So instead she counted the slow pulses of power, holding her breath as she waited?—
“Be careful,” Jaxon said, his voice dangerously close to her ear.
Araya flinched, her power flaring at his proximity. She cursed, trying to pull it back—but the blank flared white hot and split, a jagged shard biting deep into her palm.
“We don’t have room for error.” Jaxon sighed, shaking his head as she cradled her wounded hand against her chest.
“No, we don’t,” she snapped, turning to fumble for a bandage in the first aid kit. “So maybe don’t distract me.”
But Jaxon caught her wrist. “Let me,” he said.
He drew her in without waiting for permission, inspecting the wound with a critical eye. “Shouldn’t need stitches,” he said. Then, with almost unsettling gentleness, he dabbed away the blood, wrapping it tightly.
“Serafina is still refusing to let us collect any more blood,” he said, his lip curling.
“Because he’s recovering from almost dying,” Araya said, snatching her hand back. The pain was nothing compared to the slow boil of frustration in her chest.
Jaxon hadn’t let her anywhere near Loren since agreeing to Serafina’s terms. Instead, he’d insisted on escorting the Healer himself, standing over her in silent judgement as she worked.
Serafina hadn’t been pleased by that—but Jaxon made sure she was never truly alone with Araya either, lingering just close enough that they couldn’t speak freely.
“He’s been conscious for days,” Jaxon said. “If Serafina would stop coddling him, we could actually move forward. It’s not like he’s doing much in there.” He picked up a piece of scrap from the workbench, rolling it between his fingers. “Are you done stalling now?”
“I’m being thorough.” Araya retorted, picking up another blank. “Like you said—no room for error.”
A heavy silence settled between them as she adjusted the next setting, carefully controlling the slow siphon of aether into the blank. The pulse of magic steadied, soft and thrumming beneath her fingers. This one would hold.
She slid it across the workbench, joining the two completed sets. They were beautiful—perfect, even. Some of her best work. And yet, it felt like she’d carved something away from herself when she made them.
“You’re trembling, Starling,” Jaxon murmured. “Is something wrong?”
Everything. “Something is always wrong,” she muttered, packing away her tools.
“Careful, Starling.” Araya flinched, startled to find him right behind her. “I’m finding myself at the limits of what I’m willing to tolerate—even from you.”
His hand wrapped around her hip, pinning her against the workbench.
"Go ahead and ask me the question you want to ask," he whispered, his breath tickling the sensitive ridge of scar tissue on her ear. "Ask me why I’m keeping you away from him."
Araya gritted her teeth, the edge of the workbench biting into her hips as Jaxon pressed against her back, not giving her room to turn in face him.
“Fine,” she snapped. “Why won’t you let me see him? You argued with the Arcanum for weeks for me to have access?—”
"Because you made me." Jaxon’s thumb traced lazy, circles over her hip, his breath hot on the back of her neck. "You ran to him—wept for him. Begged for him.” His grip tightened. “How do you expect me to trust you alone with him after that?”
Araya twisted in Jaxon’s grip, only managing to face him because he let her. “That’s not fair.”
He leaned in, invading her space. “Isn’t it? Tell me, Starling—if I had been the one lying there, bleeding out, would you have held me the way you held him?”
“That’s not—” Araya swallowed hard. “It wasn’t like that.”
Jaxon’s lips curled into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “No?”
“You know I can’t lie,” Araya protested. She shoved at his chest. “Let me go.”
“Not out loud,” Jaxon acknowledged. He tilted his head slightly, studying her like she was some kind of riddle he meant to solve. Finally he shrugged, releasing her. “The prince won’t say a wordabout who nearly killed him—which means I can’t have Hale sanctioned.”
Araya braced herself against the workbench, her knees shaking as she hugged her arms around herself. “Why would he protect Hale?”
