“Same rooms, then?”Talon asked.Murmurs of agreement could be heard before everyone started shoving to their feet.Emmeric went to stand, but Iyana grabbed his wrist before he could.Gorgeous blue eyes gazed down on her, a small frown beginning to form around his lips.
“Can I stay with you?”she asked, almost inaudibly.Iyana couldn’t look into his intense gaze while she asked this.“I don’t really want to be where I was before, because…” Her words faded away as she found herself unable to discuss Altair.
“Of course, Iyana,” Emmeric replied, impossibly gently.“Anything you need.”
She let him help her to her feet, and then he was leading her towards the room he had stayed in before, their fingers intertwined.The room he’d shared with Kaz.Iyana’s cheeks flushed.
“If Kaz is staying with you, I can find another room.”Once the words began, they wouldn’t stop.“Or—or I could sleep on the couch.But if you need to kick me out—”
“Mouse,” Em said, putting an end to her ramble.“Kaz will find somewhere else to sleep.You can stay with me.”
“I’d understand if you two want your privacy—”
Emmeric chuckled.“Even though it’s a complete confidence booster to know you’re jealous and embarrassed right now, Mouse, I feel the need to put you out of your misery.”
Iyana peeked up at him, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
“Kaz and I aren’t together anymore.Actually, we were never really ‘together,’ per se, just having some fun, but—” He paused, his eyes narrowing on her, then a broad smile covered his face.“Why am I feeling relief from you right now?”
Iyana fumbled to get her emotions in control, but it was too late.He’d felt her internal sigh at learning he and Kaz were no longer sleeping together.She knew it was something he’d never let her forget.
“Because I’m happy I have a room to stay in,” she said.
Her Kanaliza only smirked knowingly.“Sure,” he replied.Then he winked playfully.Phaedros take her, if she weren’t magically connected to this man, she would be long gone.That was the only reason she was asking to stay in his room.She would be perfectly fine staying in a room by herself or with Kaz.As long as it wasn’t the one she had shared with—
Iyana’s train of thought halted as she realized they had stopped moving.They were in a cozy bedroom, with a bed in the corner and a comfortable sofa in front of an unlit hearth.Emmeric lit a couple candles, then turned to her, curiosity and wonder flowing freely through their bond.
“You tell yourself whatever you need to, Mouse.Just know that I’ll always be here for you, in whatever capacity you need.If that’s solely as your Kanaliza, or your source of comfort while you’re processing a difficult time, that’s fine.I follow your lead, Iyana, but know I’ve always got you.”Emmeric tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, his gaze following the motion of his hand.Then he disentangled their fingers and stalked towards the attached bathing room, shedding his tunic along the way.
Her eyes grew wide at the sight of his muscular back, the way his shoulders and that blue dragon tattoo moved with the motion of discarding his shirt.Emmeric’s amusement trickled down to her, and she heard him chuckle as he closed the door, never once looking behind him.Iyana threw a rude gesture at the door, and she swore she could almost hear his laughter through their bond.
While she was desperate to bathe and wash off several days’ worth of grime, she crawled into the bed that still smelled faintly of lemons and immediately fell asleep.
A severe snow storm rolled in overnight, so the next day the windows and magnificent glass ceiling were all obscured by snowfall, and they had to light some candles to see.Having any sort of fire around so many old, dusty books made Iyana slightly nervous, but she thought she could summon enough air to extinguish flames.She’d been practicing with the candles all morning, alternatively snuffing them out with air, then relighting them with fire.It didn’t require a significant amount of magic, but it did need finesse.She could easily throw too much magic at the candle, and then they’d have a repeat of what had happened in the woods when she’d lost control.It was one of the first times she had connected to Emmeric and used their bond to draw from him, and she hadn’t been prepared for the rush of pleasure that would come from it.
Emmeric threw an annoyed glance at her as the lighting waxed and waned.He was hunched over a book at a table they shared with Zane and Talon, out in the common space.Kaz was curled up on a rug in her leopard form, purring contentedly.This was what she had done the last time they were in the library, choosing sleep over studying.
“You’re going to make poor Em here burst a blood vessel, Smalls,” Talon drawled, never looking up from the book he was reading.Zane continued in his own gigantic tome, seemingly not even realizing someone had spoken.
“She knows,” Emmeric said.“She can feel everything I do, remember?”Another scathing glance earned him a middle finger, and she extinguished the candle completely.“Brat,” he whispered under his breath.
Talon’s nose scrunched as he finally glanced between the two.“Have I told you guys how creepy that actually is?”
“Only a million times,” Iyana said, grinning.It was her first genuine smile in what felt like forever, judging by the ache in her cheeks.Talon chuckled and turned back to his book.She sensed Emmeric’s gaze on her, shock and joy resonating through her, simply at the sight of her brief happiness.And even as the moment passed, and the smile fell from her face, a little kernel of warmth stayed behind, wrapping its way around her heart.
With a thought, the candle was reignited, and Emmeric rolled his eyes before getting back to his reading.Iyana had a pile next to her as well, but the words kept blurring in her vision.She was still exhausted, and while most of her magic had replenished itself, it was not as full as it could be.In an experiment, she tried to pull from Emmeric, but it apparently only fed her magic when she was actively using it and wouldn’t refill her stores.
Her fleeting glimmer of joy turned to despair as she stared up at the library floors—and up and up.There were too many levels, and there weresomany books, scrolls, and random pieces of parchment.They didn’t know what they were searching for, other than general information about the stars.But even before, they’d had difficulty finding anything of worth.Zane happened upon that scroll that told them of the Aztia amulet, and a fucking owl had led Emmeric to the book about the Great Conflict.A sudden restlessness overcame her, and Iyana sprang to her feet.Emmeric and Talon both glanced at her in concern, but she waved them away.
“I just need to take a walk.I want to look at those artifacts again, anyway.”
A frown formed on Em’s face.“I’ll come with you,” he said, rising from his chair.
“You keep studying,” Iyana replied.She could sense he wouldn’t take that for an answer.He’d been awfully protective as of late, and he rarely let her out of his sight.“I’ll take Kaz.”
At the sound of her name, the shifter opened one sleepy brown eye.Iyana pleaded with her silently to get her away from these nosey men, if only for a few minutes.The big cat chuffed, then stood, stretching out her body with a yawn.The dim candlelight glinted off of her giant canines.Iyana took a second to appreciate the shifter’s beauty and feline grace—her black rosettes were barely visible in this lighting, making her almost a shadow.And, while those teeth had terrified her during their first encounter—when Kaz had literally pounced on Iyana, then shifted back naked—she was now happy to have such a powerful being on her side.
Kaz stalked towards her on silent paws, then rubbed against her hand.Iyana could understand Emmeric’s hesitation, but there was really no excuse he could come up with if Kaz was going with her.She patted the leopard’s head absently.
