His head hanging low, shifted to mine. Though his slurred voice was raspy with sleep, I heard it clearly,‘little bird,’as my nickname washed over my sensitive ear.I bit down on my lip as a full-body shiver rippled through me and his fingers on my bare arm flexed in response.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
I steeled my resolve.
There was nothing between us any longer.
This was simply the chemicals of wyrm and tamer—nothing more.
Gripping Graysen’s wrist, the leather and silver chains imprinting on my palm, Penn and I stumbled, then righted ourselves, and walked his sleep-drunk, weaving body to the bed. He collapsed, falling onto the mattress with a soft thump.
Penn arranged his splayed legs so he was a little more comfortable, and I lingered nearby. The curve of the black bowlike bedposts that twisted high above threw a slatted effect of shadows over his prone figure. I blinked, suddenly realizingwhat that other smell running beneath his cedar scent was. He’d returned smelling of sugar and all things sweetly spiced, like a bakery. Which was strange for someone who wouldn’t take a bite out of anysugary shit.
Graysen blinked blearily, his glassy gaze staring right at me. The defiant hank of hair half-obscured his sight. He mumbled something, his arm rising, blunt-tipped fingers stretching out to touch me. My arm, perhaps, or my hand.
I jerked away, out of reach.
Hurt flashed as his hand fell onto the bedding of grays and midnight blues right as his thick lashes fluttered to rest on those upper cheeks, and he sank into slumber.
Kenton remained outside the room’s doorway, a forearm braced against the doorjamb. Penn hurried to speak to him, both whispering in hushed tones, with the odd wary glance from Kenton to me, as if he was just as concerned about leaving Penn alone in my presence as he was with his younger brother.
A minute later, Kenton, drumming his fingers on the wooden doorjamb, nodded to Penn before shooting me one last glare of lethal warning and left.
She closed the door, cutting off the sound of his footfall drumming a beat down the tower’s staircase.
As the sun descended and the shadows of night took over the room, Penn and I settled in for the evening. A servant brought up a light meal for us both to eat, and Sage wolfed down his manky, rotten chicken carcass out on the balcony.
Penn was comfortable in silence, and I was out of sorts having Graysen back here sleeping peacefully. A rare repose for a man who suffered from insomnia and nightmares. Not that I’d ever encountered him sleeping with the relationship we’d had prior, him visiting me once a month, sometimes more often, and both of us at war. The only other time I’d witnessed him go under wasat my mother’s aviary when I discovered the truth of the Alverac and he begged me to flee.
Run and never stop running.
And that was something I wished not to think about too closely, so I made an early retreat to my bedroom.
After brushing my teeth, combing my hair, washing and moisturizing my face, I was about to shift my facial products about the vanity and stopped…only to organize them as neatly as I’d found them.
Sage took his place at the foot of my bed, huffing in contentment as he lay down. Through the window Graysen had cut out of the wall, the barest of silvery light spilled inward, the moon partially concealed by bloated clouds. I switched on my nightlight, illuminating my bedding with pale gold. Both reminded me of my wyrmfire and its unique twining of moonlight and sunlight.
Changing into a nightie, I got into bed and tried to read, giving up quickly after I discovered I’d been reading the same paragraph over and over, my thoughts wandering elsewhere. Tossing the book aside, I lay down, stretching my limbs and squiggling about, getting comfortable. Closing my eyes with a sigh, I prepared for sleep.
Which never came.
Hours later, I was still trying to sleep but couldn’t.
My mind obsessively turned over questions to which I didn’t know the answer. Where had Graysen been today? If something really did happen to him, would I be able to get out of this room?
I tossed and turned, but there was no use.
Flinging the blankets aside, I slipped out of bed and into my dressing gown. Sage peeked at me from beneath a misty brow.
I cracked open the door and poked my head out. It was dark but for the lamp’s light spread over the armchair where Penn sat reading. The big, oversized armchair swamped her tiny figure,and she tucked her legs under her, smoothing the long black skirt over them. Her shoes were off and neatly placed beside the foot of the chair. At the sound of my door opening, she glanced up. “Can’t sleep?”
I shook my head.
Sage followed behind me as I strode into Graysen’s domain, knotting the silky belt loosely around my waist.
Graysen was fast asleep, lying on his side and facing my small bedroom. Penn had taken off his sparkly pink boots, covered him with an inky blanket, and placed a pillow beneath his head. He appeared to be in a deep sleep, but as I watched his fingers twitch, the muscles straining in his neck, and the thin sheen of sweat along his dark hairline, I knew a nightmare plagued him.
If he were having a nightmare…well then, good. He deserved it.
