True, but why did it sound like bad news the way he said it? “Yes.”
He strode over to the table, digging out a paper and pencil from his pocket before sitting.
Feeling embarrassed for some reason, she walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. “What is the plan to save Magdelina?”
“I will send a note to my shifter friends waiting outside the wall. They need to know Magdelina left with Krol.” His curt answer didn’t fit with the man who held her last night, but Alifair had to admit they hadn’t spent enough time together to understand each other’s moods.
She asked, “Will they leave without you? You can’t be here when Krol comes back for me.”
Bosse stopped writing and ran his fingers over his hair. It took him a minute to look up at her and reply. “Do you really think I will leave you again? I could not live with myself the first time. I’m here until I can get you out. We gotogether.”
No, she had to make him understand what had to be done. “Your friends are going to hunt for Magdelina, right?”
“Yes.”
“You have to be with them,” she stated in a no-argument-accepted voice.
“I said I would search for their missing mate first, which I did. She is not here. I also told them I would not leave without you.”
She sat up, hating that she had to drive him away. “You have to go without me.”
Another stretch of quiet, warning her she had screwed up somewhere.
The confusion on his face hurt to watch. He blinked slowly as if trying to translate her words into something he could understand. “What’s this all about? No woman is more important to me than you.”
Tears threatened to break free at what sounded like a vow, but she forced them to stay put. She could not do these things and allow her emotions to interfere. How could she make him understand? “Please hear what I’m trying to say. I need your help to save Rez.”
His expression didn’t change at first. Then a new expression settled on Bosse’s face. She couldn’t read it but had a bad feeling about the sudden change.
He stated, “I needed to be free to help Rez.”
“Yes.” She grasped for anything that would clear this up.
“But she is not here.”
Sucking in a deep breath, Alifair hoped she could get him on the same page with her. “No. Regardless of where she is, I dreamed you would save her or maybe protect her from a threat, and she managed to escape that way. And now I’ve seen you at the ruins where the women are headed. You must go with your friends to save Rez and Magdelina.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Then I will take you with me to rescue her.”
Shaking her head, she smiled sadly at him. “I wasn’t in that dream—only you and Rez. Our clan needs her. She is the leader and healer. I came here only to find her and send her back home. I can’t fail at this point. I can’t go with you.”
“Make me understand because I do not.”
She scrubbed her eyes and pushed the hair back from her face. This would be the end of what little they’d had. “Unlike my erratic magic gift, dreams like the one last night are clear and often true. I’ve had a few go off-target, but that was back when I was younger. Rez needs you. If I go with you, that might change the outcome of the dream. You might not save Rez.”
He put a hand over his eyes. “I do not believe this.”
“You have to, please,” she urged.
As he uncovered his eyes, his gaze lost all understanding, leaving only anger. “Was your dream the only reason you came to me in the cage?”
Her face fell. That wasn’t fair. Everything happened quickly leading up to that night, but she had wanted him to be free.
He would hear a lie. “Uhm, yes. I had that dream first. I had to do my duty and knew you were part of the plan, but ...” She trailed off with realization. She couldn’t believe what he might be thinking. “That doesn’t mean being with you isn’t special to me.”
“I understand. You freed me so I would come back to save Rez,” he concluded, not addressing her last words.
She’d hurt him. The one person she would step into harm’s way to save. “It isn’t the way it sounds.”
