Chapter Twenty-Six #2
Stumbling back, I almost fall, but Talen’s grip stays firm around mine.
He gives my hand another small squeeze, and one second Darren is there, rage plastered across his face, heading straight for me, and the next the air around us detonates and he’s ripped off his feet and thrown back across the square.
My head jolts up to Talen, and every trace of warmth has vanished from his face.
“You’re lucky Ahria isn’t here,” he all but growls as he cocks his head at Darren, who is now sprawled in the dirt outside the Food Tent.
One hand pressed to his ribs as he tries to drag himself farther away from Talen.
“Attacking a fellow rider, unprovoked, in front of their dragon is a fucking death sentence.”
Brown scales flash past us as Nex drops from the air, landing and curling around Darren's shoulders before her body swells to twice its size. Snarling, her jaws open in warning, but Talen doesn’t stop, doesn’t even blink.
“And you’re even luckier, Lyra’s Threads are still dulled from the ceremony, because usually, she is more than capable of destroying you.
” My pulse jumps at the cold certainty in his voice.
“I’m letting it slide because you just lost your fiancée and you’re not thinking straight, but if you ever put your hands on her again, I won’t hesitate to let Cal decide your fate. ”
The threat is aimed solely at Darren, but the authority in Talen’s voice has me holding my next inhale, and Nex must hear it too, because she shrinks back to her tiny size around Darren’s shoulders.
“Hey, Goldie, you ready to—” Lucien strolls around the corner with JC, his words cutting off as his gaze jumps between the three of us. “Uh, maybe you need a minute?”
“No, it's fine,” Talen bites back, his hand still around mine but not taking his focus off Darren. “We’re already late, let's go.”
Lucien shrugs, then nods toward Darren, who starts pushing himself up as if to follow.
“No.” Talen’s voice drops, and this time he looks at Lucien. “He stays here. Lyra’s coming with us.”
Lucien's brow lifts at me and I open my mouth to object, to tell Talen that I can stay, that I don't need him protecting me, but Darren’s yell cuts me off.
“But I’ve been assigned to this evacuation for months!” Shoving himself upright, one hand still pressed to his ribs, his face turns red. “New recruits aren’t even allowed on evac runs.”
“Correction,” Talen informs him flatly. “You were assigned to this. Now you’re on leave for the rest of the weekend.”
“No. You can’t be serious!” Darren’s head jerks back, and for a second he seems too stunned to be angry before his gaze snaps to Lucien. “Luc, do something!”
Lucien’s lips pull thin, but he raises both hands and steps back, choosing silence over whatever argument is obviously sitting behind his teeth.
“It is not a suggestion.” Talen’s jaw flexes, the gold in his eyes blazing now. “It is an order.”
This time, Darren doesn’t argue. Whatever he sees in Talen’s face strips the colour from his skin, leaving him looking almost... young. Lost.
Scared.
Hell, even my face has gone pale.
Understanding there’s nowhere left to push, Darren takes a step back as his whole body seems to collapse around him. And seeing him like that, arms loose at his sides, makes my own shoulders drop because Serrane’s taken everything from him. Took his whole family. All he had left was Neeve.
And now she’s gone too.
Parting his lips, he looks as though he might say something, but then his gaze narrows on me and whatever softness was there disappears before he turns and storms off.
“Take Lyra and drop her at the outpost,” Talen tells Lucien. “I’ll go ahead to Moorsend and start getting things sorted. Meet me there after—”
“No.” I interrupt, noticing how stiff Lucien has become.
Talen’s eyes cut to mine. “I don’t want to cause any trouble.
I can stay here.” Pulling my hand from his, I move back and force my knees to lock beneath me, even though the ground still feels like it’s shifting under my boots.
“See? I can stand, I can look after myself, and my Threads will come back soon.”
His throat works once as he steps back in toward me, settling his hands on my upper arms.
“I know exactly what you’re normally capable of, Lyra.
That’s not the issue.” Bending down, he brings his eyes level with mine.
“But tonight, you’re vulnerable. There’s a difference.
The effects of the Vega fruit will last a while, and I am not leaving you in the same camp as him while you can’t defend yourself.
” He leans in and kisses my forehead. “So please.” His mouth stays there for half a second longer. “For my own sanity. Come with me.”
Straining my mind, I try to come back with another argument, but my head is still just as foggy as my magic. Plus he did say Ahria would meet us there.
“Fine,” I reply, hating that my knees choose that exact moment to wobble. “But I’m not leaving without seeing Ezzy first.”
Talen exhales, and I feel the tension in his body loosen as he drops his hands from my arms. “All right.” Stepping back, he reaches into his pocket and retrieves something golden that he holds out to Lucien.
“You think I need it?” Lucien asks skeptically, looking down at the talisman. “I thought he’d been better recently.”
A muscle ticks in Talen’s temple. “Since the ambush, he’s been on edge again. I would say grumpy, but that would be a fucking understatement.” Dropping the gold coin into Lucien’s hand, he reaches down to take mine again.
With a displeased exhale he doesn't quite hide, Lucien slips the talisman into his pocket before giving Talen a hard pat on the arm, right where his bandage is.
Talen masks the pain well enough that nothing shows on his face, but I feel the twitch in his fingers as he turns to me and presses another soft kiss to my forehead.
“I’ll meet you at the outpost after our meeting. I’ll be an hour behind you. Two, tops.” Then, before I get the chance to argue more, he lets go and leaves.
“Ready?” Lucien grumbles.
“Yeah, I just need to grab my pack and check on Ezzy.”
Folding his arms, he nods. “Make it quick.”
My heart is still racing, and my legs still don’t feel entirely like mine, but I force them to move, crossing the camp as fast as I can without tripping over the support ropes stretched through the dirt.
And by the time I reach the tent, my hands are shaking as I grip the canvas.
Dragging it back, a long breath escapes me when I find Ezzy sitting on her bed.
Relieved, I stand there for a moment, one hand still gripping the flap. But she doesn't even look up at me. Her blue eyes stay fixed ahead, wide and empty, and her skin is so pale it almost seems grey in the lantern light.
“Carrot soup,” she mutters.
“What?” I reply.
“At lunch today, I couldn’t even choose what I wanted, so I let Neeve decide for me. She chose carrot soup.” A laugh breaks out of her, but it turns into a sob before she can swallow it. “I don’t even like carrots.”
“Ezzy—” Dropping down beside her, I wrap my arm around her shoulders and find she’s stone cold beneath my touch.
“I can’t decide anything anymore, Lyra.” She folds forward like the words have taken the last of her strength.
“I don’t know who I am without it. The Innerlands.
The Citadel. The rules. The orders. It’s all I’ve ever known.
” Dragging in a shaky inhale, she finally looks at me, and the pain in her face is so real it steals whatever I was about to say.
“So I let them decide,” she whispers. “I let the dragons decide for me.”
“It’s okay.” I tighten my arm around her. “You’re okay. You’re still here.”
“No.” She shakes her head as her focus drifts past me. “No, it’s not.”
Following her gaze, every part of me recoils when I see what she’s been staring at.
There, perched on my bed, claws sunk into my blanket, is a tiny, very round, furious-looking red dragon.
“Ezzy...” I murmur cautiously, as his eyes narrow on mine. “What the fuck is Dave doing here?”
“He's... he’s my dragon.” Ezzy's voice barely makes it out. “But I think he was supposed to be Neeve’s—”