*
Kira coughed up water, jerking back to the land of the living with no small amount of surprise.
She gasped, sucking in the air she thought she'd never taste again.
What the hell had happened?
"Kira," Jin shouted through the comms. "You're alive. Thank God."
Kira squinted, trying to get her bearings.
Her head pounded. She reached up and touched it, wincing as pain lanced through her. Her fingers came away wet with both water and blood.
That answered the question of why her head hurt.
Around her, the sound of battle raged. The lu-ong screaming its challenge as the Tuann dove at her.
Kira sat up with a groan, her head swimming as nausea curdled in her belly. Her headache increased. She knew this feeling. Concussion. Or at least really close to one.
Soothing cool, like an ice pack on sore muscles, washed over her, relieving the worst of her symptoms.
She glanced over to see the dragon-like head of the lu-ong baby she'd freed peeking over the boat's railing, his large, gem-like eyes focused on her. Waves of gratitude lapped at her. Adoration following.
"Glad you're safe, too," she told him.
She took in the rest of the boat as she staggered to her feet, swaying slightly. The baby might have helped with her concussion, but he hadn't healed it. At least not entirely.
She looked over at the huddled group of fishermen. They wore simple clothes, warm looking jackets layered over pants and sweaters.
Kira shivered at the reminder of just how cold she was. Every hint of breeze cut right through her, setting off another round of shivering. If she didn't get warm and soon, she risked hypothermia.
Right now, though, she had to make nice with these people. Not an easy task with the way they watched her with a deep suspicion edging toward hostility.
She tried a small wave and non-threatening smile. They clumped tighter together. One reached for a club lying against a barrel.
Maybe her smile wasn't as reassuring as she'd hoped.
Graydon landed with a thud between them and her, his back to the strangers, his knees bent, his face a mask of rage.
He looked like a man who'd prepared for war and had already resigned himself to the necessary losses. If he’d been any other, she might have named the look on his face one of terror.
Kira braced. That stunt she'd pulled was bound to draw criticism. As well it should. She'd acted rashly, off-balance by the call for help. She'd been arrogant. This wasn't the before of the burst, where she could muscle her way through anything and come out the other side a little dinged up but otherwise unharmed.
She should have waited. Discussed her suspicions with him.
She understood the chain of command, and her actions, purely motivated as they were, broke that in a big way. She'd take any rebuke he chose to give her.
"I suppose I should explain," Kira started.
Her words seemed to break Graydon out of the thoughts he'd been locked in. He crossed the deck with a few powerful strides. His hands closed around her arms, and he jerked her close, warm lips landing on hers. They were filled with the desperate need of someone who'd lost the most important thing to them. His kiss was scalding hot, a perfect counterpoint to the chill trying to steal her thinking.
Instinct took over.
Kira met his fury with her own, pressing herself against him. Death had come too close today, and she needed a reminder that life wasn't just risk and danger. It was about this too.
Graydon didn't pity her for her upbringing. He'd tasted loss. He understood duty and sacrifice. If she let him, he could meet her on an equal playing field.
The undulating sound of the baby lu-ong intruded. They broke apart but didn't go far.
Graydon's gaze was searing as they breathed, millimeters apart.
"That was some greeting," Kira finally said in a voice far breathier than it should be.
His expression hardened, his eyes turning to ice. "You will never do that again."
Kira's mouth quirked. And there was the asshole she knew and was unwillingly drawn to. "We'll see."
"We will not," was his response as she forced herself to step back.
Without his warmth and the hard line of his body against hers, she could feel the full impact of the chill. She was conscious of the way her clothes clung to her, and her hair streamed around her face sopping wet.
"I see you, Kira. I'm not going anywhere," Graydon said.
"We'll see about that," she said as she faced the baby.
"Yes, we will. I'll prove it over and over if I have to—until you trust me with all that you are," Graydon murmured.
Chills skated along Kira's spine. Those words were filled with a promise, the universe recognizing the vow being made and cementing it into place.
As if reading her mind, Graydon smiled, the easy expression doing nothing to alleviate the darkness in his eyes. "The Tuann do not make vows lightly. The Mea'Ave has a habit of making them binding—and this is one I will submit myself to wholeheartedly."
Kira didn't respond. She couldn't.
There was a heat in Graydon's eyes that dared her to deny it so he could prove it. It was both thrilling and terrifying.
She'd gotten used to being alone. It was heady stuff knowing there was someone willing to attack a lu-ong mother protecting her young to try to save Kira.
Speaking of, Kira glanced around, noting the rest of the patrol had broken off their attack and was in a holding pattern high above.
Colored globes of light spun dizzyingly around the lu-ong. The threat was clear—approach and be incinerated
She slid Graydon a considering glance. He would have had to do some fancy flying to have gotten past that.
"We need to get out of here. It's not safe," Graydon said, one hand resting on her shoulder.
"Not necessarily true." Kira's gaze swung toward the crew. "At least for us. They, on the other hand, aren't so lucky."
An older man met her eyes, his expression surly and uncooperative. The captain, she was assuming.
As if in answer, he lifted his chin, his jaw tight as he tried to stare her down.
The side of her mouth tilted up. Yeah, she had a feeling that was the case.
"Unfortunately for them, they were a little too successful in their day's catch. Their cage caught him." Kira focused on the baby, who still clung to the side of the boat, watching the proceedings with a fascinated gaze.
"Ridiculous," the captain argued. "A cage would never be able to hold him."
Kira's head bent. "Not usually, I imagine." She glanced up at Graydon. "I don't know what it was made of, but it tried to drain me of ki."
Graydon's face hardened, his expression smoothing out as it turned calculating.
A couple of the younger members flinched and shifted away.
"What proof do you have?" the captain challenged.
Kira shrugged. "I think the lu-ong I freed does a pretty good job of supporting my claim."
Graydon's gaze lifted to the mother lu-ong and the spinning balls of fire around her. "As does the fact she stopped trying to sink the boat as soon as you went under."
"Who is she to make these accusations?" the man said, unable to see when the battle was lost.
Graydon's smile was a thing of beauty and death as he aimed it at the captain. "The missing heir to House Roake."