I scowl at him over my shoulder. What does he think I’m doing? Snoozing on Fyrestar’s back?
“I’m glad to see your obvious fatigue isn’t affecting your ability to annoy me.” Kellan’s not so far from me that I have to shout, especially with his dragon ears doing the hearing. He still speeds up to fly beside me, and I glance over, asking, “Did that fae girl make you work to keep her safe? Or did she use her glamour magic on you and steal some lifeforce with a touch and a kiss?”
His eyes flash to mine, ice blue and striking. I see teeth. “Jealous?”
I instantly regret this conversation. “Worried,” I answer truthfully. I have been since the moment he showed up in the war room, looking exhausted and like he didn’t even care about winning right wing.
Or that I won it.
He might look disappointed by my answer, though it’s hard to tell under his iridescent scales and burning eyes. Kellan’s hide is dark overall, but when the light hits him in a certain way, he’s every color in the world. “You’d be surprised by how many fae have zero scruples and want a starborn royal to spring from their loins.”
My brows lift, mocking. “Spring from their loins?”
“You wouldn’t think it was funny if you were the one constantly running or hiding from attempts at forced marriage. Or forced anything,” he mutters.
I sober. No, I definitely would not. “Is she nice?” I hope I won’t have to make small talk with her next week inside Drayke Mountain.
And how in the holy stars am I going to avoid running into Rannigan Bloodthief?
“She’s scared.” Kellan faces forward again. “Small and weak and scared.”
So Bale sent Kellan to escort her. I should be grateful. If there’s one thing that’ll distract Kellan away from me, it’s someone who needs him.
Sudden suspicion hits me along with a cold gust of wind. Was this Bale helping me? Or helping himself? Maybe both, but I’ll bet the Fae Queen came last in the calculation.
“How did you get back so fast if she refused to fly?” I ask. Secretly, I’m glad she didn’t ride Kellan. He’s never carried anyone but me on his back.
The thought is utterly unfair since I’ve now flown with Bale. If anyone broke that special link between Kellan and me, it was me. Just like I broke the rest.
“We rode.” His dragon’s voice rumbles with disgust, and he shakes his big, elongated head, his nostrils emitting enough heat to make the air around his snout waver. “And it wasn’t fast. It took fucking forever.”
I grin. “Because she was bad company?”
He turns a blazing look on me, fire rolling between his jaws. “Because she was terrified of me.”
My brows fly up. Kellan is the quintessential knight in shining armor—except when he’s plaguing me. He’d probably let the helpless queen walk across his body rather than let her step in mud, and she was afraid of him?
I bite back an incredulous snort. “Did Stuart at least coat you with fae-resistant magic so she wouldn’t try to trick you out of some years and strength?”
“No. But she didn’t try.”
I frown over at him. “How do you know?” A fleeting touch could siphon off little enough lifeforce that Kellan might not notice. She could have done it twenty times, leaving him just a tiny bit more tired and haggard with each brush of her fingertips.
“Because I saw her pay handsomely for a burst of vigor partway into Torridaig.”
I huff. What a hero. “She’s going to have to coax more gildenfae back into Tanturriff if she’s going to keep that up, but at least she’s paying. But who would sell their life away?”
Kellan swings a critical look at me. “Not everyone has endless chests of gold, Idallia. I saw a mother sheer years off her life so her children would never be hungry again.”
“Is that why you look so harrowed?” I shoot back, stung. “Because you stood there and watched a leech steal someone’s future?”
“How is it different from Fanghaven vampires? They pay for blood.”
“Blood regenerates.” Just look at me, strong again. “But years don’t. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.”
“The mother was a dragon shifter,” he says tonelessly. “Her years are long.”
That makes me feel a little better about the Fae Queen’s strength-gaining and life-prolonging snack. A human doesn’t have years to spare. A werebeast, even less. But dragon shifters and vampires…Sometimes, they live so long they grow bored and weary with their days.
