“I didn’t, though,” he said simply. “Bleed out, I mean.”
“That’s not?—”
“I make a point of not bleeding out in my friends’ arms,” he continued, that familiar smirk creeping back onto his face. “It’s in my personal code of conduct. Very important rule. Right up there with ‘don’t fuck your enemies’ and ‘always have an exit strategy.’”
I stared at him. “You don’t know me well enough to call me a friend.”
“I know you well enough.” Darian’s eyebrows lifted. “You’ve got amazing kids. You’ve survived shit that would’ve killed most people.” His mouth quirked into a crooked smile. “And anyone who shoves me into a bush, I call a friend.”
I snorted, the sound escaping before I could stop it. “That’s your criteria for friendship?”
“Absolutely.” Darian’s grin widened, all wicked amusement again. “Most people are too terrified of me to do it. You didn’t even hesitate. Just—” He made a shoving motion with his hands. “Right into the shrubbery. It was beautiful.”
“You were being insufferable.”
“Fuck.” He rubbed his temples. “You and Eilrys are going to team up and be the death of me.”
“Speaking of death,” he said, taking on an edge I hadn’t heard before, “what the actual fuck were you thinking yesterday?”
I blinked, caught off guard by the sudden shift. “What?”
“Jumping off a dragon.” His tone was flat, but I could hear the fury building behind it. “In mid-flight. While we were being attacked by shadow dragons.”
I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. “It worked out.”
“It worked out?” Darian sat up straighter, wincing as the movement pulled at his bandages. “Isara, you threw yourself into empty air. You could have died.”
“But I didn’t.” I crossed my arms, defensive. “The green dragon caught me. Thessarian got you and Varyth to safety. Everyone lived.”
“By sheer fucking luck.” The words exploded from him with enough force to make me flinch. “Do you have any idea what it was like watching you just... step off into nothing? While I was bleeding out and couldn’t do a damn thing to stop you?”
The raw pain in his words caught me off guard.
“Do you have any idea what it was like for Varyth?” Darian’s voice went quieter, which somehow made it worse. “Watching you drop?”
I stiffened. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Come off it, Isara.” His eyes were narrowed, seeing right through my bullshit. “You show up here looking like that—” He gestured at my rumpled state. “Clearly something’s happened, and now you’re playing dumb?”
My mouth opened, but whatever half-formed excuse I’d been about to offer died in my throat as the door to the chambers swung open.
22
Varyth stood in the doorway, looking only slightly less dishevelled than me. At least he’d managed proper clothes. Dark trousers and a half-buttoned shirt that did absolutely nothing to help my current state of mind. His hair, though, was a disaster. Wild and tangled, like he’d dragged his hands through it too many times. Like he’d been as rattled as I was.
His eyes found mine first, then flicked to Darian. Back to me. Something unreadable passed across his face, surprise maybe. Or frustration.
He hadn’t expected to find me here.
The silence stretched too long. Uncomfortable. Heavy with things neither of us were saying.
“I was just leaving,” I blurted, already pushing to my feet. My legs felt unsteady beneath me, but I forced them to hold. “I should—I need to get dressed properly. Check on the children.”
Varyth nodded. Stiff. Formal. Like we were strangers instead of?—
Instead of what? People who’d spent the night wrapped around each other?
I started toward the door, but I had to pass him to get there.
