Chapter 15
15
Fears never admitted in a crowd might be shared in private with another.
~ Writings of the Divine Servants
As soon as they stepped into Vlerion’s barracks room, he removed his weapons belt, closed the door, and caught Kaylina’s hands and gazed into her eyes.
“Are you truly all right?” he asked softly. “Did the bastard try to… or did he…”
“No,” Kaylina said firmly, not needing the sentence finished. “He was a weirdo—I’m not going to lie—and maybe he was starting to think… Oh, I don’t know what he was thinking, but he saw the mark on my hand and wanted to know if I had any marks elsewhere.”
Vlerion’s brow furrowed.
“He said he could sense its magic—gods sense, he called it. Have you heard of that?” She asked the question out of genuine curiosity and because she wanted to distract Vlerion from his dark thoughts.
Even if the wildness had left his eyes, he remained tense. It wouldn’t take much to rile him up again, to rouse the beast. She didn’t want him dwelling on the possibility that the assassin might have been contemplating rape.
Vlerion took a deep breath, visibly trying to release his tension, and walked to a cabinet to withdraw a towel. “It’s mentioned in the religious songs of the nomadic tribes. They don’t have texts, as far as we know, and hand down their knowledge vocally. They believe that some of their people have the ability to sense the magic of altered plants from miles away. Since some of the plants only grow near water, those with the gods sense are highly valued foragers because they can lead their people to desert oases. I suppose if there were other kinds of power, they might be able to sense them too.”
Returning with the towel, he glanced at her hand.
“Like very slight amounts of druid blood that might possibly flow in a person’s veins?”
“Yes.” Vlerion wrapped the towel around her shoulders, covering her bare skin. “I’ll get you some ranger blacks to wear.”
“Thank you.”
Kaylina shivered again, and she wasn’t sure if it was from the chill or fear that lingered. Fear of the assassin, fear for Vlerion’s life, and fear of Sabor and whatever machinations he was planning.
Vlerion must have noticed because, instead of leaving to retrieve clothes, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her gently against his chest.
“I regret that you were endangered because someone has hired assassins to kill me.” He rested his face against her head.
“It’s not your fault.” Comforted and always pleased to be in his arms, Kaylina leaned into him. She felt safe and was glad Vlerion cared, glad he wanted to protect her, especially since her life had grown so dangerous of late. She worried about him getting into trouble because of her, but being with him felt so good. So right. She closed her eyes and rested her face against his shoulder. “Maybe I should let your mother’s hired thugs kidnap me and send me south after all.”
She said it as a joke before remembering that she hadn’t yet shared that information with him.
His body tensed again. “What?”
She hesitated, but she’d already said too much to retract the words or promise to tell him another time. Besides, she didn’t want to be evasive with him. She explained her visit to Havartaft Estate, hurrying through it because she could feel the danger in the tautness of his body around hers and worried the beast might yet arise.
She rested her palm against his chest again, in case she needed to try to stop it. He clasped his hand over hers, and she realized he might be remembering the courtyard and the other times she’d used her power to soothe him. He might also be remembering Sabor’s words about her controlling him. She didn’t want to do that—never that. She just didn’t want to be the reason the beast killed innocent people.
“It is unacceptable,” he stated, his voice hard.
“I’m sorry,” Kaylina whispered, afraid she’d overstepped her bounds.
“It is not your fault.”
“I’m afraid it is. It’s been a conscious choice. I just…”
He spoke over her, as if he hadn’t heard her. “She is my mother, and I understand that she wishes to protect me, but she should not presume to interfere in your life. Further, you could have been hurt or killed by those brutes.”
“Oh.” She realized he hadn’t been following her thoughts and wasn’t talking about her power over him.
“I will speak with her and tell her to un -hire whoever Tavos was taking coins to. And I will talk to him and the rest of the staff. No one will deliver her coin to kidnappers. None will take actions that could lead to your harm.” His hand still covering hers, Vlerion leaned back enough to look into her eyes.
“Thank you. I know she’s trying to help you, but I’d prefer not to be kidnapped.”
“You will not be. And you will not be harmed by that assassin. Or any other.” His jaw clenched for a moment before he added, “You will stay here tonight. Train, rest, and remain within the walls. I will go out and hunt down the remaining assassins.”
“Alone?” Alarm flashed through her. “Or in pairs or threes as you wisely ordered your men?”
“I will go alone so that I can give the assassin the answer he sought to scare out of you,” Vlerion said, the corners of his eyes tight. “I will track him down and kill him after finding out who hired him.”
Kaylina shook her head, grasping what he meant, how he would track the assassin down. “Not in the city, Vlerion. You can’t change. It’s too dangerous. If you hurt or kill anyone else, you won’t forgive yourself.” Her voice lowered to a whisper as she held his gaze. “You won’t forgive me .”
Her hand was still on his chest. Dare she try to soothe him again? Would it even work?
She could tell he wasn’t on the verge of changing. But he had to believe he could bring it about later, when he was alone in the park and wanted the beast’s superior senses to track the assassin. Maybe he would imagine her in danger, imagine what the assassin could have done to her, and that would be enough to prompt the change.
He looked down at her palm splayed on his chest, his hand still clasped over hers. This time, she knew he was thinking about the power she’d used on him, the power he could sense when she used it on him.
“A part of me is affronted that you have control over me.” Vlerion lifted his gaze as he raised his hand to the side of her face, brushing his fingers over her damp hair to grip the back of her head and rub her scalp. “What, I wonder, could you prompt me to do if you tested your power further?”
“I doubt it goes any further, but I wouldn’t try to prompt you to do anything even if I could.” Kaylina licked her lips, nervous even as her body responded to his touch, to the delicious sensations his rubbing fingers raised. She caught herself tilting her head back and arching toward him. “I’m not that horrible spymaster who keeps popping up like a cockroach.”
“No. You are most certainly not he.” Fingers kneading her scalp and the back of her neck, Vlerion’s gaze lowered to her lips and then further to her chest.
Had the towel slipped? She needed to tighten it and ask for dry clothing. She needed to resist the desire to step closer to him, to press her bare skin against his chest. Having the beast arise in the barracks wouldn’t be any better than in the streets.
“The other part of me,” Vlerion murmured, “the beast drawn to your anrokk , perhaps, wants to let you do whatever you wish, to bask in your power, to serve it.”
His eyebrow twitch promised that he, the aristocratic always-in-charge lord, did not wish to serve her. His other hand came to her hip, under the towel and her shirt to graze his fingernails over the bare flesh of her abdomen.
She quivered, her skin alive under his touch, her body heating with pleasure and intense longing. She lost her grip on the towel, and it slid to the floor.
“I think you have more power to control me than I do you,” she whispered, her body throbbing as his fingers trailed higher, cupping her. She turned into his touch, pushing into his hand, even as she failed at ordering herself to step away. She needed to soothe and calm him, not arouse him, but his touch made her crave him like nothing else.
“Good,” Vlerion whispered, a pleased gleam in his eyes. His gaze roved over her, as if he couldn’t get enough of drinking her in. “Good.”
She shook her head, catching the dangerous glint creeping into his aroused eyes. This was a bad idea. They needed to?—
He surprised her by releasing her with both hands and stepping away. It was what she wanted—no, not what she wanted but what they needed to do—but such disappointment flooded her that she almost sprang onto him and kissed him, wanting everything his touch had promised. Wanting him.
Vlerion bent to pick up the towel and wrap it around her again. “Stay here tonight. Stay safe.”
With a final look at her, he grabbed his sword belt and walked out the door.