‘What?’ I demanded, unable to look away.
‘Nothing. It’s just nice to see that you still care if I live,’ he teased, leaning slightly, and I drowned in his perfect pools of flame.
Tearing myself away from that addictive stare, I grunted, ‘Just drive.’
His soft laughter filled the space between us, and I couldn’t stop the small grin that tugged at my lips. Of course, he noticed it too.
Gods, I hoped I wasn’t making a mistake. ‘Strictly platonic?’
‘You’re the boss.’
My insides melted despite everything, and I feared staying away would be harder than it seemed. I just hoped my heart would survive it.
Chapter Sixteen
Avari
River’s eyes widened so much I thought they might burst. The gold in his irises burned brighter against the tight black of his pupils. ‘Your sister and your brother?’
I stretched, arms reaching toward the sky as I rose onto my toes. Nosy mirrored me, looping around my neck before draping down my spine. The journey had taken forever, and both our muscles ached for relief.
‘I mean, when you say it like that, it sounds disturbing. They’re not related.’
He slowed to a stop, eyeing my acrobatics with a puzzled expression. His attention lingered on my snake before returning to me. ‘Are you fine with it then?’
‘Fuck no,’ I exclaimed, and he grinned. That quiet half-smile of his made me falter mid-movement. ‘It’s driving me insane.’
‘Which part exactly? I know you don’t have the best relationship with your sisters.’
‘That’s an understatement. It’s like calling Anya a lizard.’ As soon as the words escaped me, the dragon roared a litany of insults in my mind.
Temperamental and nosy lizard suited her more anyway.
River scratched the side of his beard before speaking with a tinge of melancholy, his gaze locked on mine as he hypothesised, ‘I’m guessing it’s the fact you’ve only just found your family, and you couldn’t even keep them to yourself for a few weeks before the phantom of your dark past caught up with you?’
Fucking hell. That psychoanalysis crap I didn’t miss. I braced a hand on my hip before addressing him. ‘Are you playing therapist?’
‘Nah, it’s just a habit,’ he admitted, darting his eyes around the tiny pathway that led to the heart of the forest. His powers kept overreacting and shielding us from vicious canaries quite a few times. I wondered what that was about.
‘Habit?’ I asked after a few seconds when curiosity got the better of me.
River released a breathy sigh. ‘I analyse people and situations all the time; it helps with being a commander and king.’
The past few weeks spent apart, I wondered whether he returned to fighting on the Gem Fields. I guessed that was my answer.
The way he strategised his search for me and how his soldiers actively fought off my mother… I had to admit his knack for analysis was probably a blessing in disguise. ‘Your grandma likely sparked that in you. Gods, that woman was so… um… so…’
‘I know,’ he chuckled softly. ‘My grandad has the patience of a saint, though he knew what he was getting into by mating a Volcano Land woman. They’re… intense. She’s the reason I studied psychology in the first place.’
The confession had so many layers it stopped me in my tracks. ‘You speak from experience?’
‘About wha— Oh.’His posture tightened as he blinked rapidly before turning to me with a deliberate smirk. ‘Jealous much?’
I scoffed. ‘Excuse me? You’re the one who brought it up. You’re ancient, I was expecting a few females to have crossed your path.’
‘Ohh right, so you thought about me with other women? Is that a witchly preference of harems thing?’ Pride and intrigue coloured his stride as he neared me. ‘That’s a kink I haven’t encountered yet.’
‘What? No! I haven’t… Stop it, or I will listen to Anya and scorch your hair.' I jabbed my finger in the air to look fierce, but he laughed.
