Chapter 29
Aeson
“I BEG YOUR PARDON?” THE male in front of me asks, his confused gaze locked on the fiery little Syphon who’s once again wrapped in one of my capes.
I could have just as easily brought her a blanket, but something about her nestled in my mantle, safe and warm, speaks to my soul in a way I don’t understand and don’t care to.
I lean back against a wall and watch the exchange between my Bonded and the potential Wing member the same way I’ve watched all the others that came before.
Like me, my Wing lines the edges of the room, waiting to see if this guy passes or fails Ever’s odd little test.
“Fight him,” Ever repeats to the bewildered male, who continues to stare at her.
Ever sits on the other side of the table with several small projectors scattered across the top. They display statistics, test results, and other background information she might find useful, but aside from an initial perusal, she hasn’t glanced at them since.
“Fight him?” the male queries again, looking from Ever to Sondar and back again.
“Yes,” she answers evenly, giving nothing away.
She looks regal as she waits patiently for the male to do something, and a phantom ache pulses in my thumb from where she bit me earlier.
My affinity healed any actual damage right away, but my mind, or maybe the bond, wants me to feel the echo of it.
And fuck, do I feel it, in my thumb, in my cock, in my balls.
If we were on better terms, I would have thrown Ever on the table and fucked that flash of defiance right out of her, but we’re not there?.?.?. yet.
“Okay, I think I’ve seen enough,” Ever declares. “Thank you for your time. Ogdan will see you out and let you know if you’ve been selected for the special assignment.”
My second steps forward, and the male whirls around half panicked.
“But I just walked in,” he argues. “I haven’t done anything.”
“Exactly,” Ever counters.
Any further argument is stifled by the look Ogdan gives the drake as he begins to escort him away.
He’ll run him through a couple of tests just to make him feel better, but we already know who we want for our other assignment, and he’s not on the list. We’re still waiting to see who Ever will choose for her Wing.
Once she does, we’ll fill in any blanks we might have with our backup scroll of candidates.
“Julian Ectorius,” Gatlin announces, and Ever snorts.
A male strides into the room, the overhead lights making his olive-green armor look brighter than normal. I recognize the drake with his messy brown hair and notched nose. He was one of the Flight Leaders brought in to guard Ever on her Naming Day.
“I’m surprised you’re not wearing a toga, with a name like Julian Ectorius,” Ever notes.
“Laundry day,” the male quips dryly. “And I typically save it for my days off.”
A small smile slides across Ever’s lips. “I know you,” she declares, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the table like she’s trying to get a better look.
“I covered you at your Naming,” he supplies evenly.
“Did you get in trouble when I gave you the slip?” she presses, a glint of amusement in her eyes.
“No, but mostly because you didn’t give me the slip.”
The smile drops from Ever’s face, and she cants her head. “Yes, I did; you were nowhere to be seen when I picked that lock and joined the party.”
“Nowhere to be seen is correct, Scioness, but we were there with you until you and the scion returned to your rookery.”
Ever’s head snaps to me, her cheeks blooming a bright red. “They were listening?” she demands, horrified.
“Of course not,” I assure her. “Protocol is to draw a shield around us for privacy, then retract it when it’s no longer needed.”
Ever tilts her head back and sighs at the ceiling. “Where’s a Scream Eater when you need one?” she murmurs, and a growl rumbles out of me. “Not for you, Spare, for me. I need to be swallowed whole at the moment,” she clarifies, but it’s not helping her case.
“I’d be happy to oblige. I ate your screams well enough last time, if you recall,” I offer, and she shoots me a fulminating glare.
It doesn’t stop the flush crawling up her dragon mark, or hide the way her pupils expand with need.
Fuck. At this rate, I’m going to be permanently hard.
Thank the stars for scale armor blocking the bulge under my clothes.
Ever slashes a hand through the air and turns back to Julian, who’s wisely looking as though he didn’t hear or see anything that just happened.
“Fight him,” she orders, gesturing to Karis before she sits back in her seat.
Without needing to be told twice, Julian explodes into action, sprinting for Karis full speed.
Everyone in the room tenses, because this is the first time any of the probies have heeded Ever’s order.
Before they can make contact, Ever shouts, “Stop!” and just as fast as he started, Julian halts in his tracks and turns to her.
Ever nods once, the gesture radiating approval. “You can stay,” she declares, waving him over to stand off to the side.
“That was it?” I ask, my gaze bouncing between Ever and the first candidate to meet her approval.
“Yes,” she answers definitively. “I got the idea when I noticed some of the Flight Leaders puffing up in your presence like they were hoping to draw your attention.” She smiles wickedly.
“I don’t want a Wing that’s looking to impress you .
I want drakes who will honor my orders over everything else, including your rank, your reputation, and who you’re related to. Same applies to your Wing.”
I stare at her, unsure if I’m impressed or offended. The underlying accusation feels like claws digging through my chest, but she’s not wrong. She needs to be protected at all costs, and more than anyone, she deserves to finally feel?.?.?. safe.
Candidate after candidate fails her test until there are no more names to call and only ten drakes stand off to the side.
Ever calls them back to the center of the room and studies them silently for an uncomfortably long time.
Just when I think the silence is another test, Ever does the last thing I expected when she changed into the workout shorts and top she requested.
Ever rises from her chair, drops my cape, and shows the drakes the heartbreaking story written in scars across her skin.
Blay moves closer, his shield ready if she needs it, and Farrow hurries toward the controls that will open a wall to expel any enraged dragons if need be. I want to go to her, but I know she needs to do this, so instead, I hold my breath and I wait.
And wait.
And wait a little more.
I study the ten drakes vacillating between impressed and confounded. They’re not losing it. Which is good, for Ever’s sake. And yet, how are they not losing it? My own Wing couldn’t maintain this level of control when they first saw what was done to her—how are these ten strangers so composed?
I look to Karis and Ogdan, who’ve both flanked me, and bewilderment is written on both of their faces too.
“What’s going on?” I demand, abandoning my spot on the wall and striding angrily toward Ever until I draw even with her. Several of the drakes look like they’re barely hanging on, and yet they are, which only makes more alarm bells sound in my mind.
A male with violet eyes and ink-black hair steps forward. The black sun flaring wide across his neck combined with his violet scale armor identifies him as a Render, Healer class.
“Name?” I snap before he can speak.
“Pacey Halim, Commander,” he answers, a tic in his jaw and his purple eyes bright with fury.
“I was part of the guard who protected the scioness at her Naming. I observed some things that had me concerned, so I did a little digging and came across the medical records from her recovery in Lairwood. It detailed the scarring and the charm worn to hide it,” he explains, his gaze flicking from mine to Ever’s.
“So you knew,” Ever states, and I can’t tell if she’s offended or impressed.
“We did, although seeing the extent of what was done to you is very different from reading it,” Pacey admits.
“It was the burn on my arm, wasn’t it?” Ever asks. “You healed it, and then I saw you go over to Julian and say something to him.”
Pacey nods. “That and the sleeping on the floor, the strange back-and-forth between you and the scion’s Wing. The dress that attacks anyone who gets too close to you. Your mate locking you in a room,” the Healer lists off.
“What burn?” I demand, but Ever waves the question away.
“Your dad did it, but it’s fine. I shouldn’t have tried to break into his office,” she assures me, and I reel back, utterly stunned.
“When did any of this happen?” I snarl, closing in on her, but a massive male with a dragon mark down the center of his face steps forward protectively.
Indignation ignites in my blood, and I round on him.
“Stand down,” I growl. “I’m no threat to my Bonded, and your place is not between us. Not now, not ever.”
“Vesper,” Julian chides, and the male looks over at the Channeler and then glances back at Ever and waits for her to chime in.
“I’m good, big guy,” she declares, and I swear there’s a hint of laughter in it.
My suspicions are confirmed when Vesper steps his giant ass out of my way and I find Ever grinning from ear to ear. Her solitary dimple makes its first appearance since she was brought back, and of course it’s at my expense.
“This is going to be so much fun,” she taunts, and it takes everything in me not to throw her over my shoulder and call this whole thing off.
How is this backfiring in my face? It’s a Wing; it shouldn’t be this complicated, and yet here we are. I pinch the bridge of my nose and slow my breathing. This is what I get for trying to back her into a corner. I should know better by now. I drop my hand and fix Ever with an adamant scowl.
“Pick your six and let’s go,” I order, knowing damn well Ever is going to make me regret it. I aim my glare over at the six males and four females waiting for further instructions, all while witnessing me on the verge of losing my shit.
“They’re not menu items, Spare. I’m not just going to pick six randomly. I still need to see them in their full scale armor, and then I’m going to fight them.”
“That’s it!” I snap, finally giving in to the urge to throw the little menace over my shoulder and storm out of here.
Fight them?
Absolutely not!
“Are you out of your mind?” Ever shouts as she tries to break my hold.
“Are you out of yours?” I yell back, slapping her ass hard when she tries to bite me.
I pay no heed to the arguing that breaks out behind me, trusting my Wing to handle it as I stomp to the elevator.
“Aeson Noctis, you put me down!” Ever orders, and it’s adorable that she thinks that will work.
“Ever Tenebrae, no!” I mimic her tone, and she starts shoving her elbow into my kidney. I spank her again, and the scent of her arousal contradicts the threats she’s lobbing at me when I stride into the elevator and let the doors close behind me.
“Where are you taking me?” she demands while raking her nails up my back.
I swallow a groan and fight to keep her legs clamped in my grasp. “The Healer told you to eat, rest, and fuck. So that’s what we’re going to do.”
The elevator stops on my tower floor, and I stride out and head for my rookery.
“Well, you can certainly go fuck yourself, Spare. You’re clearly slow on the uptake, but caveman doesn’t do it for me,” Ever snaps, and I can’t help but laugh.
“Your sopping pussy would disagree, Claws.”
“Welcome home, Scion Noctis and Scioness Noctis,” the greeting chimes as the door to my rookery opens. Herm is sitting at the table, and he takes one look at the situation and shakes his head, an amused smile spreading quickly across his face.
I kick the door to our room open and slam it closed behind me, pulling Ever off my shoulder and sliding her down my body until she’s back on her feet. I expect her to take a shot at me, but she’s unexpectedly still and quiet as she looks up into my eyes.
“I’m Claws again?” she asks, her gaze searching my face, and there’s a hitch in her tone that makes my chest ache.
“Do you want to be?” I question, suddenly terrified she’ll say no and equally scared she’ll say yes. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life, but it’s all so terrifyingly complicated.
I cup her cheek, and Ever winces. My heart plummets at the sight. Then she presses her cheek into my palm, and suddenly I feel as though I’m soaring. A pained groan slips out of her, and worry crashes through me.
“Are you okay?” I ask and realize her face is warm against my hand—warmer than it should be. She grows paler right before my eyes, and wavers on her feet.
“I could be wrong,” she says with a grimace, “but I’m pretty sure I’ve been poisoned.”