An Oath In Blood (Book #3)

Chapter Twenty-Five: Goodbye

WARREN HALE

I sat in Seb's room, tapping my foot against the floor. I had sneaked away from the living room before anyone from the trio could have spotted me. My head was buzzing with what I could only put as a million thoughts, eating me alive from the inside out. I didn't know what I was feeling. I didn't know what I wanted to feel for her. I didn't know what I wanted her to feel for me.

A soft knock on my bedroom door had me turning to look over my shoulder. My eyes widened in surprise when I found Corvina stepping inside the room and shutting the door behind her. "You're up." She commented as if she had been expecting me to be sound asleep. After the events of the past couple of days, I didn't know if I could fall asleep anymore.

"I couldn't sleep." I shrugged, keeping my voice neutral. The questions sat on the tip of tongue, demanding to be asked, to be spoken but I couldn't get the words out of my mouth.

"Neither could I." She offered me a soft smile that threw me off guard. She was still dressed in her suit but her hair was pulled away from her face. A bandage covered the wound in her temple I had glimpsed earlier but the bruise glared at me, having turned a deep purple.

"You are hurt," I said, trying to force shock into my voice. I failed. I wasn't exactly skilled at conversation. Or acting.

"Don't pretend like you weren't outside the living room, listening to me have a breakdown." Corvina shook her head as she pulled the chair near the desk toward the bed, taking a seat on it. A moment of silence passed between us, only the sound of our breaths filling the quiet room. I stared at my slippers, ones I was told were Seb's. I flexed my feet and relaxed them, trying to think of something to say.

"I meant every word." She beat me to it, making me look at her again.

"Why?" I couldn't help but ask. I didn't want to but I needed to know. She could very well push me away but I chose to take the risk.

"I-I...it's complicated, Warren." She sighed, rubbing a hand down her face. "It's unfair. It's confusing. It's stupid." She added.

"Nothing you feel or say is stupid, Raven." I answered. Her gaze burned into mine, an emotion flaring in it that I didn't recognize.

"It's inconsequential." She murmured, looking at her hands. She was wringing them together as if she was nervous. Her demeanor reminded me of the time I'd seen her talking to the receptionist at my hotel and the lobby at Encore. A small smile tugged on my lips.

"It matters to me." I shrugged, earning a startled glance from her. "It can't come as a surprise to you. I haven't exactly been secretive about my fascination with you." I scoffed, dragging a tired hand through my hair. The bath this morning had done me good. And Corvina's choice of hair care products weren't half bad. Although I would have preferred to have my deep conditioning mask on me. My frayed nerves had sent my thoughts straying off the track but Corvina's voice pulled me right back on it.

"It's dangerous." I cocked an eyebrow at her in confusion. "Your fascination with me is dangerous, Hale."

"I know. What with you being the assassin who's been hired to kill me. I am aware." I sighed, the weight of the situation crashing down on my exhausted shoulders.

"Not for you." She chuckled, the sound barely audible. But it caressed my being like the softest of touches, making me shudder inwardly. "For me."

"You're scared of me?" I tilted my head to the side, regarding her with curiosity. I couldn't figure her out. She said that she was going to kill me but she ended up saving my life. She said that she hated me but she had gone barging into Hell to avenge me. She said that she didn't feel anything for me but she looked at me as if a piece of her resided within me.