Air displaced around us. A dark silhouette appeared against the green leaves. A flash of silver accompanied it—weapons?
My heart hammered against my ribs as I tracked the figure’s movement. It drifted toward the tree we hid under. But then, the person speared upward, clearing the canopy.
I didn’t trust them not to dive down immediately behind us.
“Let’s go,” I murmured, sprinting forward while we still had a chance. The marble wall and metal gates flashed below us as I angled toward the lush gardens outside the feather that housed my room.
I made a quick scan before I landed. Sylaira wiggled in my hold, and I let her slide to the ground, unwilling to snatch her autonomy again. Yet my sternumthrobbed. The agony that had yanked me toward her still hadn’t subsided, as I had hoped it would by carrying her back.
“The two of you can wash and I’ll have Lyriasthe sneak you backinto your rooms,”I spoke down my mental connection with my mate.
“Thank you,”she replied, but the gratitude in her tone was lacking. Her icy irises remained locked on mine like she had a thousand things she wanted to say and couldn’t trust a single one of them.
Heraphia’s approach forced me away, and the two fell in step while I jogged ahead, finding the exterior window I’d left open for this specific purpose. Crouching, I cupped my hands. Neither female was tall enough to climb in on their own.
“Heraphia first,” I instructed. She offered me a glare but allowed me to boost her inside. Then, my mate approached, wrapping light around her leg. Sylaira had to lean on me for extra balance, but I managed to get her up and inside before hauling myself over the ledge too.
Unfortunately, my rooms were a tornado of discarded clothes and parchment, and we landed in the middle of my sleeping chamber, where the worst of it was contained. Even my bedding was in disarray, like I’d thrown off the covers and tossed a pillow at the wall in frustration when rising that morning.
Because I had.
Sylaira drank in the space, silver brows rising higher and higher. A laugh—dripping with sarcasm—slipped out of her. “This is not what I imagined for you.”
And fuck me, even when it rang with barbs, I loved the sound.
“Well, I don’t have a lot of time to worry about keeping it clean,” I grumbled, striding toward the attached bathing chamber.
Turning the taps, I started the flow of water in the tub. I couldn’t help but wonder what Sylaira had pictured for me.Loathed that I grasped the knowledge she’d thought of me at all like a beacon amid a maelstrom.
When the two entered my space, I shoved the curiosity away. “Bath sheets and soaps are over there.” I jerked my head in the direction of some floating shelves. “I’ll find Lyriasthe while you two clean up.”
Twin sets of eyes seared into my back as I departed.
Yet when I strode into my sitting room, intending to hide away anything Sylaira could use to judge me, I stopped short, body going cold. A male and female, their backs to me, perched on my furniture, only the tops of their heads visible.
Goddess, had Iaoth and Stadiel found out? How could they have broken my magic ward and entered my space?
I was dead.
Fear gripped me as the larger frame rose and turned.
And aquamarine irises glittered with amusement.
“Fuck, Maelsar, you scared the shit out of me,” I snapped, dropping into a chair across from him and the very female I had planned to seek out.
He grinned at me, and I wanted to punch the expression off his face. “My father mentioned your illness. Lyriasthe mentioned Sylaira and Heraphia’s walk. Math wasn’t hard,” he shrugged.
“Does anyone suspect anything?” I asked, chest tight.
“I told the others I saw them return shortly after they left, Sylaira complaining of pain in her knee. Even took her some potions for good measure. That’s when I opened Heraphia’s window too,” Lyriasthe replied, picking at the ends of her cream colored hair.
“Thank you,” I sighed, vines constricting my air easing.
The three of us sat in silence until my mate and her friend emerged, now free of whatever filth they’d coated themselves in to hide inthe darkness.
Sylaira’s gaze collided with mine.
Seeing her clean, seeing her safe…
