Even now, even seemingly half dead, he stared at her like she was his reason for breathing.
Frelina wondered for a moment if it was normal—if this was what she was missing out on by not having a mate—when Kerym clasped her wrist and tugged at her to join him on the large chair opposite the couch, the one beside Raine.
“They have something different. It… it wasn’t like that for me,” Kerym whispered as he led her over, and when she frowned at him, he gave her a crooked grin. “Sorry, I sometimes siphon from someone when their emotions are too strong. I felt your confusion and longing.”
Frelina nodded, and she felt a warmth trail over her face, Raine’s mind probing hers, but when she kept her own closed, his soft talons left her alone.
She might have shown him everything that day onthe battlefield, knowing he wouldn’t reciprocate—knowing that she was a naive, sheltered young girl who’d only seen her parents’ adoration for each other and the love she’d read about in books—but the past few days she’d realized she needed to protect herself too.
She’d been fine with just friends, and he’d been exactly what she needed at the time… but now?
Watching Elessia and Merrick?
Seeing how he had literally ripped the world apart to find her?
Frelina wanted that, too—or as close as she could come—so if Raine wasn’t ready… or if he never would be… they would need to keep it to friends only.
She didn’t look at the red-haired Fae as she refused the chair—Kerym was almost twice her size, so she made him sit in it—and instead made herself comfortable on the armrest. Her eyes followed the sisters, Soria and Pellie, as they sat on the floor, close to the fire flickering over the room, and then moved to Amalise and Ardow, who took their spots by the rickety table near the door.
Even if Elessia and Merrick’s love was something different, she’d seen others that she wished for. Amalise… if she ever gave in to Zaddock. Venko and Ardow, who were rarely more than a foot from each other, always touching, always giving each other longing looks. Even Kerym and Pellie had something budding—something electric that no one could deny whenever they were in the same room as them.
Frelina wanted that kind of love more than anything. More even… than she wanted Raine.
When the scraping of chairs quieted, a thick hush layered over the room, interrupted only by the cracklingof the fire and the rain still hitting the walls and windows.
It was as if they all just… waited.
When silence stretched on and Merrick and Elessia only stared at each other from where they sat propped with pillows on the couch, their noses still red, Frelina couldn’t take it anymore.
“So, is anyone going to guess what just happened?”
Elessia’s eyes wandered to her own, and Frelina wasn’t sure if she liked what she saw in them. There was something… not off, but strange about them.
“I’m…” Elessia cleared her throat, her eyes moving back to Merrick for a moment, and pain twisted across her face before she continued. “I think it might have something to do with what I did back there.”
“No.” Merrick’s voice was stronger than Elessia’s, but not by much, and it was the first time Frelina had heard him sound so rough. Based on Kerym and Raine’s shared look, it appeared to be a novelty for them as well.
“No,” Merrick echoed as Elessia frowned at him. “This is my fault. I did this to you.”
“Merrick,” she started, but he shook his head, his jaw setting.
“No. They should know.”
That didn’t sound ominous at all.
Somehow, Raine had slipped through the cracks of her mental walls, but she let him stay, silently agreeing with him.
Merrick’s gaze flew across the room, quick and sharp, but it carried something, a hint of worry that Frelina could only attribute to fear of how what he said next would make Elessia feel.
You have great instincts, little Rantzier. He doesn’t give a shit about the rest of us, not if she isn’t safe.
Can you blame him?Frelina shot back.He just got her back. We just got her back. Besides, you need to stop calling me littleRantzier. I have given up the name, if you didn’t hear. The Rantzier name shall fall into oblivion.
Something strange flitted through Raine’s mind, not hurt but something similar, something that formed a knot within her gut.
What should I call you, then?he asked softly.
My name?Frelina didn’t understand what roiled within the red-haired, burly Fae, but as she was about to finally look at him, Merrick started speaking once more.
