CHAPTER 30 MILI
P ort told me I could find him in the small dining hall in the morning to talk through how I’m going to convince Cory of my plan. I dress in a padded leather bra that supports my breasts, black leggings, and I layer a lightweight, sheer blouse with fluttery sleeves and cinch my waist with a thick leather belt. Ready to train after our conversation, I make my way down the many hallways to the dining chamber. Luckily, I manage not to get lost. “Knock, knock!” I call out as I open the door, not waiting for a response.
Cory leaps up from a chair by the smoldering fire, and I feel my stomach drop. I’m not prepared to talk to him, and certainly not this early in the morning.
“Milica,” he starts.
I hold a finger up to stop him, and he scowls but holds his tongue regardless. I walk slowly over to him, secretly relishing the way his eyes widen and his jaw tightens as I get closer to him.
Once I’m in front of him, I have to stop myself from reaching for him as I say, “I’m sorry about last night.”
He exhales. “You don’t have anything to apologize for–”
“No, I do. I was –I was ungrateful, and bitter, and so, so angry. That’s not who I am, that’s not who I want to be. Especially not with you when you’ve been so welcoming to me.”
“You’re the faery healer of Ethelinda, of course I welcomed you.”
I feel myself start to frown at his detached words, but I force myself not to get upset. I don’t mean anything to him, of course I don’t –I’m just the faery healer, nothing more. We hardly know each other, anyways. It’s only sensible that he’s keeping things professional.
“Right,” I exhale. “And you’re the dragon guardian, which is why I need your help.”
“Can we discuss this after breakfast?” he asks with a dramatic sigh.
I cross my arms and watch with delight as his eyes flicker down to my chest. He looks back up at me, and I raise an eyebrow, faux-incredulous. “My eyes are up here, aren’t they?” I ask.
Cory rubs his face in his hands and groans as he steps back from me. “I can’t focus when you’re so close to me.”
Instead of staying away, though, I step in close again. He tries to step back, but I glare at him and he plants his feet in place.
“Thank you,” I say. “Now, as I was saying, I need you to help me .”
“Breakfast first,” Cory interrupts.
I scowl, but he doesn’t budge. I pout, and still – nothing. I cross my arms again, but other than a flicker of amusement across his features, he doesn’t show any signs of cracking.
“Oh, fine! You’re so dramatic,” I grumble.
Cory winks, grinning, and takes me by the hand. He pulls me along to a back door that’s hidden seamlessly in the stone wall, so well-disguised that I’d never even seen it, and pulls it open.
“There’s a small kitchen back here. I’ll cook us both something.”
“You cook?”
He scoffs at me. “Of course I do. I’m not a heathen.”
I smile up at him and shoot back, “Well, you had me fooled.”
“Oh, aren’t you clever?” he asks, smiling. Without a word, he lifts me up and sets me on a counter. My eyes go wide at his confident touch, and he smirks slightly. “Now you can see me working better, hm?”
I don’t have words, so I simply nod. My heart is fluttering from the sudden contact, and I’m almost reeling from the sudden lack of it. Everytime he touches me it’s like I’m set alight; to lose his touch is like a raging fire being doused.
After a moment where I can’t focus, I look back to see Cory focused, cracking eggs into a cast iron pan. I smile at the sight of him, all focused over the stove, and watch as he seasons them with salt and pepper.
“You know, fried eggs are pretty hard to mess up,” I smile, biting my lip.
Cory looks up at me through his eyelashes, and my heart does a little somersault. “These are the best fried eggs you’ll ever have, I’ll have you know.”
“Hm,” I nod. “I suppose I’ll be the judge of that, though, won’t I?”
He wipes his hands off on a dish towel and walks over to me, standing between my legs. I bite back a gasp as he lays his hands on my thighs, exhaling slowly as he slides them up, up, up, all the way to my waist. “You’ve gotten so much ... bolder since I met you,” he says, cocking his head to the side.
I frown, a bit hurt. “I’m sorry. I was just teasing.”
“Don’t apologize,” he says, suddenly serious. “I want you to be yourself around me. Besides,” he grins, “I’ll wipe that little smirk off your face in due time.”
His eyes flicker with heat, and I feel my skin buzzing under his touch. He starts to pull away, smiling mischievously, and I grab his hand on instinct. I pull him back to me, pausing for a second before I wrap a hand around his neck.
“Am I–” I start to ask “–am I the only one who feels like this when we’re together?” My brows knit together with worry, and my eyes dart back and forth between each of his. I watch his lips purse as he thinks, and feel my heart sink as I realize, he doesn’t feel the same.
Then, miraculously, he shakes his head and pulls one of my hands to his lips, kissing my knuckles. I inhale shakily as his mouth brushes my skin, and I watch his eyes flicker back open to gaze up at me. I realize, with a start, that I’m smiling.
After staring at him for a moment, I smell the smoke. I laugh and say, “I think you’re burning the eggs.”
“Oh, godsdamnit!” he scowls. I watch him flip the eggs and expose the other sides, which are completely blackened. I can’t help but grin at him, barely resisting the urge to tease as he orders, “Not a word from you.”
I mime locking my lips and throwing away the key, and he shakes his head at me, his smile barely restrained.
After we’ve eaten Cory’s second attempt at fried eggs, served with tomato slices and hashbrowns, I move to sit right across from him. I wonder why Port never showed up, and make a mental note to ask if Cory can communicate with him through some mental pack-bonds (or, is that a stupid question to ask? I’m not entirely sure).
“Cory,” I begin.
“Yes, Milica,” he interrupts, already grinning.
I grin back, but force myself to shove it down. “Not now,” I say. “I’m trying to have a serious conversation.”
With that, Cory nods firmly, and any teasing energy is gone from the room. He seems to have a knack for that – commanding the energy of the air around him. I know he’s dominant with people, but to see him rule the very spirit of his surroundings – and of the volcano in particular –is unbelievably attractive.
I bite back my sudden lust and clear my throat, preparing to launch into my half-baked speech. “As I told you the first day I arrived, Ethelinda is in grave danger.”
“I don’t think you said it quite so nicely,” Cory murmurs.
I glare at him, and he holds his hands up in surrender. “As I was saying, Ethelinda is in danger. The past fortnight that I spent in the town, the crops were all but gone, a drought having overtaken the land. The people were sick in large numbers, and many of those infected had fallen into comas or passed on. My friend–” my voice stops as I start to mention Chrysthinia, and Cory rushes to my side.
I try to shoo him away, but he kneels beside me and takes my hand in his. He brushes his thumb over my knuckles, the same spot he kissed earlier, and I sigh in relief at his touch.
After a moment, he asks me quietly, “What do you need me to do?”
I take a deep, shaky breath in, and continue. “I did a lot of reading in the fortnight that Ethelinda fell sick. I have a collection, sort of anthology, you could say, of old tomes. I scoured them for a possible answer, but there was nothing that would match the scale of the devastation in Ethelinda – except maybe a great healing spell.”
“As such, I think the best course of action is to call a healing rain. It will break the drought and wash away the cursed pollutants of the land, and its cleansing properties will rid the townspeople of their disease. I came here because I can’t call it alone, and since you’re the dragon guardian–”
“–You knew I’d be able to handle it?” Cory asks quietly. I nod, and he hums quietly in answer. I sit there for a moment as he kneels before me, still rubbing my hand in his. Eventually, he murmurs, “Are you sure you’re strong enough? I mean – I mean, is your magick healed enough? I don’t want you to get hurt. Not ever again.”
Even if I wasn’t ready, I’d certainly lie to save my people. Being here, though, I know I’ll soon be stronger than I’ve ever been. “I might ... need to train more, just a few more days,” I admit.
Cory smiles at my honesty, and I smile shyly back at him. He says, “Done,” then we clean up the table together and go to meet Port and Max for training.