“Falon, you are coming with me. That’s the end of it. You can trust me to protect you.”
Ryn’s words and tone are harsh. They lash out at me like a whip that not only wants to sting me with each crack but bind me so I can’t escape. Pigeon rustles uneasily inside of me as if she’s uncomfortable watching her friends fight and doesn’t know what to do about it.
I huff out a resigned breath, and my eyes soften. I step into Ryn like a good little gryphon that’s submitting. He relaxes slightly and brings his hands up to rub my shoulders comfortingly. Before he can touch me, I bring my knee up hard against his unprotected and uncovered balls.
Ryn gasps and folds in on himself. I waste no time sprinting away and leaping up toward the dipping sun. Pigeon takes over, shifting us right on cue, and we race back toward Kestrel City. I don’t look back at Ryn; I know he’ll recover soon and we don’t have a second to waste. If I can stay near the Avowed, he’ll stay away from me. He can’t afford for his cover to be blown over some misguided sense of responsibility. We’ll both be better off if we just go our separate ways and forget anything ever happened between us.
13
A booming knock on my door echoes around the room, and I glare at it as I towel dry my hair. I feel like shit, I had a horrible dream where I was burning alive, and then I woke up and had the weirdest fucking hot flashes. I think I slept maybe three hours, and I got up feeling achy and gross.
I just finished a long bath and was debating crawling back into bed for the rest of the day.
The only problem with that plan is that I’m not sure if Ryn can kidnap me from here. I haven’t seen him since our altercation yesterday, but I’m not stupid enough to think the arrogant prick won’t try something.
The knock sounds off again.
“Flower? Are you there?” Treno asks on the other side of the door, and relief and excitement start pumping through me.
“Calm down, bro! You just got your itch scratched yesterday, and look how well that turned out for us,” I point out to Pigeon as she gets all fangirly inside of me.
I open the door and look up to find Treno’s smiling face. Damn. I forgot how tall he was.
“Did I wake you?” he asks, looking over my head at the crumpled bedding that’s askew all over the bed.
“No, come in,” I offer, stepping out of the way and opening the door wider. “How are you?” I ask a little awkwardly.
I haven’t seen him in a while, and it’s like someone hit the reset button on my feeling easy and comfortable around him, and now we’re just stiff and awkward. He walks in and looks around. I run through a short list of small talk options, but they all revolve around what he’s been up to these days and what’s new. I already know he was off doing war shit, but I feel wrong asking about that. Like somehow I’m betraying Treno, Zeph, and Ryn by inserting myself in the middle just by asking questions or being told about it.
I’m trying hard to be motherfucking Switzerland in this Avowed, Hidden showdown. Well, maybe not Switzerland exactly, as I think what the Avowed did and are doing is pretty fucked up. But either way, I doubt I’ll be helping anyone by shoving my nose in any of it.
“I want to apologize again for leaving the way I did. I wish there had been some other way, but my hands were tied. I swear to you, if it hadn’t been life or death, I would have never left you after—”
“It’s fine really,” I offer hastily.
He looks so upset, and I feel bad. I hope he doesn’t think I’m mad at him. His notes pop up in my mind and worry trickles through me. Shit. Was I supposed to write him back? I didn’t even think of that. No wonder he’s all grovely.
“I got your notes,” I reassure him. “I completely understand.”
“You do?” he asks, surprised.
“Of course! You have a duty to your people; I would never take offense to you putting that over me. I’ve been fine,” I tell him.
I offer a smile, and he studies me for a beat and then visibly relaxes. “I was so worried,” he admits, and I chuckle and reach out to rub his bicep comfortingly.
Damn, it’s like petting a boulder.
Heat stirs in me, and I flip off Pigeon in my head.
“I can’t tell you how relieved I am to hear that we’re okay,” he tells me, pulling me in for a tight hug.
I wrap my arms around his torso, unable to stop myself from soaking up the warm affection. It seems I’m like a moth to flame these days when it comes to people being nice to me.
“I know I just got back, but I made plans to make my absence up to you. I have the whole day planned, and I vow there will be no disappearing or leaving anything unfinished,” he tells me, stepping back so he can look at my face. His eyes are earnest, and his offer is adorable.
I hesitate for a second, eyeing my bed and wondering if he’ll take a raincheck. His face falls ever so slightly, and something in my stomach does too.
“If...if you don’t want to, I, of course, understand,” he states, and even his chin dimple looks bummed.
“No, it’s not that at all. I’d love to spend the day with you. I just need to grab something to eat first. I skipped breakfast, and I have a little bit of a headache,” I explain, the thought of yummy food now all I can focus on.
“Then to the kitchens we go,” he announces, offering his arm. I take it and chuckle as he leads me out of my room. His excitement and eagerness is contagious. I forgot how good I always feel around him, which is weird because we haven’t spent that much time together. I shrug and go with it. It’s a nice change from all the broody shit I’ve been dealing with since I got here.
Treno lays down a blanket, and I look around and wipe at some of the sweat gathering on the back of my neck. It’s supposed to be the cold season sneaking in to displace the warmth, but it feels like the warm season decided it wasn’t going to go quietly. Suddenly the barely there dresses popular in Kestrel City make a shit ton more sense. For the first time since I was forced into one, I wish I had gone with the scantily clad dress instead of the Narwagh hide pants, bra, and vest.
Treno sits on the blanket and starts unpacking the picnic basket he had prepared for us this morning while I was stuffing my face. He tugs at his own braided armor vest, and I feel better knowing I’m not the only one turning into some kind of sweat beast here.
He looks up at me and gives me a shy smile that cracks me up. He’s been so nervous today as we’ve puttered around Kestrel City and checked out what there is to check out. This gorgeous, ripped, Altern of the Avowed is nervous around me for some reason, and it’s proving to be seriously entertaining. I mean, I practically unhinged my jaw and consumed a whole slab of meat this morning in an effort to satiate my ravenous appetite, and yet he’s been looking at me all day like I’m some kind of prize.
I snort and Pigeon wing fives me in my head. She gets it. It makes no fucking sense that he’s even looking my way, but you won’t hear me complaining. I sit down on the blanket and scoot over until I’m in the shade. Treno’s mismatched gaze fills with satisfaction, and I wonder if he only put half the blanket in the shade on purpose so I’d end up sitting closer to him.