I want to push. Want to demand answers. Want to march over there and kiss him until those walls he’s built come crashing down.
Instead, I pick up my sword. Start walking toward the cabin.
“This isn’t over,” I say without looking back. “Whatever this is between us—I’m not giving up on it just because you’re scared.”
He doesn’t respond.
But he doesn’t deny it either.
The cabin feels tooquiet after the intensity of the clearing. Drayke’s gone. Left to check the area for danger. I think he really just wanted to get away from me.
I strip off my sweaty clothes. Stand under the hottest water the ancient pipes can produce. Let the heat soak into my aching muscles while my mind replays every moment of the past few hours.
His hands on mine. His chest against my back. His admission?—
Staying away from you.
He wants me. That much is undeniable now. The thing he’s fighting, the fear holding him back—it’s not lack of desire. If anything, his desire seems to be the problem.
The last Fire-Bringer died because she refused to be protected.
He watched her burn.
Is that what he’s afraid of? That getting close to me will end the same way? That his protection—or his desire—will somehow destroy me?
I turn off the water. Wrap myself in a towel. Stare at my reflection in the foggy mirror.
Same gray eyes. Same freckled nose. Same stubborn set to my jaw that’s gotten me into trouble my whole life.
But I’m different now. It’s in the way I hold myself. In the fire, I can feel simmering just beneath my skin, waiting to be called.
I’m not the same person who drove up this mountain three days ago. Not the same person who screamed at shadows and armed herself with a baseball bat.
I’m becoming more. Stronger. The kind of person who could stand beside a dragon.
The question is whether Drayke will let me.
I dress in clean clothes. Eat the leftovers from breakfast. Practice my fire until I can hold a steady flame for ten minutes without wavering.
The sword leans against the wall where I left it. Tomorrow, I’ll train again. The day after, and the day after that. Until I’m good enough to fight next to him instead of behind him.
Because this thing between us—his fears, his walls—I’m not the kind of person who gives up easily. Never have been. Drove my mother crazy. Made my exes miserable. Got me through college and three different careers and the worst breakup of my life.
Stubbornness, my therapist called it. Determination, I prefer.
Outside, the sun sets in shades of gold and crimson. The forest settles into evening quiet. And somewhere out there, Drayke is probably brooding about all the reasons he should stay away from me.
Good luck with that, Guardian King.I smile at the darkening window.I’m just getting started.
Tomorrow, we train again.
And next time, I’m not letting him run.
EIGHT
DRAYKE
She’s laughing.
