Rooming with the Wicked

15 | oversized kitty

I covered my eyes and hissed, "Could you like put on some clothes or something?"

"And how do you suggest I do that?" he growled back.

Fair point. Could this day get any weirder?

"It's not see-through, Ariel," he added, a little less hostile. "Calm down."

I lowered my hand. "I mean, I could get you ou—"

"Could? You better f—"

"Actually," I ground out, getting to my feet. "I'll just be on my way."

He cursed and that burning gaze settled on me. "Are you seriously gonna leave me here?"

"That depends." I shrugged. "Are you gonna stop being a jerk?"

I could practically hear him grinding his teeth as he went back to staring at the forest floor. "I can try," he replied after a moment.

The portal provided enough light for me to take in his angular facial features and lean build. The muscles in his jaw were taut and his eyes were narrowed, but there wasn't just anger and resignation in them. If I didn't know any better, the most prominent emotion was sadness.

"Did you try to kill me?" The question left my lips before I could stop myself.

His head snapped up. "What?"

I crossed my arms. "You heard me."

"D'you seriously think I was gonna hurt you?" He frowned. "I told you, I didn't recognize you."

That sounded...unexpectedly genuine.

"No." I tried to laugh it off, but it came out as more of a cough. "Just making sure."

He rolled his eyes. "Haze was right. You're a terrible liar."

The nerve.

Wait, why was Haze talking about me behind my back? Why the hell was he talking about me at all? And even worse, why did I care?

Syn chuckled quietly.

I shook my head. Focus.

"Come on," I said. "You hate me, remember?"

"First off," he sighed, "I don't hate you—'sides, Jay would have my head if I did anything to you."

Somehow I couldn't see Jaydis having anyone's head for anything. He was barely taller than me and about as frightening as a baby hellcat. But what did I know?

"Second, I don't have a death wish. You know what happens to a shifter who tries to kill an ambassador's daughter?"

So, they all knew...

"Anyway," he continued with a slight shake of his head, "me being out here has nothing to do with you, alright? And if you don't tell anyone"—he leveled me with a hard stare—"I got no reason to want you dead."

"If you're trying to convince me to get you out of that"—I gestured at his current predicament—"you're doing a terrible job."

He laughed, deep and a little insane. "I don't give a shit anymore."

There it was again, that tinge of sadness. And it probably had everything to do with that portal.

"What are you doing here, Syn?" I tried again.

"Nothing."

Why did he have to be so...difficult? "Look—"

"No, you look," he growled, straining against the hardening goo. "I. Don't. Care. So, how 'bout you just mind your own business and get outta here?"