Stop moving. Stop breathing. We just…stop.
Kaelen. He has Kaelen, and he—
The groan comes from deep in his chest. “Lyra.”
I don’t know who moves first. Maybe it’s Eres, or perhaps it’s me, but our shared heartbeat thumps in my chest as our mouths meet.
Liquid lightning.That’s what he feels like. A storm in the desert; impossibly hot, bright flashes as he grips my neck to pull me impossibly closer. My back meets the wall, his hand cupping my head as he captures my cry and takes it for himself.
His lips trace my mouth, my cheek, my neck, and I tilt my head to give him better access, little sparks erupting everywhere his mouth touches my skin.
It’s too much. Too much, yet not enough. “Eres.”
My eyes squeeze shut as he pauses his slow, lethal exploration. I wait for him to pull away, but his forehead presses against mine. For a moment, we breathe each other in.
The knock on the door startles us both, the shout following. “If it’s safe to enter, dinner will be served soon, and I’d like a warm meal before I head out.”
“I…” Eres examines my face. He shakes his head, once, before his lips press to mine. Just once, so soft that I might have imagined it. “I don’t regret that.”
And then he steps away. His hand steadies me when I stumble, and he waits for me to regain my breath before his voice raises. “Come in.”
Sera pokes her head around the door, a wary expression on her face. “Is it safe?”
Heat flushes my cheeks for an entirely different reason. But the apology is still halting on my tongue. Possibly a little reluctant. They wereso close. “I’m sorry about what happened before.”
When she enters fully, I see the small package in her hands. “Just remember that I’m only here because of you. That should help.”
“For me?”
She holds up the package with a smirk. “His royal ass asked me to bring some things you might be missing.”
“Duskbane?”
She grins. “Who else?”
Perhaps I might like this female after all.
***
My wet hair hangs around my face as I sit cross-legged on the bed in a fresh uniform, free from the mud caused by my sparring session with Kaelen. Sera lounges beside me, her hands folded beneath her head. Sighing, I attempt to wrangle the knotted mess using the wide bone comb she brought me.
She had assured Eres that weabsolutely, definitely wouldn’t kill each other.He hadn’t looked totally convinced, but he’d waited for my nod before leaving.
And he had kissed me. I frown down at the floor.How inconvenient.
Particularly since I… didn’t mind it. More than that. I’d wanted it.
“My sister died,” Sera says quietly. “Elerie.”
My fingers stop moving. “I… I’m sorry.”
Sera purses her lips, staring hard at the ceiling. “Not your fault. But that's why Eres was hugging me. All three of them like to act like annoying brothers. It’s been the case since we were children, but… more so, now.”
Slowly, carefully, I resume combing. “She died in battle?”
“Of a sort.” She still doesn’t look at me. “Her unit was betrayed in the Veilspire. There were no survivors.”
Her choice of words gives away the truth.“She was with Darian’s father?”
