#Chapter 162: The Choices Made For Love

Caleb drags me back toward the palace. After giving the location of the killed and unconscious rebels to his guards, he tugs me against him more fully, lifting me up into his arms, and carries me all the way to his room. Once there, with the door safely behind us, he starts to pace back and forth in his room. He does not let me down. “Caleb…” I say gently. “I promise I will stay here, but you have to put me down.” “They will try to steal you from me,” Caleb says, his eyes flashing red. “There is no one in this room but you and me. I’m not going anywhere.” He clutches me tighter – too tightly! I wince. Raising my voice would only alarm him further. He’s not trying to hurt me, he wants to protect me. He just lost Tristan. His mind must be going a mile a minute, seeing dangers everywhere, even here in the safety of his room – the most protected spot in the entire palace. Instead, I lean up and gently kiss him. He stills at first, frozen against me, but then, as I persist,