Oh, she almost found him endearing, coming in here to rescue his uncle. Her Guardians braced themselves with magic, claws, and bow.
“That would be a poor decision on your part,” Dyna said.
Eagon had his throwing stars ready. “You’re sorely mistaken if you believe you’ll make it out of here alive, lass. The manor is crawling with mercenaries. Hurt him, and nothing will deter us from taking you down.”
Tavin fixed her with those pretty, pale blue eyes. They weren’t hard or sharp, but they were the color of frosted ice. “Release him! I won’t tell you again.”
Familiarity washed over Dyna as she studied his youthful features. The truth had been in front of her since they arrived, but she was too preoccupied with frivolous matters to see it.
“Well, well.” She smirked at Klyde. “You have been keeping many secrets, haven’t you, Captain?”
Things were now beginning to get interesting.
His eyes grew wide. He strained against his gag to say something. Dyna nodded to Lucenna, and she removed the magic covering his mouth.
“Get out and shut the damn door,” he ordered Eagon while still looking at her. “No one is to disturb us. That’s an order.”
“What?” Tavin gaped at him. “But?—”
“Aye,” Eagon cut him off at Klyde’s look. He hooked an arm around Tavin’s chest and hauled him back out the door. It closed after them, and the lad’s angry voice faded as they left the hall.
Now what was she to make of this new knowledge? The others glanced at each other questioningly as she and Klyde stared at one another in stony silence.
“Set him down,” Dyna said.
Lucenna’s mouth pinched in disapproval, but she relented by placing Klyde in the chaise. With a wave of her fingers, she bound his wrists and ankles with glowing ropes of magic.
“It’s not what you think,” he told her as she worked to secure him to the chaise next.
“Spare me your breathing.”
“Lucenna,” Klyde said, a warning in his tone. “You know I enjoy it when you’re mean to me.”
“Be quiet before I strangle you,” she snapped, tightening the bonds around his neck. “I should kill you right now.”
“If you keep flirting with me like that, I’m going to fall in love with you.”
Lucenna turned bright pink, though her fury overshadowed it. Electricity sparked around her ominously.
Humor may have been Klyde’s way of dispelling tense situations, but now wasn’t the time to test them.
Zev shook his head. “Either you truly have a death wish, or you don’t know when not to make a jest out of everything. She is seconds from sending you through Death’s Gate.”
Dyna’s patience was beginning to thin with all their bickering. “Leave me with him.”
They all looked at her as if she had gone mad.
“That wouldn’t be wise, my lady,” Rawn said.
“I am not leaving you alone with him for a second,” Zev added.
Dyna tried not to let their overprotectiveness annoy her, but it reminded her too much of the absent presence she was working hard to ignore. She squeezed the velvet sachet in her fist tightly, releasing the scent of sage in the air.
“Then stand back and let me speak to him. Don’t interfere.” They obeyed her curt order and silently moved to stand by the door. Dragging a chair over, Dyna sat across from Klyde. Warmth from the hearth pressed into her back, the burning wood crackling gently as they studied each other. “Does he know?”
“As far as Tavin knows, his father died a hero during the overrun, and I’d rather keep it that way.”
Chuckling, Dyna crossed her legs. “I wasn’t speaking about your nephew, Captain.”
