His brow furrowed. “What?”
“At the palace…you lost so much blood.” I reached for his face, trembling.
“I made it out.” He caught my hand, pressing it against his cheek. “I’mfine.”
I exhaled roughly, the fear releasing its grip. He was here. Warm and solid andalive.
“Where are we exactly?” I asked. “What happened?”
“Cave on the Skaldir coast, a few leagues from the border,” he ground out. “And I hope you can tell me.”
I opened my mouth, and a coughing fit seized me. Cold, so cold. My lips felt numb.
He cursed and shrugged out of his soaked shirt, tugging me close. Heat radiated from him as his skin flushed with magic, seeping into my frozen limbs, just like it had all those weeks ago, but my teeth still chattered.
Kairos pulled away, his expression grim. “Your dress is soaked. You need to take it off.”
“But—”
His eyes flashed. “The elements don’t care about modesty. Strip, or I’ll do it for you.”
I fumbled with the laces, shaking too badly to work them. He undid them himself, and his mist helped remove the dress, and then I sat in my shift.
“That too,” he grunted.
“I’ll be okay, really.”
Kairos grabbed my shift and ripped it off me. Cold air hit my skin, but I didn’t have time to feel embarrassed as he yanked me into his arms.
Oh gods.
My bare breasts pressed against his chest. His completely naked chest, and his arms wrapped around my back, his fingers splayed on my skin. I gasped, fully aware of every point of contact, the deliciously hard muscles, the coarse hair of his thighs.
“Better?” His voice was strained.
I nodded against his neck and my shivers gradually subsided.
You will open the door.That dream couldn’t be real. Those flames eating through my skin. Cooking me. The pain. Gods, the pain.
His burning palm slid over my shoulder. “Aelie.”
I blinked, disoriented. “What?”
“I asked if you were alright.”
“I’m fine.”
I couldn’t say anything more. If I started talking, everything would spill out and I wouldn’t stop. There was too much. The dragon commanding me. Vaeris holding Rheya hostage. The bodies buried under rubble. Kairos risking his realm because I’d begged him to bring me to the summit.
I closed my eyes and listened to his steady heartbeat, the most comforting sound I’d ever heard. Each beat was a promise—I’m here, I’m here, I’m here.
He sighed heavily. “I should haverealizedyou had a deal. For fuck’s sake, you even tried to tell me. You asked about deals, and I…Imissedit.”
“I’m just tired,” I whispered. “I’m sick of pretending I’m strong when all I want to do is fall apart. I destroyed a palace and probably killed a lot of people. Warriors, servants who were doing their job.”
He rubbed my back.
“I could have gone with him,” I murmured. “Vaeris has my sister, but I chose to save you. What if she thinks I abandoned her?”
