Leaving Aerina with Halder, Raiden came to stand before the elf who had tried to abduct his mother. His eyes burned with ire, but he seemed to draw it back. “We will take them to the king for questioning.”
“But who sent them?” Eldred asked.
“They wear no livery nor carry any proof of orders, my lord,” Camsen said after riffling their pockets.
Raiden gritted his teeth and said to the Magi Master, “We both know who is responsible. Put them in irons, Commander.”
“Yes, my lord.”
He turned to her, and his expression softened. “My lady, I’m sorry you were hurt. Can you walk?”
“I am all right,” Dyna said, forcing a smile. “See to your mother.”
“Raiden,” Aerina called shakily. He quickly went to her, and the Rangers escorted them away.
“Come, we need to clean you up,” Cassiel told her. He helped her stand, and Dyna moaned at the pain throbbing on the side of her head. “I will take you to the inn.”
“I can make it on my own.” Dyna pushed off his hand but stumbled, and Cassiel lifted her in his arms.
“So stubborn,” he sighed.
Dyna couldn’t even argue from how much her head hurt. Yelrakel and Sowmya shadowed them as he marched through the streets, drawing several stares. They flew away once Cassiel reachedMisty Hollowand carried her up three flights of stairs to the room that must be assigned to her. It was a small nook carved into the tree. A single window provided a view of Evos below.
There wasn’t much in the limited space but a hammock, a table with stools, and a short chest of drawers with a basin and a mirror. A map of vines and glowing lanterns adorned the walls. Cassiel set her on a stool, and she heard water pouring into a basin. He returned to her, and she tried not to hiss as he carefully cleaned the dry blood from her temple.
“Gods, what hit me?”
“When you fell, your head hit the corner of a merchant’s table.” He searched her eyes worriedly. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine…”
“What happened, Dyna? You panicked.”
“I told you I’m fine,”she snapped. “You can go now.”
She was safe. Lady Aerina was safe. She had been through worse.
Cassiel laid his warm palm over her cold fists. “If you’re fine, why are you still trembling?”
It took all her will to fight back the tears threatening to surface.
Dyna couldn’t tell him that when those hands had pushed her, she had fallen back into the chasm of her nightmare. The blow against the table had shocked her mind into thinking she had cracked her skull. And it had left her helpless on the ground.
If he and the others hadn’t been near, Lady Aerina would have been taken.
Shutting her eyes, Dyna stamped down a fresh wave of panic. She felt so stupid and pathetic to have been left vulnerable by such a simple thing. Pressure built in her chest, and she pushed a fist against it. Her breathing quickened as the world tilted.
“Motek.”Cassiel took her hands. The contact sent a tingling energy over her skin, and the spinning in her head faded at the soft foreign word.Sweetheart, he called her.
“Please don’t ask me about it,” she whispered. “I can’t speak of it.”
“When you do, I hope you will share it with me.” Petals of Seraph fire unfurled from Cassiel’s palms, casting steady heat over hers. She hadn’t realized how stiff she was until her body sagged as soothing heat spread through her, and her trembling ceased. “May I heal you?” he asked next.
She shook her head.
Exchanging blood was intimate. The foundation of a mate bond. That held too much meaning to allow it anymore, because it would only confuse him … and herself.
Cassiel’s brow furrowed. She read the silent worry in his eyes. They were the gray of a coming dawn, and however angry or sad she was with him, she still found herself yearning for those skies whenever he was near.
