of the dress and into sweatpants and a sports bra, a towel pressed to the now open wound on her stomach.

"Caeli..." all I needed was for her to look at me, that way I could gauge just how badly I'd fucked up. If her eyes were cold then it was forgivable, but if her eyes looked like molten silver then I was screwed. And I needed her to let me stitch up that wound before she bled out on me.

But I wouldn't move closer to her until she told me it was okay to do so. I wouldn't move closer. Not even when she picked up one of her own daggers and walked over to the gas stove and turned it on. I wouldn't even move as she held the blade over the flame until it was red hot. Even though I knew exactly what she was about to do, I didn't move a god-damned muscle.

"Caeli, don't do that. I'll stitch you-"

I cut myself off as her eyes finally looked at me and she placed the scolding metal against her wound. The sound of her skin sizzling at the touch of the burning blade made me wince, even though I knew she hadn't so much as blinked. From what she'd told me, emotions were the first thing they taught her to compartmentalise, and pain had been the second. At times I wondered if she felt any of it at all, at moments exactly like this one.

All she did was continue staring at me while she took the blade from the cauterised wound and slammed it onto the bench next to her. Her eyes were cold, which meant I had a chance to unscrew myself here.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, unsure of where else I could even start. Her jaw popped as she turned off the gas cooker.

"What part are you sorry for?" She asked. I was all too aware of the fact that she was acting far too calm for what she likely felt. I was lucky, because if I was legitimately anyone else I would be lying dead with a dagger in me. "Because, honestly, I don't think you're sorry for the part you should be apologising for. I think you're sorry that the best way out of the situation you put me in without my permission, was to frame someone for stabbing me." That was something I didn't necessarily agree with. Of all the drastic measures I thought she would take, that hadn't been one of them.

"Was that really the best way?" I was already in the wrong, so what difference did it make if I dug in my heels and stood my ground? "The plan didn't have to change just because we had help."

"Yes it did, Vincent, because I not only had to deal with Dallas but Malakai and his sister as well, which meant that Templum was there. On top of that, all three of them realised I was working with Hunter." She replied as she pushed away from the kitchen bench. "It was just supposed to be Dallas, and I was only supposed to worry about you." She reached her bag and pulled out a sweater. "The distraction was just meant to be a screaming match with Dallas, but that wouldn't have kept the attention of Malakai or Nylah or any of the Templum assassins that were there."