EYES OF FIRE AND ICE

Chapter Seventy-Four

"It wasn't a good time," she tells Aeron, arms crossing. "Even if you did find me, I wouldn't have paid you any mind."

"You would have ignored me?"

Alia's jaw clenches, irritated by the insinuation of her disregard for him. "My mind," she stresses, "was occupied."

"By what?" He says. "By being in his bed?"

Alia's eyes flash dangerously, a coldness seeping into her gaze. "Watch your tongue, Aeron," she warns. "I will not have you insult me because I prioritise my mate over you."

"A mate who almost killed me."

"You were the one who intruded on our time together," she grits. "You knew who he was, you've seen him in the maze, yet you chose to show yourself to me. How else did you think I'd react? Did you think I'd jump for joy and run into your arms? You know me, and you knew I'd cry." Alia shakes her head, eyes burning with fury. "Gods, you're so fucking infuriating. It's like you want me to be cruel to you."

"You say that as if I expected him to sever my fucking head."

"Oh, please," she spits. "Don't pretend you didn't see him wear the blood of the man who tried to mark me." Her eyes are black, primal words slicing off her tongue. "You were a fool to think you'd be treated any different."

Aeron licks his teeth, the scent of blood slithering out of his white-knuckled fists. "First you threaten me, and now you insult me by disregarding our entire friendship. If I had known sending you to Rosía would do this, then I would have made Darian send you to Evropí instead. Maybe then would your callousness make some fucking sense."

Alia's fist slams into Aeron's jaw, the sound resembling a clap of thunder. His body crashes to the ground with her on top of him, eyes alight with rage. "You would send me to slaughter?!" She swings her fist again, but then she stops herself before meeting skin. Blood seeps from his busted lip, skin of his jaw split open by the force of her punch. Her eyes burn with unshed tears, fist shaking as she glares down at him. "You would have rather killed me than see me care for another man?" Her chin trembles, tears spilling down her cheeks.

If she had been sent to Evropí, she never would have met Valen. She never would have fallen in love with him, and it makes her want to tear out Aeron's tongue for even speaking it to life. "How dare you? How dare you try to take me away from my mate?" It's like alarm bells have gone off inside her mind, claws lengthening at the threat to her serenity. Just the very thought of never meeting Valen is enough to send her primal state to the forefront of her mind, and she can only watch as the claws of the hand that holds Aeron's shoulder pierce into his skin.

"Take you away?" Aeron turns his head and spits blood onto the wooden floor. "As if I could stop that man from following you to the ends of this godsforsaken Kingdom."

Alia's eyes dart to her knuckles, Aeron's scent marring her skin. She wants to claw it off. She wants to make herself bleed rather than carry the scent of a man who isn't Valen.

She stands and storms into the bathroom.

Reaching the sink, she almost breaks the tap when turning it on, hands trembling as she washes her skin. Her eyes remain black with rage, the whites of her eyes red and glistening with the tears that continue to fall. They drip off her chin, mixing with the water that swirls down the drain.