“Whenever you need me to take care of you…” he said. “I will come.”
The low sound of his voice made her belly tighten in response. Heat sprouted in her cheeks because she knew exactly what he meant.
Herbs were not the only way to replenish Essence.
Cassiel strode out of the tent, leaving his words behind. It took a moment before she could sort her thoughts enough to wander to the bath. After stripping off her soiled clothing, she sank into the heated water and rested her head against the edge.
Dyna shut her eyes, trying to put her mind off him. It would be a lie to deny the thought had not fleetingly,secretly, crossed her mind. But no, she couldn’t allow herself to ever be that close to him again. Yet the soft rumble of his offer repeated in the silence, thrumming on her skin, drawing out a desperate longing that left her too warm and too restless.
There would be no rest for her tonight.
Dyna fellinto the endless dark, her cries echoing all around her. She hit the ground with a shriek. The sheets had tangled around her arms and legs. The tunic she’d borrowed stuck to her damp skin like a net. Her heart pounded wildly in her ears as she fought to recognize where she was.
The trilling of rain and Cassiel's familiar scent cleared her confusion.
The tent flaps parted, and a winged figure stepped in.
Her racing heart inexplicably sank. “Sowmya…”
“My lady,” she crouched by her side. “What happened? Are you all right?”
“Yes…” Dyna sat up, embarrassed to realize she had fallen off the bed. “I’m fine.”
Sowmya helped her up onto the bed again. “Another nightmare?”
Dyna laughed dryly and laid an arm over her eyes. “Of course you know about those as well.”
“May I bring you anything?”
She shook her head. “I half expected Cassiel to burst in here himself.”
Sowmya gave her a look.
Glancing at the entrance, Dyna lowered her voice. “He’s outside, isn’t he?”
“Can you blame him, my lady? His only desire is to protect you, even from what cannot be seen.” Her guard rose. “If you command it, I will not allow him to enter.”
“You would defy your king?”
Frowning, the Lieutenant said, “It is not defiance. It is compliance. When he declared you his equal, it was not for flattery, but to exalt your place. You are the High Queen, should you need me to remind you of that.”
Dyna said no more as her guard marched outside. She stared at the entrance, sensing Cassiel on the other side. He wouldn’t enter without her permission.
She was determined to stay awake with the candles for company. But sleep came swiftly, and the same terrors awoke her again. Dyna buried her face into the pillow and stifled her cries. Why wouldn’t the dreams stop?
It was too much.
She was so tired, but too scared to fall into another nightmare. All she wanted was to feel safe. There was only one person who made her feelthat way. She barely whispered his name, so faint she hardly heard it herself.
Yet Cassiel instantly swept in the tent as if he had been waiting for her call. Her vision blurred from relief, and in that moment, she didn’t care how much he had made her cry.
She needed him.
Cassiel kneeled by the bed, his wings draping his back and the floor like a black cloak. “You had another nightmare.”
“They never stop.” Her voice broke. “I feel I am going mad.”
“Then may I stay with you?” he murmured, brushing the hair from her sweaty temples. It was the only part of her he touched, yet his warmth filled her cold limbs and eased the racing of her heart. “I’ll keep the nightmares at bay, so you may find rest.”
