“
I should be here with you,' Kieran stepped closer to Casteel. 'My duty is to defend your life with mine. That is what I'm bonded to do, the oath I took. How can I do that running away from the battle?' His voice lowered. 'Don't do this, Cas.'
...
'You took an oath to protect me, and you will,' Casteel said. 'You're not running away from the battle. You will be keeping safe what is most important to me, and that is Poppy.'
I jolted. 'Wait. What?'
'You will leave with them. It will be hard,' he said, still holding Kieran's gaze. 'There will be no breaks, and you will need to listen to everything Kieran tells you, especially when it's night in the mountains, but-'
'I'm not leaving,' I cut him off.
'You can't be here,' Casteel replied. 'Not when they come. This is not up for discussion.'
I shot to my feet. 'Let me make one thing clear. I don't know if you realise this or not, Casteel, but I'm not duty-bound to obey a single thing you say.'
Casteel stiffened.
'And maybe you should actually look at me when you try to order me to do things,' I tacked on.
He turned to me, his head cocked. 'I'm looking at you now.'
'But are you listening?'
'Oh, man,' Delano murmured under his breath as the rest of the room went dead silent. 'Someone is getting stabbed again.'
Someone, I think it was Jasper, snorted.
'Oh, I'm listening,' Casteel replied. 'Maybe you should try that. Along with this thing called common sense.'
'Definitely getting stabbed,' Kieran confirmed.
”
”
Jennifer L. Armentrout (A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire (Blood and Ash, #2))