Her eyes darted to the window and the still-dark night sky, stars twinkling through the glass, which meant there were still several hours before they would be leaving.
“I can go back to my room. It’ll take me a while to fall back asleep and I don’t want to disturb you,” she whispered.
Cason’s grip tightened on her hand before she could slip away. “Stay.” She blinked as he gave her a quick smile. “I don’t mind. As strange as this sounds given the circumstances, I actually sleep better with you here. It’s… relaxing to actually sleep in the same bed as someone.”
“Ah, so you asking me to stay is really for your own benefit?”
His grin widened as he shrugged.
She tapped the shard in her collarbone. “Dulled senses. This is why you can sleep.”
“I always forget about that,” Cason sighed. She strongly doubted the truth of that statement.
He leaned back on the headboard, tugging Brela’s hand in invitation. With a soft smile, she shimmied back and tucked herself in the crook of his arm, letting him continue that gentle caress down her spine.
Because she couldn’t help herself, she let her fingers trace over the fire markings on Cason’s chest. Ink, not shadows like the ones that had wreathed her skin minutes ago. Warm, not icy cold like the tendrils of darkness from the celvusa in her nightmare. Though from the goosebumps that trailed along his skin wherever her fingers brushed, that cold might still be running through her veins.
His breath was soft and warm on the top of her head. “I remember not being able to sleep after my mother died.” Brela’s fingers stilled. “I had to sleep on the stone floor for three months because I kept burning through the mattresses and blankets. My roommate was not happy with me. He joked that he would ship me off to Idalo to live with the other magic rejects.”
“I’m sorry,” she rasped.
Cason’s fingers only shifted their path to her arm. “It was a long time ago.” After a long pause, he let out a soft breath. “My mother was the one who taught me to count to help control the fire.”
“Was her fire as powerful as yours?”
“Gods, no. One of the strongest in Anfroy’s army, but it was still just a fraction of what I possess.”
Brela’s heart might have stopped in her chest. Cason’s mother had been in the army. The woman had been part of the legions that razed Valisea to the ground. Had she died on a raid? Is that why Cason hated the Worshippers so much?
It had been so easy to forget that he was connected to the kingdom that had destroyed her people, but she never realized how close he had actually been to that cruelty.
She swallowed. “What about your father?”
“Similar situation where my magic ended up stronger. His pure lightning is a coveted magic in Anfroy’s army as well, even if he’s only moon-blessed. Since he’d been born in Ciethy to Anfroy citizens, he was allowed to join the ranks.”
Now her heart really stopped. She managed to stutter. “You didn’t follow in their footsteps.”
“No,” Cason said through a chuckle. “I was offered my own legion when I graduated from the moon temple. My father was furious when I told him I was going to accept the lesser position in Severina’s Royal Guard rather than return to Ciethy. At the time, I still struggled to contain my fire, and that wouldn’t have been a good mix with how they treat anyone withtaintedmagic. No one would have respected me or followed my orders, made even worse that they feared my strength.”
It was that way in Rooke as well; even similar to what she’d read about Valisea. Elitist magic wielders, believing their magic was superior and that anyone with multiple gods-blessed magic was somehow lesser, even if they had more power.
What would Cason have become if he’d joined Anfroy’s military ranks? What would all of that hate and disgust for tainted magic done to the man holding her so softly in his arms? What sort of monster would he have become in an army where they would have encouraged him to bite back with fire instead of count to calm it?
Her inner shadow wolf would probably tremble in fear at the dragon he’d unleash.
Cason’s hand cupped her shoulder as he squeezed, almost like he could feel where her thoughts were drifting and wanted to reassure her. “I saw what the raids and battles did to soldiers and I didn’t want to be part of it. I… when I met Serill, he showed me another way. He reminds me that there is good in this world. Maybe more importantly, he keeps my fire tamed when all it wants to do is rage.”
Brela softened as she glanced up at the fire wielder. Since the auction, she’d questioned what kind of man Cason was. She’d doubted his intentions often, but now she was thankful that she hadn’t given up hope. He was complex, still struggling to find his place, but… good, even if he needed someone to keep that power in control.
Honestly, everyone needed that check on their power. That’s why she kept Farrah and Elias so close to her.
“I think Serill is very good at seeing the best in people,” she said, then poked his chest. “Even you, once you get past all that uptight, stiff exterior.”
She laughed softly as he pinched her shoulder and grumbled. “I am capable of being relaxed, but it’s easier when the woman that drives me insane is being less…chaotic.”
Brela lifted her eyebrow. “Or perhaps you’re relaxed because she’s sharing a bed with you and helping you release all that tension?” His muscles flinched, almost imperceptible if she hadn’t been curled into his side and felt the heat rise. She nestled closer, running her tongue over her lips. “Maybe it’s because her tongue has gotten you to make noises that are so indecent that—“
He pressed his hand over her mouth and gave her a warning look, though she could still feel the restraint in his tense grip. “You deflect more than I do.” She thought about nibbling those fingers over her lips but instead snarled. He only rolled his eyes. “Flirt all you want, but you’re still trembling from that nightmare.”
