Chapter 10 #2
Perhaps it was time to alter that, however.
She wasn’t in the Dracoryn Realm now. There was little oversight. And the oversight that I had detected could be seen to carefully, the narrative altered to her benefit.
I called over to Winter, “Did you come here to my sparring session so we could finally see to—”
“Just passing on by before my next class.”
Ah, yes. Checking up on me again.
So, lo and behold, beseeching Zayn not to inform Winter of the assault upon me had been ignored, my decision overturned.
Despite the clear effort Winter had put into making it appear otherwise, I’d read between the lines and determined that Zayn had most definitely told him about what had transpired.
Winter had come to my dorm suite to enquire about the research I’d been conducting for him earlier that same day.
The absence of a single cursory question following that claim had made the falsity undeniably clear.
But Zayn’s failure to honor my request had laid bare my own error in judgment.
I’d made the decision to shield Winter from falling into his self-sacrificing caretaker state from an emotionally unstable and mentally compromised place.
Shortly after he’d arrived and proceeded to sit there with me in the aftermath of that ordeal, I’d realized that it had been an overreach on my part.
In trying to spare him pain, I had taken a decision out of his hands that hadn’t been mine to take.
Strikingly, Zayn had clearly realized that himself. I didn’t think for one moment that he’d revealed the truth out of spite or any ill intent. He’d wished to assist and to rectify the mistake I’d made. And that was truly momentous for him.
The fact I’d made such an error was exactly why I was so strict with ensuring I always kept my mind clear and sharp—or things like that would be the result.
However, that attack… it had caught me off guard.
But in trying to bury it, that had only worsened things.
So I’d taken some time to see to it. And I’d laid it all bare to Winter as well. I hadn’t wanted my mistake, nor the weight of any secrets coming between us. Nor actually between Zayn and I either. Because, despite how infuriating he’d initially been to me, things had… evolved.
“Winter.”
“All in good time.” He offered me a smile. “Glad to see you doing this.” He told Evira, “I wondered when you’d engage in one of your favorite hobbies.”
Her eyes sparkled at him. “You remembered that?”
He lifted a shoulder. “Good memory.”
I inwardly rolled my eyes—difficult to do. It was obviously much more than that for him, and I saw the realization in her own eyes.
So much unspoken between them.
No. This just wouldn’t do.
Time hadn’t assisted.
It needed… some careful, very slight, strategic intervention.
“Well, continue on,” he told us.
As he turned to leave to get to his next class, I was at the threshold with a burst of speed, grasping his arm and stilling him before he could take his leave.
With a spark of my magic, I employed an auditory reduction spell. “I said I’d assist you with your necromantic issue. That hasn’t shifted.”
He smiled and stroked my fingers on him.
“I never thought it had. Just… after what happened, you needed to take some time. I see you doing that today, so things are coming along, you’re doing well.
Why not continue on for a little while longer?
” He eased his fingers off me. “And maybe I also need some time before we delve into this research.”
“The longer you delay, the more comfortable remaining ignorant to what’s happening will become. And that is not a safe or healthy place to be in.”
He leaned in and brushed his lips over my cheek. “Enjoy your sparring. I need to get to class.”
With that, he moved away, turned on his heel, then strode away down the corridor.
Curses.
I dropped the auditory reduction spell.
I was about to walk back into Combat Conclave, but I sensed Evira employing a burst of speed. As I turned around, there she was right in my space.
“Okay?” she asked, carefully.
“Not yet. But I will see to it.”
“You’re going to go after him?”
“No. Not right now.” I gestured inside the room. “Shall we continue?”
As I went to move, she pressed her hand to my chest.
A rush of delectable sensation rolled through me, radiating out at the point of contact.
Our eyes locked.
She clearly felt it too, because she drew in an unsteady breath. “I didn’t just come here to spar with you.”
Interesting.
“Enlighten me, dragon princess.”
“There’s something I want to show you.”
“Show me?”
“Yeah. In my dorm room.”
She pushed past me and I smiled to myself. Unapologetic bold moves, just like a dragon.
“Come,” she said, eyeing me over her shoulder.
“And while we’re there, we’ll get into this whole Winter-avoiding-Zayn thing that’s being a real bitch on them both.
” She rolled her eyes. “And trapping you and me in the middle. Seeing as though we both hate being trapped more than anything else, I figured you’d be on board. ”
“You are also a factor. You realize that, yes?”
She frowned. “You wouldn’t have brought that up unless you had a plan.”
“I wouldn’t have?”
She gave me a withering look. “You’re not the only one who observes people. The difference is, I only do it to people who I wish to draw closer to.”
My, my. She was saying a great deal there.
I twirled my hand in a dramatic fashion. “Then, by all means, lead the way, beauty.”