I pushed to my feet instantly.
The door crashed open.
On the landing was Graysen, his head hanging low, unruly locks falling forward, shielding his face as he slumped against his brother.
Blood rushed in my ears, drowning out everything else. I ran my gaze over his body, assessing his limbs, searching for a wound. An unbidden memory flashed through my mind of him lying at the bottom of a cliff, his skin ashen and blood spilling down his face, blank eyes staring up into the sky, and the raw grief that had drowned me beneath its crushing waves.
Without realizing it, I was moving toward him, only to stumble to a halt halfway across the room as I came to my senses.
He couldn’t be hurt, not with his mother’s unnatural healing flowing through his blood.
A breath wheezed from my clenched lungs as I finally understood.
Graysen was clearly almost asleep. His arms were banded over Kenton and Penn’s shoulders, and they braced either side to support him.
Kenton wore a suit—a polished uniform and mark of the upper ranks, a disguise to hide the death-dealer inside him. His neat, short hair, with a slight wave through the longer locks, was swept back off his forehead, but appeared a little disheveled.
Kenton’s hard gaze shot to mine. He was always cold and imposing. On the rare times I found myself in his company, his expression had remained nearly indecipherable. Except for the gleam of challenge in his eyes, as if he were sizing up an opponent. That was how I’d always felt around him, an emotion I had mistaken for sheer dislike. Now I understood. The wyrm. He hadn’t known then what lived within me, but the Crowthers had always known I was hiding something powerful, buried deep inside.
His square jaw flexed, and his full lips thinned as his stony gaze narrowed on me.
The look set my teeth grating and my ire stirring beneath my skin. I straightened my spine and returned a hateful smile.
Kenton retreated a step as if he’d changed his mind about bringing his brother up here. The abrupt movement jolted Graysen, who wobbled unsteadily.
Penn’s soft voice cut through the silence. “Kenton?”
The elder brother glanced over Graysen’s sagging head.
Penn and Kenton side by side, albeit with Graysen between them, was almost laughable. Graysen and I were at odds withour height, but there was something more streamlined and lean about Graysen’s muscled build. Kenton was brawny and barrel-chested, like a rugby player. His expression, similar to his physique, was unyielding. And then there was Penn, only a few inches taller than me, in her old-fashioned servant’s uniform, looking doll-like with her fine-boned features and delicate frame, staring back at him with large, luminous sapphire eyes. And akin to the precious gem and the vast age it took to form, there was a wariness in their blue depths, as if she’d seen too much of life.
Despite his formidable size and position in rank, Kenton deferred to Penn, waiting for her to decide the next move.
Penn turned her gaze to mine. “I need help.”
Jutting my hip out, I crossed my arms over my chest, giving her a look—Seriously?
“I can’t do this by myself,” she urged.
I shot an annoyed look at Kenton. Why couldn’thehelp his brother? Maybe he abhorred me so intensely that he couldn’t bear to be anywhere near me.
The wildfyre torches braced to the stairwell walls tainted Graysen’s dark locks with indigo as he drowsily lifted his head. I heard him mumble something, but I wasn’t able to make out quite what he’d said with the way the words were slurred from sleepiness.
Locking my gaze with Kenton’s, I ran my forefinger across my neck, the tip of my finger grazing the rough fibers of the cord collaring my throat.“While he sleeps…”
Kenton’s dark eyes flashed dangerously.
In answer, I delivered a small, mocking smile.
“I’ll stay with him,” Penn quickly reassured the elder brother, then frowned at me, her eyes widening with a warning to watch myself.
I gave an irked snort. Petulantly, I padded across the room to the doorway, with Sage snarling and shadowing every footstep.
Kenton hesitated until I arched an imperious brow. What did I care if Graysen slept on the cold stone landing or in his own bed?
He gave a slight sigh of resignation, ducked out from under his brother’s arm, and Penn stumbled forward into the room, enduring Graysen’s full weight. I quickly wrapped my arm around his back. His tattooed arm fell heavily over my shoulder.
It was the first time since I’d walked into his family’s fortress that I willingly touched Graysen. That thing that existedonlybetween us struck with the violence of lightning soaring through black storm clouds, scorching every single cell in my body, making my heart beat faster. His too. Cedar scent infused my lungs, and the warmth and strength of his body had my own heaving a traitorous sigh.
