His fingers sank into my hair, his other arm wrapped firmly around my back, pinning me to him, as if when I didn’t have the strength to stand, he would hold me upright. “That’s okay,” he said quietly into my ear. “Rav can handle the cleanup, especially once the crew Nicholas and Nora are sending get there. We can stay.”
I sobbed harder. After last night, he knew I wasn’t willing to part with him, and he knew I wouldn’t hold him back from going. So he offered to stay with me.
“I don’t deserve you,” I cried, thoroughly soaking his shoulder through.
He laughed that distinct, beautiful sound that was as melodic as birdsong in the early morning.“Other way around, sunshine.”
49
Ro
It took about an hour for the adrenaline to wear off completely. I didn’t know how long Dae held me while I literally fell apart in a pile of shaking mess on the floor, but at some point, he’d eased me onto his bed. I lay there now, under a pile of fur pelts. Their weight was deliciously soothing, despite the warm summer air. Sounds slowly dwindled from the camp outside, a sign that most were heading off to bed.
Only my breath and the flicker of the lantern flame kept me company. Dae had gone some time ago, giving no explanation for his departure. Or maybe he did, but I’d been too damn near catatonic to hear him.
I hadn’t regretted my decision. Stepping into that fighting ring was an informed choice, one I would make again considering the implications it held. Still, it didn’t stop the seismic amount of fear and self-preservation and relief that flooded before, during, and after. If I hadn’t had Dae, or this tent to retreat to, it would have been nearly impossible to keep a mask of indifference on my face.
Survival told me to keep my eyes peeled, my hearing sharp, my intuition ready. I couldn’t have done so without releasing the built pressure of feelings once I’d returned to the safe confines of this tent.
A small smile curved my lips. Safe. How could I even remotely choose that term in this situation? Perhaps if I were placed between a murderer and an ogre, I’d feel safe with the murderer, strictly by comparison. Maybe Dae was my safest option in a sea of danger.
But as the warmth of his bedding radiated into my bones, as I felt his phantom arms still wrapped tightly around me, as I thought of those beautiful black stripes serving as a barrier to the cold, harsh weather and the eyes of onlookers at the lake, things somehow seemed less daunting.
Then I remembered all the things stacked against me. Taja knowing where Rahana was located. Alba’s death. A forest that screamed in warning. Braxius missing. A camp filled with ruthless, magically jacked individuals. The surge of dark magic and the threat it posed to Argora Vale, and who knew where else.
Those thoughts of comfort from moments before dissipated under the bleakness of it all.
I jolted upright, regretting that I hadn’t kept my bow and quiver on the bed, when a body entered the tent. A massive furry face prowled in and I sighed. Golden eyes glittered from the lantern, and as his entirely too massive body for this tent stopped, he opened his mouth.
“Ro!”Braxius darted out and flew straight into my chest. I cupped my hands around him, unable to keep in my gasp of relief. I curled around him, squeezing his tiny little scaly, winged body.
“You’re here! You’re okay!” I cried. A subtle breeze drifted across my skin. I looked up to see Dae in human form, reaching for his salve off the side table and moving to sit in the chair.
“I think flying into the mouth of a large cat is the riskiest thing I’ve ever done,”Braxius said, an edge of stress still tainting his voice.
Dae prepared to tend to his wound, like he hadn’t just mended part of my heart. “How did you find him?” I asked breathlessly, memorizing every bump and dip on Brax’s saliva-slicked body.
“I traveled a few miles, then roared a couple times. He’d done a great job of following us. He wasn’t too far away,” he said, rolling up his pant leg to expose his strong, muscular thigh and the already healing wound I’d been responsible for.
Braxius bragged, “Yeah, I followed your trail pretty good. If my wings hadn’t grown so tired, I wouldn’t have fallen behind, but fighting that rain was hard.”
I massaged his webbed wing between my fingers, and he essentially purred. “You’re not used to using them this much. I’m sorry this has been pushing you so hard.”
“It’s okay, I can feel myself getting stronger!”he said with pride and my heart ached over him having to endure this at all. Any of us.
I didn’t refrain from asking Dae the question the moment it popped into my mind. “Was that the entire reason you left? To look for him?”
He hesitated for a split second while recapping his jar of medicine. His luminous dark brown eyes dragged to meet mine. “I thought it might help you feel better.”
Heat bloomed in my chest over his care and consideration. Then guilt and maybe a touch of shame. “I’m sorry I couldn’t keep it together. I know you said it’s dangerous to be seen falling apart.” Unable to look this strong, handsome man in the face, I lowered my gaze.
“Not around me,” he whispered.
I couldn’t help but take in the man before me, the one who felt like my lifeline, but he returned the salve to the dresser as if hehadn’t said anything at all. “Get some rest,” was all he said next. I watched him fluff out another pelt over the floor and lower himself to the ground beside the cot.
“That’swhere you’re sleeping?” I asked, only now realizing this tent was not properly accommodated for two.
“I would have joined you up there, but Braxius seems like a bed hog.”
