CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The entry had indeed been left unlocked upon our return.
And we managed to navigate the corridors without another unwanted encounter. But what proved to be an issue was our two brooding allies, waiting impatiently by our rooms.
Kodhan sported his usual scowl. But Brannon… the sharpness in his gaze almost made it seem as though the amber of his irises were held up against the light of the stars, bringing their tint at least two shades brighter.
They spoke simultaneously.
“You didn’t think to warn us before disappearing?” Brannon whisper-yelled.
Kodhan threw his arms up. “Unbelievable, the way you two disregarded any sense of danger.”
Theia waved them both away, unbothered by their glares. Men, she mouthed to me with a roll of her eyes before pushing through them to get to her room. “We simply wanted to put some distance between ourselves and your thunderous snoring.”
Brannon’s jaw slackened. He plowed on. “This isn’t a joke, Theia. Where were you? We thought other competitors might’ve gotten to you—”
“Or the king summoned you for gods-know what reason,” Kodhan interjected.
Theia partially turned to look at me in question. Making sure I still wanted to keep the location of our outing a secret.
I shook my head, palms slickening. She could ruin everything, right here. Could throw her promises to the wind and rob me of the only thing I had for myself.
To my relief, she nodded, hand resting on the doorknob. “There is no need for all this fussing. As you can see, we’re fine. Not even a scratch to be seen. Now drop it.”
Brannon’s mouth opened, then closed. Carefully sorting through his list of questions, clearly struggling to discern which one of them was the most important. Or which one of them he thought Theia would actually answer.
“Are you being serious?” By the pained look on his face, that question was neither option.
“Quite,” Theia chirped back.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing in resignation. He’d already lost. Barely stood a chance to begin with. The determined lines of Theia’s face said it all.
“Don’t do it again. Please.”
Theia winked at me. “No promises.”
“We should never have separated.” Kodhan, on the other hand, still looked very much primed for a fight. We, and yet he directed the statement my way. Goosebumps raised along my arms as his eyes panned the entire length of my body in accusation.
There was a roughness to his tone. He was irritated, yes, but that wasn’t it. Not quite. He swallowed hard. Like the statement was somehow difficult for him to part with.
Brushing off the ghost of curiosity that had me narrowing my eyes on him in turn, I frowned. “Neither one of us needs babysitting.”
His hair was slightly tousled. And several of his vest’s buttons were left open, exposing part of his chest. It looked like he’d been sleeping. Or trying to.
He swallowed again, throat bobbing with the movement. “Theia doesn’t. You, on the other hand…”
“I managed just fine without you before the trials. Now is no different.”
“Now is entirely different,” he growled, towering over me in that insufferable way of his. The heat of his magic instantly seeped into my skin.
“Allies or not, I don’t answer to you.” I purposefully ignored his wrath, fixing my attention on a stray divot in the wall. “And get a handle on yourself. Your magic is stifling.”
“Look at me.”
“No.”
His fingers tangled in the still-damp strands of hair at the nape of my neck, and pulled, forcing my head back. Though his grip was firm, it was far from painful. I could barely hear his words over the rush of blood in my ears, the sudden racing of my heart. “Do you want to live, little viper?”
A gold coin spun in my periphery, around and around until my vision swam in a similar fashion. Heads, I lived. Tails, Kodhan slaughtered me here, in this corridor. I was at his mercy.
“Answer me.”
His fingers curled further, sending pinpricks of static down my nerves. Heat like no other washed over my shoulders, dripping down my limbs until I bathed in it. Throbbed with it.
The coin slowed.
Through parted lips, I whispered, “Yes.”
Ringing metal filled my head as it clattered, face down.
Kodhan’s fury turned molten. It was suddenly like he couldn’t study me fast enough, gaze darting repeatedly back and forth from my eyes, to my cheeks, my mouth, in a disorienting cycle.
I couldn’t remember the point where it felt like he was the one thing keeping me upright.
My limbs had melted, leaving my soul suspended mid-air.
Brannon’s murmur tethered me back to the living. “You could at least explain why your clothes are sopping wet.”
“I don’t see how there can be any fun in that,” Theia countered, her voice fading when she entered her room.
“I don’t see the fun in wet clothing, either. Come here, I’ll dry it for…” Brannon followed, his sentence cut off by thick stone.
Kodhan’s brows twitched downward as his fingers slowly untangled from my hair, only to let them skate across my back. I couldn’t repress my shiver. “You are also wet.”
“And what of it?” I didn’t dare move an inch. Hated the flush rising up my neck. Every single one of my nerves was a living, writhing thing. His rising smirk had me quickly sputtering, “It is what happens when one comes into contact with water.”
“Of course it is,” he didn’t laugh, but the amusement riding his tone sounded just the same.
My hands went hot where they pushed at his chest. “Keep your magic away from me. The next time I feel even a lick of it, I will properly bury your own dagger in your gut.”
“I didn’t…” Confusion shot across his features, dimming the intensity in his gaze. Then it gave way to understanding, the grimness of it pulling his smirk back into a frown. “Fine.”
“Fine,” I repeated, trying and failing to figure out the root of his confusion.
Magic had many forms. Most were used to cause pain. But if wielded by someone powerful enough, it had other uses. Fire, especially, was known to incite the opposite.
And Kodhan was certainly powerful enough. I was already trapped in a series of deadly trials. I didn’t need his games on top of them.
A muscle feathered in his jaw. “Survival is best won together. We can wait for the next trial in Theia’s room. Build a powerful front against any threats until then.”
I hated that he was right. Even if I put everything I could in front of my door, it would prove futile if Darion and his allies came back to exact revenge.
“You can get some sleep, too,” he added, pointedly looking at the shadows beneath my eyes.
“Fine,” I said again. Folded my arms over my chest.
“Alright,” he replied slowly, nostrils flaring with his sigh.
He moved out of my way, limbs so stiff I expected to hear bones snap. Wasting no time, I brushed past him, aiming for Theia’s open door.
It was easy to dismiss the tingles along the back of my neck. But there was nothing I could do about the lingering warmth fanning my cheeks.