38. Ayres
“Get up, Lieutenant. You need to go to the afternoon Contestar Training, but first you need to take a bath. You smell like a man, and not in a good way.”
Ayres popped an eye open and realized it was a mistake, immediately wishing he could slip back into that soft, velvety unconsciousness. His mouth felt like it was stuffed full of sandpaper and dirt as he tried to roll his tongue around in his mouth. He needed to bathe and brush his teeth. As soon as possible.
He tried to push himself off the bed but stopped when his head started to spin.
“Gods above,” Ayres groaned into the mattress.
“You”ll never believe who dragged your ass home last night.”
Ayres carefully cracked open one bloodshot eye. Kaiya Thorn was perched in one of the two leather seats in his room next to his bed. She’d tied her moon-white braids back and seemed to be enjoying a bowl of . . . oats, or something.
Ayres wrinkled his nose at the benign smell, closing his eyes.
He dragged through his muddled memories, but he could only remember winning an arm-wrestling competition against a House of Air merchant before everything went fuzzy. “I don’t know.”
He just prayed to Marras his power had stayed at the low rumble it had been when he first went out.
“Rorax Greywood,” Kaiya said through a mouthful. “I saw her just as she was leaving your room.”
“What?” Both of Ayres’s eyes popped open, something he immediately regretted.
Kaiya continued to eat her oats, nodding her head as she swallowed. “I came in here after she left to check on you—you know, to make sure she hadn”t left you here bleeding out or something—and found you safe and sound. Your covers were even tucked in under your chin like a little fucking kid.”
Ayres bristled and pushed himself to sit on the edge of his bed slowly, resting his elbows on his knees. He was still in the clothes he’d gone out in last night, and they smelled like stale beer and dried blood.
“I hate to say it, but I don’t mind her.” Kaiya shrugged, setting her empty bowl down on Ayres’s bedside table, then leaning back in her chair to watch him. “I think . . . as far as people from House of Ice go? I think she’s okay.”
“Yeah, I guess if her House hadn’t laid siege to my Realm, I wouldn’t mind her either,” Ayres said pointedly, and Kaiya put her hands up in defense.
Ayres sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He remembered Rorax’s burns, the burns in the shape of handprints that Isgra Torvik had left on Rorax’s biceps, and how Rorax had earned them—in defense of her friend.
Truth be told . . . despite her being a bitch, he didn’t mind Rorax that much either. His dick also didn’t mind her. The fire of hatred toward her had burned down just a touch, and he didn’t like that.
A shot of pain made him see stars behind his eyes. His head throbbed, and when he reached up to touch his eyebrow, where a small sharp pain was emanating from, dried flaky blood came away on his finger. “Kaiya . . . what happened?”
“I don’t know, but last night Rorax was covered in a lot more blood than just that.”
“What did she do?”
Kaiya’s mouth pressed into a little frown. “Well, when she got done dropping you off here last night, she told me House of Alloy had kidnapped you and she had to kill four of them to extricate you. The bodies were found this morning, corroborating her story.” Kaiya eyed him up and down. “There were strange tracks leading to the kill sight that looked like something heavy had been dragged there. ”” Kaiya”s eyes flashed and her chin raised. “I believe her, Ayres. Considering how drunk you were last night when I came in, I think she saved your ass.”
Ayres tried to think back, tried to remember, but he couldn’t. He sighed. “I’ll talk to her today, see what she says and if it falls in line with the story she told you.”
Kaiya nodded her head. “Make sure you thank her for us, too, Ayres. Without her, you could be dead. Or worse, somewhere deep in the House of Alloy.”
She grabbed her bowl and took a few steps towards the door before hesitating. “Oh, and if you ever ditch us again like you did last night, Ayres, I’ll find a witch that can etch a tracking rune on your ass.”