I repeat his family name again, reminding us both how much things have changed between us. “You and I are not allies. We are not friends. You stay the fuck away from Eres, and from me.”
“Kaelen—”
“Stop.” The sound rips from my throat, accompanied by more pain than I want him to see. “You no longer have the right to address me so informally. Or at all, outside of that chamber.”
The heat from his skin reaches me even through my leathers. Both of us are breathing heavily – Darian through the shadows that now cover his lower face in a mask, effectively gagging him, and me through the anger that has me pressing closer, my hand sliding through the darkness to grip his throat. “You live only becauseIallowed it. Your family name is tainted.Youare tainted, Veyr. Do not mistake my mercy for forgiveness. You will never have it.”
The pulse that beats raggedly beneath my fingers exists only because of my intervention.
The thought keeps me awake each night, considering how many we have sacrificed to this godforsaken, endless battle just to survive. And another thought strikes as we stare at each other. My snarl brushes his lips as I tear the shadows away. “And stay the fuck out of my dreams, walker.”
I turn my back on him. Myerevas, my shadows, disperse, revealing us to the world outside the cocoon I created for someone else.
Someone who is waiting patiently for us, leaning against the wall.
“Darian,” Eres murmurs. His gaze sweeps across the two of us, as if checking for injuries, and softens when it finds none. “Thank you for the offer.”
Darian says nothing. Only those footsteps tell me he’s walking away, and I wait until I can’t hear them anymore before I face the next argument.
My hands are far softer with Eres than they were with my previously closest friend. They cradle his face as I steer him back into the wall. “You are going to be the damn death of me.”
I can feel his smile beneath my lips as they crash into his. My right hand slips into his unruly nest of curls, tugging at his nape to tip his head back and give me access to his throat.
“Stop it.” Husky words, even as he leans to give me access to more of him. “I’m going to the Veilspire, Kae.”
My teeth sink into the juncture between his neck and shoulder. He shudders beneath my touch, his hands slipping beneath my leathers to trace down my back. “You cannot stop me.”
The growl reverberates into his skin. “Don’t fucking test me.”
Laughter.Whatever darkness I give him, whatever madness it is that means I cannot stop myself from being with him, he meets with a joy that I drink in like nectar. His fingers, coarse and calloused from his work, rub in soft circles against my back. “But I enjoy testing you.”
And I enjoy being tested. Usually. But not at this moment, and my hands tighten on him. “I should have said no.”
The teasing touch turns sharp. A knifepoint against my back, and I press myself into it, one eyebrow raising in a silent challenge even as Eres forces my face up, so he can see it. His full lips press together. “I am a soldier in this war too, Kaelen.”
I shake my head. Take his hand, turn it to the calloused, scratched skin of his palms, and press my lips to it. “That’s not what you wanted.”
“But it’s what I got. None of us have the luxury of keeping away from battle. Not forever.” Eres studies me. “I can fight just as well as you and Darian.”
The cool prick of shadow at my back is a reminder. I press my mouth to his again, chasing away any mention of the male who just left us. When I pull away, both of us are breathing heavily.My words are a snarl. Petulant, possessive, and both of us know it. “I don’t like his name on your lips.”
The sharp edge disappears. Eres’s face softens as he leans forward. “He is my friend. And he’s yours, too. Even now. He’s hurting, Kae.”
I don’t want to talk about Darian fucking Veyr. “When do you leave?”
I know my healer well enough to know he won’t want to linger here. He hesitates, his eyes dropping from mine. “An hour. Nythen and Valcor are preparing. I need to pack.”
An hour. I stiffen. Minutes, before he rides out of the gates and I’m forced to remain behind. To wait for news. To plan battles and strategy when he’s riding toward the enemy that haunts every fucking step I take.
The Lightbringers want to kill me. They’ve tried for years, over and over again.
I am not so easy to kill. But there is one way, and it’s through the male waiting for my response with eyes full of understanding. He brushes his mouth against mine. Once, and then again. Our breathing mingles, mint and sage and something uniquelyEresthat I don’t think I can survive without it. “I will be fine.”
My hands remain on his face. Eres’s lips part. “Kaelen.”
I busy myself with his neck. Dragging my teeth over it as I call the shadows. They hide us from prying eyes, thick enough that none could walk through, rotating fast enough that none would dare. “Yes?”
“You…,” He inhales. “Here?”
