chapter 36
Will stands in front of the room, drawing on the large digital screen to depict our planned advance into the capital. His strategy is simple, yet it’s clear he’s thought of everything because when questions are raised, he’s ready with an answer.
I’m very much enjoying watching him in action. Everything about Will is in sharp contrast to Kai. Where Kai is soft-spoken, gentle and kind, Will is all hard edges, muscles pulling against his shirt and intense gazes. The physical ache of missing him has started to subside.
It doesn’t escape Will’s notice that Kai is sitting next to me, or that Kai brought me a cup of tea. He continues talking at the front of the room, but I noticed his shoulders stiffen and his fists clench when Kai sits down.
Rena is seated across from me, her eyes moving between the strange triangle I’ve inadvertently created. She looks pointedly at Kai and then at me, her eyebrow raising in question. I shake my head no. Is this why she was mad at me last night? She thought I was with Kai? I will have to explain to her that’s not the case. Because there’s no use denying that my feelings for Will have resurfaced and burn just as intensely as before. But I would be lying if I said there wasn’t something different. Last night Will clung to me like a dying man, holding me tightly against him, his mouth firm and insistent as we kissed. He’d never been that reckless when we were together before. But if I think about last night for too long, my cheeks are certain to turn pink and give me away in the roomful of people.
I lean toward Rena and whisper, “This isn’t what you think.”
Her mouth curves upward in a grin. “It better not be. It destroyed him when you left.”
I had no choice but to leave, she knows that, but a tiny piece of me revels in the fact that Will was just as broken as I was.
I try my best to tune back in to Will’s speech. Wilson is growing more agitated, sighing and standing up to pace the back of the room. I know he wants to question Will’s plan, and I’m bracing myself to see how Will is going to handle it.
Wilson anchors his hands on his hips, letting out a huff. “What’s the hold up? We bring Eve to the capital with us, and they’ll be scrambling to talk to us just to get to her. We could settle this much faster and get back home. We just have to be willing to take a risk.”
Will pauses mid-sentence and turns to face him. He looks like he wants to tear Wilson apart, but his voice is low and even. “If you’re eager to get home, then go. We will do nothing before we’re ready. And we sure as f*ck won’t be sending Eve to her slaughter.”
Whoa.
Even Kane grins at the insult Will’s lobbed over. Rena finds my hand under the table and gives it a squeeze. I don’t notice the roomful of eyes watching me, because all I can feel is Will’s steady gaze, communicating so much. He’s mine and I’m his. The nerves of our mission slide away, because I know if we’ve survived everything else, we can do this too.