Surprise shuttled through me. “I know I am.”

“But you’re also wrong.”

I blinked. “Excuse me?”

“What I said earlier stands. I don’t doubt your ability to defend yourself. I’ve seen you in action. Asking you to stay behind while I checked out the demon wasn’t about me putting you in a timeout because I thought you couldn’t handle yourself.”

“Then what was it about?”

“It was about what happened with Misha,” he said, and I recoiled, actually taking a step back as my arms dropped to my side. “That,” Zayne said. “That right there. Your reaction. You just went through something horrible, Trin, and—”

“I’m fine.”

“Bullshit,” he snapped, and I swallowed the irrational urge to giggle that always accompanied him cussing. “You and I both know that’s not true, and that’s okay. No one in their right mind would expect you to be okay.”

But I had to be okay.

Didn’t he understand that? What had happened with Misha sucked donkey butt, but everything I felt surrounding that was filed and tucked away, and it was going to stay that way forever and a day. It had to be that way. I had a job to do, a duty to fulfill.

Zayne sighed. “I think it was pretty obvious I didn’t want to patrol tonight. That I thought we should stay in.” He paused. “But I also get why you want to be out here, doing something, so I relented.”

Irritation flared. “As my Protector, you don’t get to relent or not when it comes to—”

“As your friend I sure as Hell get to step in when I think something is a bad idea.” Zayne’s jaw hardened. “That’s what friends do, Trin. They don’t just let you do whatever the Hell you want, and if they do, then they’re not your friends.”

I thought of Jada. I knew that she would’ve suggested the same thing. Take some time. Deal with what happened and process it as best as I could.

But there really was no processing any of this.

Zayne’s wings twitched but remained tucked. “I wanted you to sit it out, because I thought it was a good idea for you to take it easy, because you had to end the life of someone you cared about deeply.”

I sucked in a sharp, scorching breath.

“And if you think that’s wrong, so be it. I’m sorry if I made you think I doubted you, but I am not sorry that I’m thinking of what you’ve been through.”

I swallowed hard, wanting to fire back at him, but...what he was saying made sense. Looking away, I gave a little shake of my head. “I’m ready to be out here.”

Zayne said nothing.