Our Fatal Failings (Twisted book two)

Chapter Sixteen

Jonah's POV

I unwind from her in the early morning. Imani tosses in her sleep, face troubled. It looks like she's having a nightmare. I bring the comforter over her shoulders and she turns to a new position and digs into her pillow. A small smile appears on her lips and it brings one to mine too.

Goddess, what I would do to make her love me.

I get up from bed, brush my teeth and run my hands through messy hair. Birds chirp outside the window and the morning sun blazes across the sky. The best thing about having your capital nestled in the mountains is being a stone's throw away from all this. Miles and miles of wood stretches out around us, untouched, untampered with. Goddess knows eventually man would've gotten here too. They would've cut it down, mined for the resources underneath, established towns and cities. They would have dumped their waste and polluted the area. It's happened before, it would've happened again. They have no care for the land. But wolves?

We need it like air.

I hear stirring from the bedroom as soon as the bacon on the griddle stars to sizzle. Imani drags herself out, eyes half open and a bonnet over her head. She sits down. "When do we go back?"

"Tomorrow."

"What are we going to do in the middle of the woods for a whole day?"

"There's a spring less than a mile from here. We'll explore it."

She grumbles, slumping forward. "I hate hikes," she says. It occurs to me the last hike she may have gone on was the school hike in junior year.

"This one will be better," I say.

She doesn't answer me.

I put breakfast on the table and she picks at it. I stare at her awhile. "That's a waste of food."

"I don't feel good."

"You're sick?"

But I can see it and feel it. She's crawling in her skin and it's because of me. Irritation boils in me. I want to scream, I want to throw something. After last night and she still can't stand the sight of me? I thought we'd made some progress.

I can still feel the sweep of her fingers along my jaw. I thought this time it was real. Maybe she'd manipulating me again. Or maybe she just can't help it.

I look at her again and this time she's eating. The crawling has stopped and this time it's replaced by panic, maybe even a little bit of fear. She lied last night. She's scared of me, very scared of me.

Which means she has a reason.

What are you doing Mate? Betraying me?

She slides an empty plate forward and I lean in. She smells so sweet. Like fresh flowers and honey. And her skin is soft to the touch, like cotton. No, like velvety. I slide my hand over her and watch the panic overtake her face. If she were as pale as I am, she'd be bloody red.

"You smell sweet," I whisper. "So sweet." I let the gold drip into my eyes. I could keep the blue, sure, I have more control than she does, but why should I? I want her to see how I feel and I want her to understand it. And maybe I want to unnerve her a little too.

Her hand in frozen beneath mine. "Thank you?"

"I bet you'd taste just as sweet too."

Now her face is frozen too. Frozen with embarrassment. I laugh. "No words?"

"What do you want me to say?" But her hand is so hot in mine, I can tell it affected her.

"Yes?"