"What do you mean you're not taking me with you?" I stared at Kaelen's face, searching for any sign that he was joking. There was none.
He sighed, running his hand through his dark hair. "Sera, it's not safe. These territories—"
"Are safer than the Sovereign Continent we just escaped from," I interrupted, my voice rising. "I thought we were past this, Kaelen. I'm not some fragile human anymore."
"That's not what I meant." His green eyes darkened as he reached for my hand. I pulled away, standing from the bed and wrapping a robe around my naked body.
"Then what did you mean?" I paced across the guest quarters we'd been given in King Gareth's palace. "Because it sounds exactly like you still don't trust me to handle myself."
Kaelen stood too, not bothering to cover himself. Any other time, the sight of his magnificent naked body would have distracted me. Not now.
