Not when lives hung in the balance. Not when every day that passed meant more suffering for the people we'd left behind.
"I'll hold you to that."
5
NYX
My quarters felt wrong.
The stone floor was smooth under my feet. Every surface was familiar. The sleeping platform carved from volcanic rock. The basin in the corner. The weapons rack where my blades rested.
And nothing was right.
The bond I needed to ignore pulled at me like a hook lodged behind my sternum. Not painful, exactly. Insistent. A constant awareness of her location, her emotional state, her presence in the city. For three weeks in Ignarath territory, I'd been able to push it down, bury it under exhaustion and duty. Distance had muted the sensation to a dull ache.
Now I was back in Scalvaris, and the bond roared to life with a vengeance.
I could feel her. Angry. Frustrated. Moving through Scalvaris with purpose that made my scales itch.
My fangs ached. The familiar tingle spread across my tongue, that maddening sensation that meant my mate was close. Too close. Not close enough.
I stopped pacing and braced my hands against the edge of the basin. The stone was cool under my palms. I focused on thatsensation, trying to ground myself in something other than the relentless pull.
It didn't work.
The Council session replayed in my mind. Lexa's face when Pyroth threatened her. The way she'd stood her ground despite being outmatched, outranked, utterly without power in that chamber. The betrayal in her eyes when she'd looked at me.
Why didn't you help me?
I had no answer. Nothing that would satisfy me.
Duty demanded I support the Council's decision. Honor required I respect the chain of command. I'd taken an oath to serve Scalvaris, to put the city's needs above my own desires.
But every instinct I possessed screamed that I'd failed her.
My claws scraped against stone. The sound was harsh in the silence of my quarters.
I should rest. The mission to Ignarath had been brutal. Three weeks of minimal sleep, constant vigilance, the stress of operating in hostile territory. My body needed recovery time.
But when I stopped, I felt like I might crawl out of my own skin.
Something was wrong.
I lifted my head, nostrils flaring. The ventilation system in Scalvaris was ingenious, carved channels that pulled air from the surface and distributed it throughout the city. Scents traveled on those currents, information carried on invisible streams.
Her scent hit me.
Sweet and sharp, steel wrapped in smoke. But it was moving. Not the usual pattern of her quarters or the training grounds or the communal areas. This was different. Purposeful. Heading toward the outer tunnels.
My heart kicked against my ribs.
No.
She wouldn't.
Except she absolutely would. I'd seen it in her face after the Council session three days ago. The determination. The fury. The desperate need to do something,anything, rather than wait for others to act.
I was moving before conscious thought caught up. Out of my quarters, into the corridor, following her scent like a lifeline. My wings stayed tucked tight, my footfalls silent despite my size. Old habits from years of scouting work.
