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DAVEN
“Where are we going?” Ryneth asked as they stepped into the elevator, still holding Daven’s hand.
Daven was already typing on his multi-slate. He needed Kylix. Cyprian. Possibly both.
“Food.” He didn’t look up. “I need food to think.”
“To think?”
Daven hit send, then looked up with a smirk. “Is that so hard to imagine?”
“That’s not what I meant. I—” Ryneth cleared his throat, but his lips were twitching.
“Yes, you did.” Daven pushed him against the wall as the elevator descended and dragged his tongue over the mark on Ryneth’s throat. “Hmm. You taste good.”
“Stop it.” Ryneth tried to push him off, but Daven caught his wrist and pinned it above his head, claiming his mouth in a hard kiss.
Daven jerked when Ryneth’s free hand dug into his side. “You little—”
The door pinged and opened, revealing a woman with two small dogs. Her eyes widened when she saw them pressed together.
Daven pulled back with one last slow lick, then winked at the woman. “The elevator’s all yours.”
Outside, the black hover car waited. The guard straightened when he saw them stride out of the building.
“To the hospital.” Daven opened the door and shoved Ryneth inside. He grinned when Ryneth swore as he landed hard on the leather. “And stop by a diner first. I’m starving.”
“Yes, sir.”
They drove past the outer ring of glass towers, leaving behind polished walkways and curated trees as the city changed around them, steel giving way to stone, the bright green fading slowly into gray.
Ryneth leaned toward the window. “I thought it was all glass and gardens,” he muttered.
Daven glanced at him. “Who told you that?”
“Vandor.”
Daven’s head turned. “Vandor? When the fuck did you talk to him?”
Ryneth looked over, amused. “Jealous?”
“Jealous?” Daven’s jaw tightened. “No. I just want to know what he said.”
Ryneth lifted a brow. “That’s not what you sound like.”
Daven exhaled slowly through his nose. “Ryneth.”
Ryneth’s mouth twitched.
Daven looked back at the road. “Just tell me what he told you.”
“That the glass and gardens are for the people they want to impress.”
Ryneth looked back out the window. “We don’t do that on Düren.”
“That’s for sure.” The few times he’d been inside Düren’s hospital, the place had looked more functional than welcoming.
