Chapter 10
Allie
“And your room is right above mine?” Dax asked for the third time, surveying his new bedroom with the steely, haunted gaze of a man who’d just seen death and definitely didn’t want it creeping up on him again.
His room, though smaller and without a door connecting him to the next bedroom, was remarkably similar to mine, down to the double doors leading up to the balcony and the magicked balmy temperature.
I hoped it would chase the ice away from Dax’s memories. Even after a bath hot enough that steam escaped from underneath the door and a nice change of warm, wool clothes, his hands and feet still shivered.
The sleeping clothes were large enough on him that I wondered if they had been made for Ryker, but Dax still wore them with that regal air of his that made you think nothing was amiss and he’d actually planned all along for the hem of the pants to pool around his ankles.
“Yes. Only a shout away,” I said gently, trying my very best not to cringe as my cold, sodden socks squelched in my boots.
Both Ryker and I had refused to leave Dax’s side after the ordeal. He’d wanted to keep an eye on the Protectorate brat who’d stumbled into his crater and almost got himself killed. I couldn’t lose Dax out of my sight.
Not again.
I fought against the urge, but still tracked each of his paces on the plush carpet.
He’s alive.
He’s safe.
“Can’t invite friends over at midnight while I’m staying here, then.” Dax stopped in front of me and leaned to the side, looking through the open door. “Is mister tall and towering going to be watching me from the hallway all night?”
I turned, only to see Ryker in the same position he’d been in for the past half hour. Back leaning against the wall, one knee bent, arms crossed in front of his chest–which only accentuated the muscles showing through his soaked shirt.
He’d only taken off his leather armour, now piled at his feet, and observed, still as a blade, sharp and ready to cut, as if he hadn’t also fought for his life less than an hour ago.
“In case you drowned in the bath as well.” Ryker arched a brow.
“If that happens, don’t touch your lips to mine again. You’re marrying my cousin, after all.”
“Would you rather I watch you from inside your bedroom? Each movement, every breath.”
Dax huffed. “As if you’d ever be lucky enough to be invited inside.”
“Enough, you two.” I rolled my eyes. “You both almost died tonight. Maybe stop wasting your precious breaths on trying to one-up the other.”
They still glowered at each other. A resounding no, then.
I sighed and patted Dax’s shoulders. “Get some rest, you’re safe here. Don’t go exploring by yourself, the crater’s dangerous.”
“I figured that already, thanks.” He pulled the collar of his sweater to the side, revealing the purple lines the wing harness had dug into his clavicle.
My throat closed as I stared at the marks on his dark skin.
I’d been so close to losing him.
He’s safe.
He’s alive.
He noticed my sudden stillness, because he yawned wide enough for me to see his molars. “Good hostesses know when to retire, you know? We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. And the day after that. And on and on and on, until we’ll get sick of each other.”
That was an understatement. If Dax had truly memorized the Protectorate vaults ledgers, we’d probably spend months reviewing them all.
Or find a clue in the first few parchments.
With our luck, it was probably hidden on the very last page.
That was a problem for tomorrow, though. Today had been too much already.
“You’re planning on staying that long, huh?” I played along, trying to ignore the pit in my stomach. “The big bed and fluffed-up pillows are hard to give up, I admit.”
“And Mrs. Thornbrew’s cooking, of course,” Dax said.
I smiled up at him, hoping my fears and fatigue didn’t show. “If you need anything, I’m right above you.”
“Any opportunity to lord over me.” He sighed dramatically, before offering me the first genuine smile all evening and cradling my hands in his.
“Thank you,” he muttered only for my ears.
“Always.” I gave his palms a reassuring squeeze and turned. “Tomorrow at eight.”
“Nine. You need your beauty sleep, princess,” he called after me. Then his face turned serious as he locked eyes with Ryker. “Thanks for not letting me die.”
Ryker’s reply was a simple nod.
In the last sliver of light before closing the door, my gaze fell onto the backpack resting against the wall. The crown was still waiting, hidden.
It didn’t care about tonight’s ordeal.
It simply had to exist to capture my thoughts.
Tomorrow.
I would worry about it once the sun rose.
I closed the door, and finally let myself fold against the wall, closing my eyes. All the strength I’d been barely holding together melted away.
“He’s a handful,” Ryker said, his voice now devoid of that sharp edge. It was raspy and low, blanketing me in warmth and familiarity, even as we stood on opposite sides of the hallway. “But nothing can beat you storming barefoot through my fortress and calling out my name.”
I huffed a tired laugh. “I don’t know what I was thinking. You could have thrown me in some dungeon for all I knew.”
“That would have been a first for me, those dungeons haven’t been properly used in years. And I’m sure you would have found some way to escape from that, too. Or at least make my life miserable.” He chuckled low in his throat. “Are you alright?”
My eyes popped open. The second our gazes connected, I felt lighter. At peace. “Are you alright? You’re the one who jumped into that frozen lake.”
For my cousin.
Because Ryker knew how much I cared for Dax, even though he couldn’t suffer him.
He’d risked his life.
For me.
To protect this fragile heart of mine.
The same fear roiled in my stomach, despite the exhaustion nipping at my senses.
I could have lost them both tonight.
He’s safe.
He’s alive.
He’s here.
“I’ve swam in frozen lakes before,” he said, as if I hadn’t felt the terror in him when the crater had tried to drag him and Dax into its depths. “You just returned from battle a day ago. You probably didn’t sleep, fretting over the wounded soldiers, didn’t you?”
He knew me well.
My mind hissed that he knew me too well. That he could see all those shadows and the cracks–and he would run. Or worse, choose someone easier. Find a blonde, like Waden had. Plenty of them in Solkar’s Reach, after all.
I shook my head, fighting against those whispers. They were taking advantage of my weakened state and bristled too close to the surface.
“Obviously.” I tsked and flexed my frozen toes. I bit my lower lip, struggling to find the right words.
Ryker hummed.
“What?” I asked.
He leaned his head against the wall, gaze glued to my lips. “You do that when you’re worried. You pace and you bite your lips. Like you don’t want to let all your thoughts out.”
Much too well.
I sucked my lip straight out, cheeks flushing. “And I laugh in the strangest moments.”
A lazy smile bloomed on his face. “You do.”
“I–” I licked my lips, almost biting them again, but refraining. “I know we said we’d talk later, but can we do it tomorrow? I’m tired.”
Half-truth; too tired to emotionally flail myself in front of him, but reluctant to leave his side.
“Tomorrow, then,” he said after a few careful moments of silence.
I relaxed further into the wall. The next day would torture me in so many ways, I was exhausted just thinking about it.
“Do you want to go to bed?” he asked, and I thought I heard resigned disappointment in those raspy words.
“Actually–” I gulped. “I was thinking more of a warm bath. Wash the cold from our bones, my feet are frozen.”
He kicked himself away from the wall in a languid movement that made my toes curl, and offered me his hand. “That sounds like a great idea.”
My body moved before I even became aware of it. One moment I was leaning against the wall, trying not to crumble in a tired heap. In the next I was walking hand in hand with Ryker, up the stairs, the tension from before now gone.
It felt right and natural and just what I needed. I nestled closer to him, so that I could feel the barest thrill of his heartbeat.
He was alive.
But his movements were duller than his usual thundering steps, and his frown grew as we reached the corridor to our rooms.
“Did you sleep?” I asked.
He arched a brow, but the frown remained. “Are you just going to repeat my concern back at me?”
“Answer the question, Commander.”
“I’ve been busy.” His own sigh melted with mine. “You know how it is when you have guests. Especially the unexpected kind.”
Not this again.
“Dax is no danger,” I said with absolute conviction.
“I doubt that. But I was talking about those masked fighters.”
Of course. The attack felt like a lifetime ago, and Dax had stolen all of my attention.
“Did you secure the entrance?” I asked.
“Calyx’s contraptions are as inventive and brutal as ever.” He squeezed my hand tighter, as if afraid I’d vanish. “We shouldn’t have any more trespassers.”
At least through that tunnel. But if the crater was turning against us–“We need to find out what’s going on. You said that lake has been frozen for generations.”
“It has.”
“Then why would the ice break now?” My mind began to whirl as it always did. “The secret troll gathering we witnessed, the entrance, the lake. When I escaped, I heard Mrs. Mallowmere talking about how the forest sounded different. Something’s wrong.”
The furrow of his brows turned formidable. “It is.”
“And Dax just falling out of the sky.” My breathing turned shallow. “The rim shouldn’t have let him in–”
I yelped as Ryker suddenly pulled me to the side. In a whirlwind, I found myself cradled in an alcove I had barely noticed before, my back against the wall, Ryker’s strong body protecting the entrance.
I stared up at him, a question in my eyes.
He exhaled, long and hard, as if it was a great feat of control to simply keep standing.
Then he leaned his forehead against mine and closed his eyes, his words ghosting across my lips.
His breath hitched–barely, but I felt it.
“Allie, it’s too late for that brilliant mind of yours to keep fretting. I’m exhausted, too.”
I nodded. The closeness between us had stolen my words and replaced them with wild ideas–like pulling his head down and devouring his lips.
“Many things are not as they should be and they deserve our rested and clear-headed attention,” he said.
I nodded once more. After all, I’d asked him to wait until tomorrow, I had to give him the same grace.
“For now, we have half an hour to wash this awful day off of us before I need to go down for tea with Nadya and Geryll. I can hear them pacing below. So the only question we need to answer right now is…” His tone dropped, turning sweet and sinful. “My room or yours?”