Chapter 16 #4
My pulse hammered against my throat. “Strategic repositioning.”
His laugh was low and dark and did terrible things to my self-control. “Is that what we’re calling it?”
“That’s what I’m calling it.” I planted my palm against his chest, intending to shove him back, to create space, to do literally anything that didn’t involve standing here drowning in sandalwood and mist.
“Your pulse is racing.”
“Because I’m angry.”
“Tell me, Isara. When you’re angry, do you usually lean closer?”
“You’re ridiculous,” I managed, shoving both hands against his chest.
He stumbled back a step. The bastard had let me push him, and the smirk curving his lips said he knew exactly what that admission would cost me.
“Architecturally sound,” he murmured, tracking my retreat. “Devastatingly so.”
“I hate you.” But the words came out breathless, ruined by the heat crawling up my neck.
“No, you don’t.”
And fuck him for being right.
I spun on my heel and stalked away from both him and the Veil, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. The black fire writhed beneath my skin, restless and hungry, responding to either the barrier’s call or the way Varyth’s gaze felt like a brand between my shoulder blades.
Probably both.
Behind me, I heard him exhale, like he was trying to talk himself down from something. Then his footsteps moved away, heading back toward the scarred section of the Veil.
Good. Excellent. He could go commune with the realm-splitting barrier while I figured out how to breathe like a normal person again.
“That was fun to watch.” Darian had materialised beside me.
He stepped close enough that his shoulder brushed mine. He leaned in, his voice pitched low and absolutely dripping with mischief.
“So,” he whispered, that insufferable grin evident even in his tone. “Exactly how long were you two going to keep eye-fucking each other against the Veil before you remembered I existed?”
Heat flamed across my cheeks. “We were not.”
“Oh, you absolutely were.” His eyes danced with wicked delight. “I’ve seen less sexual tension in brothels. The way he was looking at you? Like he wanted to devour you whole. And you—”
I shoved him. Hard.
Darian went sprawling backward into a cluster of thornbushes with a yelp of surprise, his arms windmilling as he tried to catch his balance. He landed in a tangle of brambles and colourful curses, leaves in his hair and what was probably half the forest stuck to his leather armour.
“Ow! Violent female!” he called from the depths of the bush, though he was laughing. “I was just making conversation!”
“Make it somewhere else,” I growled, crossing my arms and refusing to feel guilty about the scratches I could see forming on his exposed skin.
From his position studying the Veil, Varyth glanced over. “Having trouble, Dariandralis?”
“Your female has anger management issues,” Darian called back, extricating himself from the thornbush with wounded dignity. “Just thought you should know.”
“She’s not my—” Varyth started, then stopped, his lip twitching. “And yes, I’m aware.”
The casual way he said it—like my temper was just another fact to file away, another variable in whatever complex equation he was always calculating—sent another spike of irritation through me.
“I’m standing right here,” I said pointedly.
“Trust me,” Darian said, brushing leaves from his hair as he emerged from the bushes looking thoroughly dishevelled. “We’re both very aware of exactly where you’re standing.”
“You do have a remarkable affinity for violence,” Varyth observed, not looking up from where he was tracing patterns in the air near the Veil’s scar. His fingers moved, mapping something I couldn’t see. “It’s almost artistic.”
“Artistic violence,” Darian agreed, picking a particularly stubborn thorn from his sleeve. “Like poetry, but with more bruising. I respect that in a person.”
“It wasn’t violence,” I protested. “It was a gentle correction.”
“It was—” Varyth stopped, his head tilting. The air grew heavier, charged with an energy that made my teeth ache and the black fire stir restlessly beneath my skin.
Varyth’s entire body went rigid. “We need to go. Now.”
“What’s wrong?” I demanded, but he was already turning away from the Veil, his movement sharp with sudden urgency.
“Dariandralis is right, we shouldn’t linger too long in places like this.” His mask of calm had slipped just enough to reveal a hint of concern. Or fear. “I’ll let you know what I find when I understand it myself.”
Before I could argue, Darian was at my side, his hand warm on my elbow as he guided me toward where the dragons waited.
“Come on, shadow fire,” he said, his usual grin subdued by whatever had spooked Varyth. “Time to go before something decides we look tasty.”
Caorath lifted his great head as we approached, amber eyes alert and watchful. Whatever had set Varyth on edge, the dragon felt it too. His scales rippled with tension, wings shifting restlessly against his sides.
Darian swung up onto Caorath’s back, then reached down to haul me up behind him. His grip was sure and steady, but I could feel the coiled readiness in his muscles, the way he held himself like he expected trouble.
“Hold tight,” he murmured as I settled behind him, my arms wrapping around his waist. “And try not to fall off. Explaining that to Varyth would be awkward.”
Before I could open my mouth, Caorath’s wings spread wide, and we launched into the sky.
The ground dropped away beneath us in a rush of wind and vertigo, but this time I was ready for it.
Ready for the way my stomach tried to relocate to somewhere near my spine, ready for the terrifying exhilaration of being airborne with nothing but leather and dragon scales between me and a very long fall.
Thessarian soared beside us, Varyth’s silver hair streaming behind him like a banner. Even from a distance, I could see the tension in his shoulders, the way his gaze kept scanning the horizon like he expected something to come screaming out of the clouds.
“What spooked him?” I called over the wind.
Darian’s shoulders shifted in a shrug. “Could be anything. Places touched by the Veil attract things that shouldn’t exist. Best not to overstay our welcome. But—”
The world exploded.