I was just lucid enough to feel Garrick and then Syleris tumble over the edge with me a second later. They filled me with spurt after spurt of warmth until it dripped down my thighs. Syleris withdrew from me with a smallpop, the last few ropes of his spend coating my lower back.
Someone eased me down. The stubbly kiss on my shoulder must be Garrick. But there were a few strands of silky hair against my forehead. Syleris.
Together, they laid me down on the bed. Garrick curled around my back, wrapping an arm around my waist to pull me in close against him. My back was still slick with Syleris’ release, but Garrick did not flinch.
Syleris lay with his chest facing mine. He found my hand and pressed it to his mouth. My eyes drifted shut.
“Don’t go,” Garrick murmured. He wasn’t talking to me.
I nestled a little tighter into him. I knew what it cost him to say those words to Syleris. Kisses and innuendo were one thing, but what the three of us had just shared… Garrick knew it was different. So did I.
“I will stay as long as I can,” Syleris said. He leaned over my shoulder to kiss Garrick as well. The soft sound of their caresses lulled me to sleep.
CHAPTER 47
KORYN
Are you done?
I hoped not. I hoped this would never end. Yes, I’d drifted off to sleep, but only for a few minutes so that I had enough energy for what came next. My head was cradled in the curve of Syleris’ shoulder, my fingers tangled in Garrick’s hair while he placed lazy kisses on my stomach.
You are done.
Something was knocking against the window. A wayward branch, blown about by the storm that had slowly risen throughout the afternoon and evening. Garrick told me they blew in from the Northern Death frequently.
Get up, put on some clothes, and let me in. Now.
My hand stilled. That was not my own voice in my head, and that was not a tree knocking at the window. There were no trees on the flat plain where Balar Shan sat perched along the water’s edge.
That was Isanara. And she was pissed.
“Cover up,” I said, kicking my way free of the sheets as I rolled out of bed. I scrambled for my dressing gown, hastily belting it as I reached for the window.
Garrick swore behind me. Syleris chuckled. A shiver slunk down my spine at the sound of their voices.
Focus, I ordered myself. Then, to Isanara—I’m coming.
She forced her way through the window as I opened the latch. If I’d been a second slower, the crowned glass would have shattered.
It’s too bad your patience hasn’t grown in time with the rest of you.I had to jump sideways to avoid being knocked over by her hulking lavender mass. Gods, she was huge.
I have been waiting for hours,she hissed.
She stalked to the fireplace, shaking her spines and sending little shards of ice to the hearthrug. Her tail lashed from side to side, whipping against the upholstered wingback chair and ripping open a foot-long tear in the side. She was getting big, but she was also very aware of each and every one of her spikes. That destruction was intentional.
Are you hungry?I asked. I didn’t know much about children, but I knew that I was irritable when I hadn’t eaten.
She swiveled her long neck to glare back over her shoulder and snap her jaws at me.I have been outside for hours.
Give me strength, I appealed to whatever deity remained who might be inclined to give aid. Seraxa, maybe. Give me mercy so I do not strangle my familiar.
That is not an answer,I said in my most neutral voice.
I found a vein of coal to the north. I am sated.
So was I. But I did not think that was what my familiar wanted to hear at that particular moment. She seemed to be settling down on the hearthrug. Dragons did not yawn—at least, not to my knowledge, but the wobbliness of her movements spoke of exhaustion.
“We should return to the presence chamber,” I said, looking around the room. Most of our fine clothing was piled in heaps around the bed.
