His jaw tenses. His eyes sweep over my face, then snag on the pounding pulse at the base of my throat. Slowly, he lowers his head and whispers, “And you’re dead.” He inhales against my neck, sending a river of goose bumps cascading over me. I could swear his teeth graze my skin.
“Didn’t we say no biting?” I ask roughly.
“I’ll bet you taste good.”
His fast, guttural response sends a shot of heat through me that could rival dragon fire. Wild desires smash through my defenses. Kiss me. Strip me. Fuck me. I shove them all back across the threshold of good sense and somehow ask, “How’d I do this time?”
Lifting his head, he rasps, “Better.”
The glittering, starborn wheels in his eyes are so beautiful and distracting this close up that I can barely form words. “Really?” I huff. “Because that was my second death today.”
He looks straight into my eyes, his voice rolling with smoke and danger. “Your death is not an option.” His gaze dips to my mouth, then he lifts off me with fluid strength, already turning away.
I’m too weighed down by liquid heat and uncertainty to follow him up at first. When I finally stand, neither of us tries to spar again. We gather our belongings and head to the inn, silent tension hanging loudly between us.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
BALE
There must be something wrong with me. A life that had been on track for nearly six hundred years suddenly feels like it veered over a cliff.
And the cliff has a name.
I scrub a hand down my face, staring at the inn’s dark ceiling. My team occupies each of the rooms on this floor. Idallia is in the one right next to mine.
I groan, the sound a rasping mix of frustration and despair. I’m supposed to be sleeping, but too many questions and a gut-deep worry plague me. I’ve always managed to attribute Idallia’s flushed skin, pounding heartbeat, and sweet scent of arousal to something else. Violence can cause it, and we engage in plenty of that. But for the first time, I let myself believe it might be me.
And if it’s me, then everything just got harder.
At nightfall, I’ll find myself alone with her again, and if she makes me laugh one more time, I might break down and do something stupid.
Sunshine.
What the fuck was I thinking?
The way that slipped out wasn’t just telling. It was telling. And she’s so full of questions…
I force myself to breathe calmly and relax. I need to sleep now and be vigilant tonight. My efforts aren’t very effective, but I know I doze off at least once because my dreams are filled with black hair, golden eyes, Rannigan’s cold, angry stare, and hot blood everywhere.
We’re all subdued at dinner. I don’t know why. Nothing is different except that I’ve turned inward to muse over my own thoughts, and that seems to keep everyone else from expressing theirs. Wade doesn’t tell a single terrible joke. Danica, Maia, and Arran eat quietly. Kellan furtively watches Idallia as much as I do. And Idallia just pushes her food around her plate and gazes out the window. She doesn’t look in the direction of where we were earlier or where we’ll go tonight. She looks in the direction of her warbirds.
Sighing, I rise. “Let’s go get the phoenixes. Then it’s back to our posts.”
Everyone stands without grumbling, even though no one’s had a chance to order a second round of food yet.
I go straight to the clearing. Idallia retrieves Fyrestar and Rimblaze from the local barracks and then joins me in the woods.
As night falls, we begin patrolling. Conversation is slim. She talks quietly with her birds, but unless I’m right there, Fyrestar and Rimblaze don’t include me in their thoughts, and I can only hear Idallia’s whispered replies snaking through the trees like a teasing thread I can barely grasp before it jumps away from me again.
Irritated, I move deeper into the woods. I liked it better when I craved solitude and happily isolated myself. No one to influence me. No one to try to please. Individuals are distracting. I learned that a long time ago and kept them at a distance. Then Idallia erupted into my life, and I had to figure out a way to keep her alive and train her for what comes next. The Elite Wing was a great idea—to help her, me, and Torridaig. But training them, flying with them, fighting alongside them…It’s given me something I never expected—the urge to join instead of avoid.
Kellan was a bump in the road I didn’t expect, either, even though I should have. Wade is interested in men, Arran is in love with Maia, and that left Kellan to see Idallia and get stars in his eyes. I keep waiting for his feelings to fade, but we live with centuries as our reference point, not years or even decades.
And do feelings always fade? Sometimes they grow so slowly you don’t even see them coming until it’s too late.
My gut tightens uncomfortably. Everything seems uncomfortable these days.
Kellan’s persistent feelings are another good reason for his upcoming mission. He’s a protector, so I’ll give him someone who needs a lot more protection than Idallia. His knight-in-shining-armor syndrome will kick in, and maybe I’ll accomplish two goals in one.
