Read Online Promising Hope by Emily Ann Ward - Free Book Online Page B

up. “I just think you were
being…”
    “Being what?” She glared at him.
    He walked to the mirror and looked at his reflection.
He smoothed down his tunic, his hair, and for a moment, she thought
he’d let the question go unanswered, like many others. “Selfish,”
he finally said.
    She stood up. “Everything I’ve done in the past month
was for you!”
    “I didn’t ask you to do any of it!” Evan said,
turning on her.
    “I think you’re the one being selfish,” Sierra said.
“You’re leaving me, even though we’ve been apart for two years
already—”
    “Well, you had plenty of company while I was gone,
didn’t you?”
    Sierra stared at him. “What are you talking
about?”
    “The other day, when we were talking about
contraceptives, you said your old ones weren’t working anymore. And
I said I’d been thinking about being with you for two years, you
didn’t say anything, and I know you were with someone else.” Evan
turned away, staring out the window, his hands clenched into
fists.
    “I didn’t sleep with him! It was a short
relationship, we hardly—” She cut herself off. She was going to say
they’d hardly kissed, but that wasn’t true. There was a lot of
kissing. “We didn’t sleep together, but even if we had… you were
dead.”
    “I wasn’t dead!”
    “Of course you weren’t, but I didn’t know that! It
had been a year or more—”
    “What did you do with him?” He turned on her, meeting
her eyes.
    She swallowed hard, fidgeting. He hardly made eye
contact, and now his gaze was fixed on her, the hurt and anger
clear on his face. In his voice.
    “Did he touch you anywhere?”
    Her face grew warm. “Evan, I’m sorry… why would you
hold that against me when I thought you were gone?”
    Evan stalked around the room, tearing at his hair. It
was soon messy again, as though he’d never combed it. “To know what
another man was with you! I’d kill him if I knew who it was!”
    Sierra looked at him in alarm; she didn’t know
whether it was an exaggeration or not. She forced herself to take
deep breaths, or breaths as deep as she could with this corset
constricting her. “I am sorry. If I would have known you were
alive, I never would have touched another man. I don’t want to
fight about this when you’re leaving soon.”
    “Oh, so now you’re all right with me leaving.”
    “No, I’m not all right with it,” Sierra said
fiercely, “but I’m not going to stop you. Like you said, you’re not
a child.”
    Evan stopped pacing and stood panting as though he’d
just finished running. “Why don’t you come with me?”
    Her mouth went dry, and she slowly shook her head.
“I’m sorry, Evan… I have to find Grace and Dar.”
    “You’re choosing them over me.”
    Sierra wanted to tell him that he was choosing
revenge over her, but she knew Evan still wasn’t himself. She
wondered if she’d have to get used to this moody individual, or if
he’d ever return to normal. God, just yesterday, they’d felt so close , almost normal. “I promised Grace. I promised her
before I ever knew you’d do this.”
    Evan sighed. He closed the distance between them and
took her hands. “I wish we could stay together.”
    “You could come with me to find Grace and Dar.”
    Evan kissed her on the forehead. “This Thieran is
going to cause more death. I have to help stop him. He’s not going
to hurt us anymore.” He gently touched her face. “I love you.”
    “I love you, too,” she whispered.
    If only that were enough.
     
     
    * * *
     
    Sierra took steady, shallow breaths as she waited
outside of the dining hall. She’d spent most of her meals over the
last few days in the kitchens or in her room, away from the
scrutiny of some and the adoring eyes of others.
    Evan stood next to her, still and stoic. She longed
to close the distance between them, but she felt the remnants of
their argument upstairs.
    The doors in front of them opened as servants pulled
them open, and