He held up his hands, his eyes running over my features. “Just give me a second. I want to talk before we go out there with everyone.”
My face flushed in anger, and my fucking chin started trembling again when I remembered what he had said to me. “Don’t you think it’s a little late for decorum, Leric?” I sneered, waving my hand at the door. “You already embarrassed me in front of every single person who is eventually going to be my fucking colleague.” I jabbed my finger against his chest, tears of hurt and embarrassment flooding down my cheeks, pissing me off further. “I may be fucking twenty-three years old, but so help me, I would never,” I paused, growling the word again, “never act as you did in front of any of your goddamn equals.” I shoved his chest hard and…he didn’t even have the grace to take a step back and act like it affected him. “You humiliated me, Leric! Fucking humiliated me!” I pounded his solid chest a few more times, utterly furious.
His jaw clenched, and he took the beating stoically before he tried grabbing my beating hand. But I yanked it away quickly from his grasp. Leric exhaled slowly, his tone more purr than menace, although his words came in bits and pieces. “I know I did, Sprite. And I want to…apologize. I behaved completely…inappropriately—”
I held up a hand, stopping him quickly. “Leric, you obviously don’t apologize very often, so I’ll save you the effort of trying.” I glared, again shoving a finger against his chest. “Because you can take your fucking pathetic apology and shove it straight up your ass.”
Leric’s eyes flashed silver under his hooded lids and his lips parted, ready to speak.
“Get the hell out of here.” I was going to lose it. My skin was glowing, and my voice was shaking the floor, the walls, and the mirror as I jabbed a finger at the door. “Get the fuck out!”
God, he only grinned, crossing his arms as the bathroom shook around us. “You’re cute when you get angry—”
I decked him, flat out punched him with my glowing fist, putting enough magical power behind it that his massive upper body knocked sideways over the sink and the side of his face smashed into the mirror. The glass shattered, the cutting crap falling down around us. He gripped his jaw where my punch had landed, his silver eyes shining as they opened in slow motion.
Leric pushed to straighten himself, and his expression was a mixture of amusement and irritation even though he had blood dripping from his cheekbone—the wound already healed—where he had hit the mirror. While I fumed at him, my free fist still clenched, his lips tilted up at the edges. We could both hear some type of argument resuming in my previously silent room.
There was a hush before a knock came at the door.
Roselle cleared her throat. “Sir, Caro, is everything all right in there?”
“Everything’s fine, Roselle,” Leric murmured evenly, rotating his jaw twice before continuing. “Sprite just put my face into her mirror. She’ll need Queen Cooper to fix the mess in here later so she doesn’t cut herself.”
A long pause, then she answered, “Understood, sir.”
“Just leave,” I hissed not a second later, done playing whatever fucking game this was to him. “I want you to get the hell out and leave me alone.”
Leric rotated his jaw once more before lowering his hand. He bent gradually, placing his face, bloody and all, in front of my glowing one. He stated slowly, “I’m not leaving until I say this.” His nostrils flared as he inhaled immensely, gathering his thoughts, stalling as I seethed. My eyes were glowing brighter on his face before he finally continued, “You were correct. I am God-awful at apologies. I rarely have to make them.” Another giant inhale. “I haven’t handled things right with you. Instead of telling you I wanted more with you, I tried backhanded, manipulating actions—”
Lord, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
“—to try to win you over. It obviously backfired on me, and when I assumed you went off with someone else this evening…well, I lost the thin amount of control I had remaining and I was purposely cruel and hurtful to spite you.” His jaw clenched, the muscles ticking at the sides. “I am truly sorry for that, Sprite.”
Unwavering, silver eyes peered into my own gaze. Finally he grumbled deeply, “Say something, Sprite. I just laid it out there for you, and you’re honestly starting to scare me.”
I swallowed hard, trying to calm myself. “I’m a bit overwhelmed.”
Slow speech. “Overwhelmed?”
I nodded rigidly inside his hold, my stomach kind of clenching oddly and not in a good way. “Yes.” More nodding of my head. “Overwhelmed.” In fact my stomach churned in a very unpleasant way, and I felt the blood drain from my face. I was more than a bit dizzy with emotions and fatigue.
I watched silver eyes widen on my face. “Sprite, what’s wrong?”
My stomach clenched again and I mumbled, “I’m fairly sure I’m going to be sick.”