Wild and Out of Control

|chapter thirty-seven|

|danica|

I take my time to set up the blanket and pillows perfectly so it's all comfortable for us when I interrogate Xaden.

     I had to fight off Violet and Ridoc to come here. They bitched and whined about how I always leave them out of things, but I don't want them here with me tonight. Liam was the hardest to convince to give me space. After last night, I wouldn't blame him. That's why I let him stay by the edge of the forest to keep an eye on me with his farsight signet until Xaden arrived. He told me earlier through our bond that he might be late due to a leadership meeting, but he promised to come as soon as possible.

     That gives me time to prepare my piece. I'm going to talk about that weird dagger I got at the beginning of the year that I haven't been able to figure out, why he came to Montserrat and branched off from the others in the attack, and what the hell was he, Bodhi and Garrick were talking about.

     Garrick's been a pain in the gym, always pushing me to my breaking point. I've been training for a long time with different trainers, but he is something else. I haven't seen Bodhi in some time, and I think Xaden has something to do with that. He still hasn't gotten over us hooking up at the beginning of the year. Thinking about it, hell, talking about it, will only make things awkward between us, and things are tense enough to begin with, so I won't bring it up this time. But one day, I'll have to.

     It takes everything in me not to look east to where I escaped from my supposed kidnapping. It's only been a day, but it feels so far away. I'm not even sure what happened, just that it happened. I'd need to investigate, but that's for another day.

     After whatever drug they used on me wore off, Azare dug into me—after he so rudely interrupted me during my morning with Xaden. He was asking nonstop questions about where I was, what I was doing, and why I was disconnected from our bond. And honestly, I couldn't give him a straight answer, so I just went with the old classic 'I was drunk' excuse, to which he scoffed at. He didn't question further, but I know he's going to be a grumpy old sap the next time we fly.

     I feel his presence before I see him.

     Xaden approaches behind me and takes a seat adjacent to me, a bouquet of roses in his hands. It's an assortment of different color roses held together with a white paper-lace holding them together, He didn't...

     "What's that?" I gesture to the flowers, a flush crawling up my cheeks at the thought of him getting me flowers.

     He smiles, truly smiles, and it makes butterflies erupt in my stomach. Gods, he rarely ever freely smiles like that. "They're flowers, and they're for you." He extends the flowers and I take them.

     I smell the bouquet, inhaling the beautiful scent of roses, but I set them down before I lose the purpose of this. "You shouldn't have. It wasn't necessary." I look down, trying but failing to hide my blush.

     "I know, but I wanted to."

     I shake my head. "You wanted to talk? Let's talk. First: what is that dagger and what do the runes on it mean?"

     "That's two questions," he points out.

     "It's one. It's just a compound question, which is different." I twirl the ends of my hair around my finger while he remains silent. "Alright, fine, don't answer that question. I'll just ask someone else."

     He narrows his eyes. "And who might that someone be?"

     I know I'm stepping on thin ice here, but if he won't give, then I have to shove. "Imogen, Garrick, perhaps even Bodhi." I shrug. "I mean, we do have history there. We're close like that. Maybe I can convince him one way or another."