Chapter Twenty-Three Riela
Chapter Twenty-Three
Riela
I awoke incandescently angry. I was back in my bedroom at the castle, but even the cheerful blue bedspread didn’t dim my fury.
I took a moment to pull on my boots—which felt like armor I was going to need—then glared at the door. “Take me to Garrick.”
A tremor ran through the stone, and when I stepped through the door, I was in Garrick’s dimly lit bedroom. A glance at the
windows proved that it was deep in the night, but that only stoked my fury higher. He’d stolen nearly an entire day from me.
He sat up, looking sexy and disheveled and not the least bit sorry. A lazy smile curled over his mouth but his eyes remained
guarded. “Have you come seeking my bed after all?”
I stopped just out of reach, not because I feared him, but because I feared I’d do something stupid like punch him directly in his arrogant face. I clenched my fingers into fists
and tried to find rational thought when I wanted nothing more than to launch myself at him like a makyu, a monster known for
its ear-piercing scream and lethal claws.
There was a reason Ostu was the saint of war, courage, and violence. Right now, all three were slowly poisoning my reason.
“Never again,” I finally ground out. “Swear to me that you will never again override my will with your magic.”
“No.” His tone wasn’t exactly flippant, but it was close, as if I were an errant child and not a furious mage with power of
my own.
Magic swirled around me, a bruised, raging blue-violet, but I grounded myself in a pool of cold, calm certainty: I could not
remain here with someone who refused to respect me as an equal.
I would not.
Without a word, I turned for the door, but it slammed closed before I’d taken a single step. Undeterred, I crossed the room and tried the handle. It refused to budge. “Open the door,” I demanded without looking at Garrick.
“Do you want to know why I won’t make such a vow?” he asked from far too close.
I stiffened my spine and perfectly mimicked his previous tone. “No.” I turned so I could watch him and the door. He was wearing a pair of loose breeches and nothing else. The pale skin of his chest was littered with scars, large
and small, but the place where the lua had attacked him was satiny smooth.
If magic could heal without a mark, why did he have so many scars? The thought distracted me for a moment until I glanced
up and caught his knowing smile.
“Open this door or I’ll open it myself,” I warned.
He waved a hand at the door in a taunting invitation. “When you’re ready to listen, let me know.”
The calm broke, and I slammed the entirety of my magic against the door. I wasn’t asking or demanding; I was destroying. The castle shuddered once, twice, then the door exploded out of the frame and crashed against the far side of the hall.
I had a brief moment to savor my victory before fatigue cut my legs from under me. I sank to the floor, woozy, but I batted
Garrick’s hands away when he reached for me. I would crawl from this fucking room before I accepted his help.
He had other ideas. He scooped me up while I was still trying to get my legs to move. I snarled curses at him, feeling raw
and feral and weirdly fragile.
He tucked my head under his chin and ignored me. “That was impressive,” he murmured. “Foolish, but impressive.”
His skin was warm, and I could hear his heart beating against my ear. My anger drained away, leaving me hollow. I desperately
wanted to go home, but I no longer had a home.
That realization stole my breath. Everything I’d left behind in my tiny cottage was now beyond my reach. I’d never see my father’s flower beds again, never eat another meal at the table he’d built. The villagers would assume I’d failed—and died.
I closed my eyes against the pain.
Garrick climbed into bed with me still in his arms. When I grunted and lifted my legs so my boots wouldn’t dirty the sheets,
his magic rose and the boots disappeared.
“Hey—”
“They’re on the floor,” he said as he leaned back against the headboard.
I tried to squirm away, but Garrick’s arms were like iron around me, and he was so warm. I reluctantly nestled closer while
he pulled the blankets up around my chilled body. Why was I so cold?
When the shivers started, Garrick’s magic rose and a cocoon of warmth wrapped around me. I still wanted to snarl at him, but
threats delivered with chattering teeth weren’t exactly potent.
“Next time you want to make a point, use less magic,” Garrick advised.
“Go kiss Deir,” I snapped half-heartedly.
He chuckled quietly and tucked me closer. I listened to his heart and let warmth seep back into my frozen limbs. After I’d
diverted the flood, I’d awoken buried under a mountain of blankets. The healer told me I’d spent two days corpse cold, and
she’d worried I wouldn’t recover.
Garrick and I sat in silence until my shivers stopped. Even then, I didn’t move. If I closed my eyes and stayed perfectly
still, I could pretend that this was where I belonged, in a beautiful room wrapped in the arms of someone who cared for me.
It was a nice fantasy, but I knew it was only that: a fantasy.
Instead, I was a pawn stuck between two Etheri kings. One wanted me for my power, and one didn’t want me at all but felt obliged
to protect me, if only to thwart his enemy.
“Stepping through the ether isn’t like stepping through a door,” Garrick said, breaking the silence. “It takes power and concentration and skill. And even when done perfectly, it is draining. If you’re fighting me, it makes it all but impossible.”
“If you’d taken two seconds to explain—”
“I should’ve explained,” he agreed. “I’m sorry. But I won’t promise not to do it again. I will always prioritize your safety,
and there may be times in the future when I need to act quickly to save your life. Vows are difficult to break.”
“Not impossible?”
He snorted softly. “Nothing is impossible—just very arduous.”
“I may not be a king like you, but I am an adult capable of making informed decisions. I deserve to be treated as an equal
partner.”
“We’re not equal,” Garrick responded with infuriating calm. When I struggled to escape his lap, his arms tightened around
me. “Mortals are notoriously fragile. You have such magic in you, but it burns too bright. I will protect you, even from yourself.”
I shoved back until I could meet his gaze. “They’re my mistakes to make.”
“The last time you gave me your magic for healing, you literally passed out from the pain. Yet you expected me to agree to
torture you again. Do you truly think I am that kind of monster?”
I blinked at him in shock, and his mouth twisted into a bitter smile. “Clearly you do.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” I tried. “I knew what I was offering.”
His fathomless gaze pinned me in place. “If you could heal yourself from a minor injury, but it required you to carve cuts
into my skin the entire time, would you do it, if I offered freely?”
No.
He must’ve seen the answer on my face, because he nodded. “Now you know why I refused.”
“But it was my fault you were hurt.”
His eyebrows rose. “The fault was not yours. But suppose it was. If I accidentally startled you, and you cut your finger,
would you choose to hurt me in return for healing?”
I dropped my eyes before he saw the truth. “It wasn’t that bad,” I reiterated. “I’m strong enough to handle it.”
He tipped my face up with gentle fingers. “It’s not about strength, Riela. I don’t doubt your strength—and didn’t even before
you killed one of Feylan’s captains and obliterated my door.”
I winced, but he just smiled as his thumb traced a burning path along my jaw. “I will endeavor to explain more and order less.
And I will not override your will again unless it’s the only way to save your life.”
“Thank y—”
He held up a finger. “In return, you will stop pushing me to use your magic for my own benefit.”
My nose wrinkled. “But—”
“No buts.”
When I reluctantly nodded, Garrick smiled. “The bargain is struck.” He held out his hand, and I placed mine in it. Magic sizzled
through the air between us, sealing the deal, and I realized I probably should’ve asked some additional questions before agreeing.
“This isn’t going to smite me if I break the rules, is it?”
Garrick’s grin glinted with cunning. “Ask me to use your magic to heal myself.”
“I’d rather remain unsmited, thank you.”
Amusement lightened his face, but his voice was serious. “Breaking a bargain is less dangerous than breaking a vow. It’ll
be unpleasant, but not unduly so since we didn’t set any forfeitures. But if you break your side of the bargain, then I can
break my side without consequence. So choose your words wisely.”
“You, too.” A yawn cracked my jaw, and I slumped over and rested my head on Garrick’s shoulder. I just needed a minute to
gather enough energy to return to my room. His skin was warm and firm under my cheek, a temptation that was difficult to resist.
But resist I must.
Right after I stole a couple more moments of closeness.
When my eyes started spending more time closed than open, I sighed, determined to get up, and Garrick shivered. Intrigued, I exhaled again. My breath ghosted over his collarbone, and his arms tightened around me with a nearly soundless groan that vibrated straight to my center.
Well, now I was awake.
I could feel him hardening beneath me, but a physical reaction wasn’t the same as permission, and I’d already crossed that
line when I’d misread the situation and stolen a kiss. I would not cross it again, not without an invitation.
I sat up, then paused, unsure how to extricate myself from Garrick’s lap with the least amount of embarrassment for us both.
I glanced up at him and waved toward the side of the bed. “Um, a little help?”
His smile had a sinful edge that jolted through me like lightning. “What if I’m enjoying you just where you are?”
I squinted at him, in no mood for teasing. “I wouldn’t believe you. I kissed you and you shoved me away.”