“So are you heading out now?” Caillen asked him.
Chayden’s gaze went to her and something strange flickered in the depths of his eyes.
What was that look? He was hiding something, but she didn’t know what. “I sent my men on before the Sentella changed their mind and decided to arrest them. But I think I’ll hang around for a bit.”
A tic started in Caillen’s jaw as he looked at her, then locked a glare on Chayden. “You’re not planning on a payback, are you?”
Chayden held his hands up in surrender. “Absolutely not. I promise you.”
Desideria wasn’t sure what their vague conversation was about, but she had a bad suspicion that she was the subject at hand and that Chayden might have just insulted her. Great. That was all she needed to feel worse.
Chayden gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. “I’m going to go find the head. I’ll catch you two later. Buzz me when you interrogate the assassin.”
Desideria watched him leave. Still that nagging sensation was there. She knew him from somewhere. “Is he famous?”
“Only if you travel with a lot of outlaws or hound the bounty posts. He’s extremely notorious there. But all in all, he keeps a low profile. Why?”
“There’s something about him that’s so familiar… I can’t place it. It’s like I know him somehow.” Her gaze sharpened as she pierced him with a malevolent glare. “And I’m still not speaking to you.”
Caillen squelched his smile before he made her any angrier. He adored the fact that she was incapable of giving someone the cold shoulder. Unlike Kasen who could freeze a star. “I wanted to apologize about what happened.”
She held her hand up in a sharp gesture. “Oh don’t even go there. I’m done. Okay? I didn’t expect you to like me. That’s fine. But did you have to embarrass me in front of everyone?” It was something her mother or sisters would have done and she was tired of being publicly humiliated and ridiculed. She’d expected better from him and the fact that he’d disappointed her cut so deep that she couldn’t stand it. “Especially after—”
He interrupted her words with a fierce kiss.
She kneed him in the groin. Not hard, but enough to make him pull back and cup himself. “Next time, I won’t be so gentle.”
Caillen cursed under his breath as she stalked away. “You don’t know where you’re going,” he called after her, wanting her to come back so that he could explain.
She didn’t even pause her gait. “Don’t care.”
I told you what to say. Did you listen? No. Idiot. Why couldn’t you say you cared about her?
Because it would have been an admission of weakness.
No, that wasn’t the truth and he knew it. He wasn’t ready to be with one woman forever. Especially not someone so hardheaded and irritating.
And yet as he watched her head out of his sight, all he could remember was how good she’d felt in his arms. How much he wanted to go to her right now, strip her naked and make her beg him for mercy.
He took a step toward her, intending to apologize.
One heartbeat later, an explosion ripped through the bay. The force of the blast literally picked him up and slammed him into the wall. Pain tore through his entire being as he looked down and saw the nasty piece of twisted shrapnel embedded in his thigh. He tried to pull it out, but the gushing blood made it too slippery.
Chaos erupted as techs and Sentella members rushed to put out the fire and prepare for the possibility that there might be another blast coming.
Caillen didn’t care about that. No more than he cared about his injuries. He had to find Desideria and make sure she was all right. That was his only concern.
But as he tried to walk forward to find her through the flames, something hit him from behind. His legs went numb. His vision dimmed.
An instant later, everything turned black.
20
Desideria saw Caillen go down. Everything moved in slow motion as her world came to an end. He hit the wall with such force, there was no way he could live through it.
None.
Unable to breathe, she ran for him with everything she had while images of his death tore through her. Don’t you dare die. Don’t you dare.
She couldn’t stand the thought of it. Not after they’d fought.
Why had she fought with him?
Suddenly, nothing mattered to her. Not her mother’s death. Not her standing.
Nothing.
All of that paled in comparison to losing him. She slowed as she drew near. Caillen lay on the ground, covered in blood, completely unmoving. This wasn’t like he’d been on the outpost. His features were so pale…
Tears blinded her.
Qillaqs don’t cry. Yet, she couldn’t stop herself. “Caillen?” She sobbed, falling to her knees. She pulled him into her arms and held him close. “Don’t you leave me.” Not after he’d taught her to depend on him. Not after he’d made her want something she knew she couldn’t have.
“Caillen, please open your eyes.”
He didn’t.