“You almost just killed me!”
“But I didn’t!” My hands shook in front of me, palms out. “If I meant to, I would, but I didn’t.”
Growling, he snatched my arms and held my wrists together. I supposed he meant to stop me from casting again, but truly, I didn’t mean to hurt him.
“I just wanted to get away from you. I’ve never killed anyone. I?—”
“You said last night?—”
“About my sword arm?” A nervous laugh bubbled out of me. “Training! Yes, I’ve trained. A lot. That’s all there is to do in the Spires. I probablycouldkill someone, theoretically, but I’ve never done it. I’ve never been on the front lines of a battle or—I swear, man or dragon, I’ve never killed anyone.”
“Then why did you rush at me yesterday?” he snarled between his teeth.
I shrank down, kept up by his vise grip on my wrists. “Fair point.”
He growled, and I flinched.
I only had seconds to make my case, and I was wasting them.
“I thought I could. Or—well, it seemed a better thing to die having seen a dragon than to die from—” I shook, turning my head to look away from him. “My brother is king. He bid me to—to bring him a dragon’s head, or he’d take my own. I assure you, he’s got absolutely no sense of humor. Quite serious about it, really. And I—I figured I would either do it, or, more likely, I’ddeny Evander the pleasure of killing me himself by dying in the claws of a dragon.”
“The magic?—”
“Pure instinct. I don’t—I don’twantto die.” I grimaced, glancing up into his eyes again. I’d never seen anger that simmered so hot, but beneath it, there was a wound deeper than any I could fathom. I didn’t know that I could plead my way around hurt like that.
“You said your sister was killed?” I asked.
His lip pulled back from his teeth with a snarl, and I got the distinct sense that I was the last person he’d allow to speak on her.
“I’m sorry about that,” I whispered. “Truly. I wasn’t there; I never saw a dragon up close until you. But I have no doubt you could find a direct line from those who were responsible to my family. If mine is a life you have to take in order to find some balance in the scales of justice, I understand. I mean, I would rather you than—well, I won’t fight you again. No more magic. But—but if you would allow me to dress, stand on my own two feet, face this like a knight ought to?—”
He said nothing. A muscle in his jaw ticked.
Had I just made him angrier?
“Please,” I croaked.
With a curse, he let me go.
I wasn’t prepared, and I fell back with a splash as he marched out of the water. It took me an embarrassingly long time to get my feet under me, but when I did, I stood. All that soreness from this morning was exacerbated by the new bruises I’d gotten in our grappling.
“Thank you, dragon.”
He rounded on me. “Don’t call me that.”
I flinched back, but he didn’t advance, just glared at me like he’d never hated anyone more in the world.
“I’d call you by your name if I knew it.”
I expected him to tell me to get fucked, but his shoulders rolled back. He turned his chin up.
“Andreas gan Lowri.”
“Oh. Andreas—” I tested the syllables on my tongue. “I like that name.”
His cold expression didn’t so much as twitch at the compliment.
“I’m Blake Cavendish.” I swept a hand across my stomach and bowed. Water dripped from my hair, and I threw it back from my forehead when I straightened and sent him my winningest smile. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
