Varian stood beside the small fire, her arms tucked inside a thick black cloak embroidered with violet thread that matched the robes layered beneath. She’d braided back her dark curtain of black hair, though fine wisps had come loose at her temples and the nape of her neck. She regarded us with her customary composure, her dark eyes sweeping over our newly comprised trio—but they lingered on Isanara.
I shifted to the side, putting her more firmly behind me.
Which, of course, she countered by moving to my side and flaring out her wings, taking up twice as much space as before.
Fucking. Teenagers.
Tomin, however, did not assume the mask of quiet unreadability that I’d been so continually impressed with. His mouth hung open in absolute, unabridged shock, his fiery curls bobbing with his chin.
He held a stack of flattened stones, the altars that Varian had referred to. Four were already in place in even circular intervals around the fire in the small clearing where Varian and Tomin were making camp.
“What is… is that a dragon?” His throat slid as he said the last word, as if he was not sure he should have said it at all.
Isanara snapped her wings closed, the sound echoing through the trees.
I rolled my eyes again, but they paused halfway to the sky. Tomin jumped backward, the stones in his hands toppling. They slid to the ground, vertical missiles. One hit his foot before bouncing to the ground. He hopped sideways, biting down on a cry, only to slip on one of the others and tumble in the opposite direction.
A gargling sound filtered up from Isanara’s throat. It sounded suspiciously like the dragon version of laughter.
A thousand sarcastic comments jumped to my own mind, but after how I’d treated Tomin, I forced myself to swallow them down.
Varian ignored her acolyte entirely. I was not surprised, exactly. The first time we’d met at the Mercy Gate, Tomin had rushed to perform the Oath of Atonement with one eye fixed over his shoulder, watching for her. The relationship between priestess and acolyte could hardly be characterized as warm. But the complete lack of regard was also unnerving. Tomin had been an acolyte for nearly twenty years. I’d assumed that meant he’d forged relationships within the temple.
But maybe he was as lonely as me.
Which made my treatment of him even more abominable.
Varian finally lifted her gaze away from Isanara. “You have taken a familiar.”
“As if I had any choice in the matter.”
“You did not, and that is precisely how it is meant to be.”Isanara did not snap her wings again, but she did that strange serpentine thing with her head as she returned Varian’s stare in force.
“Yes,” I said aloud.
“That is a dragon,” Tomin exhaled, his voice still disbelieving. He’d collected the altar stones he’d dropped, but unlike Varian, who held her ground, he’d retreated several steps.
“The beasts that roam this continent are older than some of the gods themselves,” the priestess said. She made no move to come closer. “You need not fear them, Tomin, only respect them.”
Then she bowed her head to Isanara.
My eyebrows shot up. Beside me, Garrick made a low hum in his throat.
Varian merely turned back to her fire, withdrawing a small leather pouch from within her cloak and sprinkling herbs over the flames. Another pulse of frankincense and palmarosa filled the air.
“You are welcome to share our evening meal and make camp here,” she said without looking up again.
Tomin managed to tear his eyes away from Isanara, but when they landed on me, they clouded instantly. He turned back to placing the altar stones.
Garrick moved again, angling his back so that neither Varian nor Tomin could see his face as he leaned in to speak.
His mouth lingered near my temple as he spoke. “You decide.”
I snorted. “Trusting my judgment? I knew humans had short memories, but?—”
“What is your point, witch?” My blood surged in my veins. My movement had brought his mouth even closer. I could feel the caress of his lips against the fine hairs on my skin.
“Mere weeks ago you called me naïve.” My breath caught in my throat, but I managed to get the words out.
