“How convenient for you. I suppose Hanna and I will clean up your mess.”
“Normally, I’d invite you to come with me.” Lucan’s mouth twisted into a sneer “But since you can’t fly, what’s the point?”
The cruelty was deliberate, designed to push him away. Rikard recognized it for what it was, but it still stung.
“You and I both swore the heartstone vow,” Rikard said. “My life for their safety. My wings for their shelter.Carlijn is under our protection, and you’ve put her in danger by planting a child in her. That’s more than a lover’s failing. You’re violating the heartstone vow.”
“Don’t lecture me when you did the same thing.”
He had nothing to do with the terrible circumstances of Hanna’s pregnancy. The comparison made Rikard’s stomach turn, but of course he could not explain that. “The difference is that I didn’t abandon her. I begged her to be my mate. I amhonoredto call her mine. Unlike you, I didn’t fly away from my problems.”
“Because you couldn’t.” Lucan stood abruptly, knocking over his empty goblet. He dropped a few coins on the counter for the barkeep. “I’ll let you know when I get back.”
“Don’t bother,” Rikard said bitterly. He would never see him the same way. Never trust him or respect him, so what was the point of maintaining a friendship?
“As you like.” Lucan shrugged, then ducked through the low doorway and was gone. The snap of his wings opening carried from outside as the door drifted shut.
Another friend lost to their own arrogant stupidity. How disappointing after so many years of brotherhood.
The barkeep scooped up Lucan’s coins and eyed Rikard’s glass. “You look like you could use a refill.”
Rikard nodded, pushing his glass toward him. He needed to relax and compose himself before he returned to Rose House. He didn’t want to bring this…disgusthome with him.
Why was he so affected by Lucan’s bad behavior? Hanna had a point—Carlijn was as much at fault as Lucan, though she bore an unequal share of the consequences. Lucan was acting dishonorably, but he’d never been a paragon of virtue, had he? So why did he expect his friend to act any differently than he always had?
He stared into his cup, swirling the amber liquid. He wanted Lucan to be better. He wanted to believe that Lucan would do what was right and honor his vow. That he’d protect humans to his dying breath. He wanted to believe all gargoyles would do the same.
He wanted to believe that the gargoyle who’d bitten and brutalized Hanna, who’d forced a child into her belly, was the aberration. That, though her attacker was still free and had not answered for his crimes, he was the only gargoyle who would be so cruel and callous.
He wanted justice for Carlijn, but it washisfailing that Hanna had not received her own justice. That’s why he was so angry at Lucan. For his own comfort and cowardice, he’d marked Hanna’s complaint asresolvedwhen it was far from it.
His marriage to her had been so fulfilling that he’d forgotten it was one of convenience. He’d forgotten that all of his contentment having her by his side and in his nest was a product of her pain. And she would endure still more while healing his wings and birthing his child. Everything he ever wanted, Hanna had to bleed for.
He owed her more, too. He owed her bravery. He owed her justice.
Chapter 28
Rikard
He sat for Hanna’s needle twice a night now, once before his Nadir duties and once upon return. It was lucky the season meant longer nights, for he needed every hour. Her hands were light and stitches quick, but the repairs were still tediously slow.
Most of the time he kept quiet so she could concentrate, instead listening to her breathing quicken and slow as she worked. Feeling the press of her belly against his back as it grew and grew. At the end of each session, she would arrange hishair, combing and braiding it before oiling his horns, moments he luxuriated in as much as the mornings after, when the blood-soaked silk healed into fresh skin.
On the night of the final repair, Hanna kissed the spot where she tied the final knot. “All done,” she said, voice thick. “You know, I’m sure you’re glad to be finished with the painful part, but I will miss this now that it’s over.”
His heart warmed. He would, too. The pain was quite bearable, easy to wall off while she worked and quick to ease afterward. “We can still spend time together.”
“No, you’ll much prefer the Tower when your wings work again. You’ll fly off with your friends, and Carlijn will grow sick of me,” she joked as she combed his hair, but he heard a little sadness in her tone.
“I prefer you above all others,” he said lightly. Her fingers in his hair made tingles run down his neck and shoulders, all the way to the tips of his wings. He flexed them unconsciously.
“Even if you have to walk in the dirt to be with me?”
“Even then.”
She gave a little happy sigh, and he felt her wiggle his gold horn caps off. The familiar fragrance of beeswax and linseed oil permeated the room when she uncorked the bottle of horn polish and applied it to the base of them, slicking it to the tips. It was then that his defenses came down, and he asked the question that had been gnawing at him.
“Does the bond trouble you lately? Has he hunted you since we came to Rose House?”
