Didn’t have the words to tell him that’s not how she saw him.
Not anymore.
Merrick’s smile fell as well as he studied her, his gaze narrowing as it swept over her face, down to the hands she’d begun twisting.
Lessia opened her mouth to say something—anything—but no words left her lips as Merrick’s eyes snapped back to hers.
The air grew heavy, the wind dying down around them, and the intensity of their locked gazes became too much.
She didn’t understand the indignation swirling in his darkness, why a crease formed between his pearly brows, why his jaw locked and unlocked.
When a shiver of worry danced across her shoulders, she glanced down at her feet, the warning from earlier not to anger him echoing in her mind.
Merrick finally cleared his throat as she stared at the sand seeping between her toes. “The others are on their way down to train. You should probably get some boots. Raine fights dirty, and he’d not hesitate to stomp on them if it came to that.”
With a quick nod, Lessia started walking back to the cabin, unable to meet Merrick’s eyes again—even when she could feel his lethal presence all around her as she passed him.
ChapterEleven
When Lessia returned to the beach with her worn boots securely laced up, that nagging feeling still unsettled her, and it didn’t help when all four males stared at her as she made her way through two dunes.
She picked at the raised scars on her arm as she approached them, avoiding Merrick’s gaze when its warmth followed her hand’s movement before it landed on her face.
Instead, she kept her eyes on Venko, who sat in the sand, head tilted toward the sun as he ignored Ardow hovering beside him.
“You’re not training?” she greeted them as she approached.
Venko shook his head. “I am a tradesman, no soldier.”
“V, you should r—” Ardow started, but Venko interrupted him.
“No! You dragged me into something I didn’t sign up for. You’re keeping me as a prisoner, Ardow! I will not engage in this silly quest for revenge nor attempt to save our world when it’s clearly beyond saving. I will not fight, so I do not need to learn anything.”
Venko’s eyes landed on Lessia’s as he spoke. “Neither should you. Do you think you can go up against rebelsandall of these Oakgards’ Fae, Lessia? It is sure death. We should get out of this realm, try to find somewhere safe to hide out.”
“Look at that. I’m clearly not the only coward here,” Raine drawled as he slumped down in the sand beside Venko, angling his already flushed face so that the rays hit it fully. “He’s right, you know. You should take a page from my book. Life is ever so much easier when you stop caring.”
“You—” Lessia seethed but quieted when Merrick’s scent flooded her nose and the warmth of his body brushed her back.
She didn’t want to risk biting him again.
“Just keep your damned mouth shut, will you?” Merrick snarled over her shoulder.
Something within her whirred when Merrick’s hand landed on her back, and for a moment, she wondered whether the rushing in her ears was his whispers, but then she realized it was her own rage crashing through her like a tidal wave.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you scared, Raine,” Merrick taunted, and she could sense the smirk that must have twisted his features.
“Ah, you got me! Seems like it’s going around. All of us scared and broken and ever so lonely…” Raine laughed.
A growl boomed through Merrick, and he stepped around Lessia to drag Raine to his feet, their faces barely an inch apart as he glowered at him. “Enough. Let’s settle this like we used to.”
Raine shrugged, nearly hanging limp off the sand from Merrick lifting him. “Care to make a wager?”
Merrick’s eyes flitted between his before he shook his head. “You know you’ll lose. You always lose.”
The grin Raine flashed sent a chill down Lessia’s back. “We’ll see about that.”
Merrick bared his sharp teeth at him before turning toward Lessia and barking, “Watch. You might learn something.”
