A Dove's Tale

Chapter 156

A low murmur of voices droned on in the distance, but the warmth and comfort told me I shouldn't bother with them. I should just go back to sleep. Stay in the darkness, where nothing mattered except the soft cushions beneath me and the warm blanket over me. Stay asleep.

But I had this nagging feeling that I needed to wake up...

"She...the dose...waking up soon..."

That was Clavis' voice. The fog of sleep broke his words apart and scattered them beyond comprehension, but that was his voice. I was slow in coming to that realization, but once I reached it, everything came flooding back to me.

"I'm awake," I mumbled, pushing myself upright and away from the pillow's siren call. My eyes focused on him, leaning casually against the mantelpiece over a crackling fireplace with his usual carefree smile, and my mind sharpened with my vision. "Explain," I demanded.

He laughed. "If you're trying to sound threatening right now, it's not working. You look too adorable."

"Clavis," I warned.

"Relax," he said, dismissing my irritation with a wave of his hand. "We have plenty of time to kill until Chev gets here. So." He moved toward a lounge chair across from me, sitting gracefully and crossing his legs with all the poise and elegance of a smug prince in complete control of the situation. "Whatever happened to us, Ivetta?"

For a moment, all I could do was stare at him in shock. Sometimes, I wondered if he was living in his own world, and this was one of those times. Why was he acting so normal about this? How could he ask me something like that?

Then again, this was Clavis.

"Are you seriously asking me that now?" I finally asked, my incredulity dripping from every word. "After you just drugged and kidnapped me?"

He shrugged. "Well, now is as good a time as—"

"No, now is not as good a time as any!" I exploded. "The time to ask me that would have been before you decided to drug my tea and kidnap me. Are we even still at your estate? Or have you taken me somewhere else, just for fun? Maybe this is all a game for you, but I'm not having any fun, and now is possibly the worst time for you to ask me something like that!"

His smile fell. "You're more upset than I expected."

"How did you think I would react?" I snapped, anger surging through my veins. "No, don't answer that, because I don't want to know more about the delusional picture of 'us' you have in your mind. There was never an 'us,' Clavis. Never. And not because you treated me like your new favorite toy when we first met, and not because Chevalier did a better job of winning my heart than you did. Actually, he made a worse first impression than you did. What he did better than you was realizing what I needed, really needed, and he's able to give me something you can't. Stability. Because I don't like every moment of every day to be another surprise. After a lifetime of 'surprise' being a bad word that means new nightmares, I need someone who is calm and steady, and you are the definition of wild and crazy. So, even if there were no Chevalier, you and I would never have happened. Never. Does that answer your question?"

I was panting, my cutting words lingering in the air between us, and the hurt in his golden eyes was obvious. And that stung me. He'd never intentionally hurt me before, even when I was just his new favorite toy, and I hadn't meant to lash out at him like that. No matter how frustratingly oblivious and obnoxious he might be.

"Yes, I suppose that answers it," he said quietly.

I took a deep breath, trying to make myself calm down. "No, Clavis, I..." I took another deep breath and said, "I'm sorry. You've always been a good friend, and I don't dislike you at all. I'm just...frustrated. Could you please explain what's going on?"