Page 121 of Poet & Protector

When they were gone, I slowly approached Sabine, who was still curled in on herself, shaking violently.

“Sabine.” I spoke her name softly. “Dax and Cosette are gone. It’s just me.”

I watched as she sank to the floor. She pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her shins. Her cheeks were wet with tear tracks, her eyes puffy. Seeing her disheveled was unnerving. Sabine always took care to look viciously beautiful and utterly unflappable.

“You okay?” I asked her.

She rolled her eyes, and relief washed over me.

“We’re going to pretend this never happened,” she informed me.

“Sure,” I said. “We’ll pretend…after.”

She shot a suspicious look at me. “After what?”

“After you tell me what’s going on,” I replied. “And in case you’re worried, I’m pretty sure Dax thought you were laughing at him. Cosette knew something was wrong, but…”

“I’m not worried about it,” she said. “But I’d like to start pretending now.”

“It’s me, Sabine.” I crouched beside her. “Come on.”

Rolling her eyes a second time, Sabine scoffed. “Fine, Nev. Be all sensitive and whatever.”

“Can’t help it.”

A smile flitted across her lips. “I know you can’t.”

“So?” I pressed.

“So.” Sabine pulled her knees closer to her body, resting her chin on them. “What you said about Mason was…beautiful.”

“Oh.” It wasn’t that I disagreed, but I was surprised to hear her say that. “I wasn’t trying to be poetic, just honest.”

“It wasn’t poetic, you dolt,” Sabine replied. The return of her sardonic persona was reassuring. “It was the honesty that was beautiful.”

“Thanks.” Settling cross-legged on the floor next to her, I asked, “Is there a reason my honesty sent you into a fit of tears?”

She mock-glared at me. “I did not have a fit of tears, Nev.”

“Pretty sure you did.” I was goading her on purpose, and her laugh told me she was grateful for it.

“I don’t know why I cried,” she said, but she didn’t meet my eyes.

“Nah,” I pushed back. “That’s no good. You liked my honesty. Give me your truth.”

She lifted her chin so she could turn and fix me with a proper glare. “Fine, but only because you’ll never let it go.”

“You know me well.”

She couldn’t hide her quick smile, though she continued to glare. “I’m going to say this once and only once. If you go all emo on me, I will punch you.”

I nodded solemnly. “I saw how hard you punched Dax. You will get no emo from me.”

“Good.”

“Thanks for that, by the way. Punching Dax, I mean.”

She barked out a laugh. “Yeah, he deserved it.”