“Hi, baby,” she greeted me softly. “You sound like you swallowed a talon. What’s wrong?”
I leaned my shoulder against the cold stone. “Do you ever—” I stopped talking because I was a grown man who had walked out of drake fire with two dragons slung over my shoulders, and apparentlythiswas what made my brain stop working.
“Oh,” she cooed with a delighted edge to her tone. “Is it a girl?”
I closed my eyes. “Maybe.”
“The coordinator’s daughter?” she asked knowingly.
I inhaled through my nose. “That obvious?”
“You made her noodles,” she reminded me. “Do you like her?”
“I…” Memories of every single interaction I’d had with Rune flashed through my mind. “Yeah. I do.A lot.”
“Good,” Mom said simply. “Thenlikeher.”
“She’s Sabine’s daughter,” I said. “Gavin’s daughter. Theheadmaster’sdaughter. There are politics at large here. Expectations.LinesI shouldn’t cross.”
“There are always lines,” she told me. “We decide which ones we honor. You can cross a line respectfully, dear. Does she make you feel better?”
“Yes,” I said, smiling just from the thought of her asking for more noodles. Maybe I could make her a ramen dish next time.
“Would you keep her safer by staying away?” she asked, knowing that was my go-to excuse for never getting involved in romantic relationships.
I thought about it. Ireallythought about it. About Darian and the way Rune looked at me with surprise and longing when I’d punched him, knocking him out cold for talking like that about her. About herscentthat knocked my balance off a few minutes ago. About her talent for getting into dangerous situations, all without my help.
“I don’t think so,” I said honestly. “With who she is, she’d be in danger with or without me.”
“Then protect her,” she giggled. “Withrespect. Withpatience. And by the way?” Her voice warmed in the same way that had soothed me through fevers and my first few kills. “Any woman would be lucky to have you. You’re a good man. That’s rarer than it should be.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I blinked away tears. I’d wanted to be a good man because my mom deserved a good son. “I tripped over a rock today.”
“You’ll step over it next time,” she said supportively. “Eat something with protein, okay? You don’t eat enough on your missions.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Tell Sabine I said hello,” she added, entirely too cheerful. “And tell the coordinator that if she wants the best for her daughter, she won’t scare off the best man for the job.”
“Mom.”
“Kidding. Mostly. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
She ended the call.
I rolled my shoulders back, breathing the air and the lingering scent Rune left behind. I felt guilty doing it. She deserved more respect than that, but I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Of her pretty green hair, of that sound she made after Zuko whispered something in her ear, and of her golden eyes locked on mine.
dimitri
. . .
“No,”I snarled into the receiver of this damned phone. “I amnotgoing to another fucking recital.”
“Dimitri, you have to,” Mother’s clipped tone snapped through the line. “You’re already sold out, and you can’t have another scandal after the human concert you left them hanging on.”
“I didn’t leave them hanging! I never even agreed to—” I cut myself off, jaw tight. It was pointless to argue. She hadn’t cared when I’d taken the entrance exam, and she hadn’t cared when I got into the academy. Mother caredonlyabout the stage. About the piano. About control. “I’m done with the concerts,” I said flatly. “I’m done with being your pianist.”
