The next time I see Denver, I am going to hurt him, Zes vowed. Cheyenne had asked him to not do anything irrational, but in his mind, it didn’t seem all too irrational of a thing to do. Denver deserved a lot worse, and while he understood Cheyenne’s desire for peace, Zes couldn’t stand by and watch the guy go unpunished either. Anj wanted him to be the bigger person, but didn’t a good man defend his woman’s honor?
The group of Vala students walked the streets of downtown, and he did all he could to keep calm, happy, and put on a show, but Zes always wore his emotions on his sleeve. Generally, when he wasn’t in a good mood, everyone knew it. Cheyenne must have noticed he was only pretending, because there was something different about the way she held onto his hand. Almost as if she felt guilty? Which didn’t make sense to him at all.
“Do you want to go back?” she asked.
“No,” he said, keeping his voice low. Though Anj was engrossed in his own conversation with Jewl, Zes didn’t want to run the risk of his brother getting curious. Anj had a tendency to do that.
“Okay, because if you’re uncomfortable—”
“I’m not uncomfortable.”
“Then how can I make it up to you so you’re happy?” Her eyes were wide and desperate.
Zes shook his head. “Make what up to me exactly?”
“What happened before—”
“I thought we already made up after our other fight. And it’s not your fault he decided to attack you again,” he said.
She shifted her weight slightly and bit down on her lower lip. “No, I guess not. But I still feel bad.”
“What is it that you told me? If I didn’t do anything wrong, then I can’t feel sorry for it? Same thing applies here.”
“I just don’t like seeing you so mad.”
“I’m going to be for a little while, and there’s no way around it. Please, let’s not talk about it anymore? It doesn’t help.” Didn’t she understand how much he hated Denver? This wasn’t going to be so easy for him to forgive. Maybe if he believed Denver had even a tiny bit of good inside, Zes would have an easier time with it. But all the guy did was go out of his way to torment everyone he crossed paths with.
She sighed. “Fine, but it isn’t worth dwelling on. Don’t let him poison this. That’s giving him what he wants.”
“Just promise me one more time you’ll stay away from him?”
“Easier said than done. We have classes together, and he’s not all bad. He—”
“Don’t say he couldn’t help it, Chey, you’re better than that,” Zes said. “Don’t make excuses for him. And he is bad. I’ve never seen him do anything good for anyone. He tried to kill me once, did I tell you that?”
“No, you didn’t,” she said, her body stiffening.
“Well, he did. Word got around to him that I can’t swim, and he decided to shove me into a pool to see for himself. In fact, he dove in right after me so he could watch me sink to the bottom and drown. Pretty sure he would have left me there if other people weren’t around, but of course he played hero and brought me out of the water again. Had the nerve to say ‘You’re welcome’ too. Like I should be thanking him or something? And we can’t forget about what he did to you at the dance. Kissing you like that. I bet he knew I was there watching.”
“He’s really got an agenda against you,” Cheyenne said, and he detected a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
He rolled his eyes. “Fine, if you don’t want to believe me, then that’s your choice. But I’m not lying.”
Zes winced slightly because the burn on his arm decided to flare up then. It’d been doing that off and on all morning. Fire coursed through his arm, and then a soft, cooling tingle would spread over where the demons had branded him. The more peculiar thing was that it did it in sync with his emotions. When he was sad or disappointed, happy even, it burned. Whenever he was angry or passionate, the cooling began.
Cheyenne rubbed his arm, slowly running her hand up and down its length, and he felt a strange, soothing warmth over the pain. “Still hurts?”
“I’m fine,” he lied. Truth was, the brand worried him. Mostly because he had no idea what it meant. They were both quiet for a while.
“I believe you,” she said at last. “I’ve seen him do things that are horrible. But I have a hard time accepting that anyone is pure evil. I was raised to expect good in everyone, to find it and not let go. I’ll be more careful. I shouldn’t have agreed to hang out with him.”
“I still don’t get why you were out in the first place.”
“Getting ice, I told you.”
He shook his head. “The coincidence of it all makes me warier of him.”
“Zes, please,” she said, still rubbing his arm.
“Hmm?”
“Let it go.”
He didn’t bother fighting her about it. If she didn’t understand what he was trying to tell her, there was no way to make her. She would have to come to the conclusion on her own. He hated it, because he wasn’t sure how many more times he could stand watching her get hurt. The gentleness of her nature was beautiful, and the idea of Denver taking advantage of it killed Zes.
If she wants me to let it go, I guess I have to. “I hope you don’t mind if I steal you away for dinner tonight. I made a reservation, thought we could explore the town a little?”
“I’d like that,” she said with a small smile.
“I wish there was a way I could keep you by me the whole night,” he whispered.
A soft blush spread across her cheeks. “Sometime again soon.”
When she said that, his burn began to tingle again.