Chapter 26
Magma
My bed is in a slightly upright position. My hospital room is private, which is great. My ribs are wrapped. My collarbone, they tell me, is just fractured so it will heal quickly. It’s my ribs that are killing me. I can’t laugh or sneeze or cough, but it won’t be long before I’ll barely feel them.
The door opens, and Ridge and Flint walk in. Ridge has his hands in his pockets, and Flint looks like he hasn’t slept in a day or two. He has dark smudges under his eyes, and his jaw is uncharacteristically stubbled. Ridge smiles first.
“You look terrible,” he says.
“Thank you.” I shift against my pillow and keep it to a minimum when my ribs complain. “You don’t look too hot yourself.”
“I haven’t slept…for obvious reasons,” Ridge grumbles.
He pulls the chair up and sits. Flint stays standing. He leans against the wall near the window and crosses his arms. He looks me over.
“So,” Ridge says.
“So.”
“You going to tell us what happened out there, or are we extracting it bit by bit?”
I think it through and decide to stick to the basic facts.
“I followed the Red male who took Carla. Caught up and dealt with him.” I pause.
“After that, it was a matter of hiding, foraging, and surviving. I had a few run-ins. The last was the worst, and then you guys found us,” I tell Flint, who nods.
Ridge is watching me. “That’s it?”
“That’s most of it.” I shrug. “We hiked, but it was slow going. I sure was glad to see you,” I tell Flint.
He nods again.
“The female handled herself well,” I say. “She didn’t panic. She was levelheaded throughout. It made my job a hell of a lot easier. We got lucky.”
“It had nothing to do with luck,” Flint speaks for the first time.
Ridge leans back in the chair and stretches out his legs. He looks at the ceiling. “You did good, Magma. Surviving out there with a human female in tow, that’s no mean feat.”
“I did what I had to do.”
“You’re a hero. You know that,” Ridge adds.
I don’t have anything to say to that, so I look at the window. I don’t feel like any kind of hero.
“He’s right. You handled yourself well, for an old male.” Flint grins.
I laugh and wince, biting back the rest because it hurts too damned much.
“Noted,” I say. “I’ll add it to my list of accomplishments,” I push out.
Ridge is smiling when I look at him.
Flint makes a short sound. Not quite a laugh.
“How are you feeling?” he asks.
“Fine.” I mean it. “I’ll be good as new in a day or two. It’ll be like none of it even happened.” I know deep down that isn’t entirely true.
Ridge is watching me closely. “Even after all these years behind a desk at Security Central,” he says, “you still have the goods not just to survive but to thrive. You took down five Reds and walked away.”
“More like hobbled,” I say, smiling.
Ridge laughs first. Flint is half a second behind him. I hold back a laugh of my own, grinning instead.
“So, what’s happening between them and us?” I ask. “I take it we’re still on good terms with Mistveil? Is it strained?”
Ridge gets serious. He nods. “The peace treaty still stands, but our frontline is now back to its original position.”
“With extra guards,” Flint adds.
“I can’t say I’m surprised at the frontline being back. I’m glad the treaty is still in place.”
“It’s a good thing,” Flint says. “But the Mistveil Council was very clear that those males were acting without sanction. They’ve made sure everyone knows it. They weren’t prepared.”
“Destabilized males with no oversight,” I say. “No leash. It’s a big problem they have given themselves and inadvertently to us, too.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” Ridge’s mouth tightens. “The Mistveil Council is furious about it. And our side isn’t far behind. They think that someone tipped them off.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“They think that someone on the inside let those feral males know that the frontline was being moved and that the borders were open. How else would they have known?” Flint looks pissed. “They live completely separate from the rest of the Mistveil society.”
“So it was intentional?” I ask, sounding shocked.
“It sounds like it might have been,” Ridge says.
“What the fuck?” I mutter. “Could it be the Mainland trying to railroad our peace agreement?”
“Who knows?” Flint shrugs.
“Interesting. At least it didn’t work.”
“Not this time,” Flint says, looking worried. “We can’t let them win.”
“No, we cannot,” Ridge says.
He shifts in his chair after a while and glances at the door. I know that look. He’s got somewhere to be.
“I should get back,” he says, and gets up. “Robyn’s got an early start tomorrow. The hangar took a hit, and there’s a lot to sort out. They’re going to spend weeks cleaning that up.” He shakes his head. “She’s visiting with Carla, but I’m sure she’ll be ready for me.” He looks at his watch.
“Give her my regards,” I say. “Both of them,” I quickly add.
He grips my hand once, firm, and then lets go. “Get some rest.” He looks at me for a second longer than he needs to. “You did good, Magma.”
“Get out of here,” I tell him.
He leaves, and the room is quieter without Ridge in it. Flint doesn’t rush to fill the space. He walks over and sits in the chair Ridge vacated, elbows on his knees, and we sit for a while.
“How is Carla doing?” I work at sounding casual and pray I pull it off.
“As far as I know, she’s doing well,” Flint says.
I nod. “Good. Have you been to see her?”
“Not since I dropped her at the emergency room earlier. I got pulled straight back into duty.” He rubs a hand over the back of his neck. “The Reds who flew us here are staying the night. I had to see them settled. I grabbed something to eat and then came here.”
I look at him. “Go see her, Flint.”
“I will—”
“Tonight. When you leave here.” I keep my tone easy. “She is a good female. She is kind and sweet and smart too. She is also tougher than she looks.” I pause. “She would make a good mate.”
Flint raises an eyebrow. “Is that right?” His mouth pulls up in the start of a smile. Amusement makes his eyes brighter.
“That’s right.”
He gives me a look. “Maybe you should mate her, then. You sound interested.” There is an edge to his voice.
Shit!
I laugh. It hurts, so I stop, putting a hand to my chest. “I’m too old for the female. Besides,” I look away, “I had a mate. I had my turn,” I tell him. “Carla and I are friends.” The word sits wrong in my mouth, but I leave it there because it belongs.
Flint is quiet for a moment. “I’ll go and see her after this,” he says.
“Good.” I shift, wincing. “Get her flowers.”
He gives me a look. “Easy. I don’t want to scare her off before it even starts.”
“She doesn’t scare easily.” I know this better than most. “And I happen to know she likes you.” I wait a beat.
“She was looking forward to getting that coffee. She mentioned it more than once while we were out there. You were one of the reasons she was in a hurry to get back to Draig. Now all you need to do is show up and ask her out already.”
Something shifts in Flint’s expression. He nods once, and when he speaks, some of the caution is gone from his voice.
“I was terrified when I saw that animal carry her away,” he says. “I was too injured to do anything. Fuck! I hated feeling so damned helpless. I’m glad you went after her. I’m glad it was you and that you made it…that both of you made it.” His voice turns deep with emotion, and his throat works.
I feel his words deep.
Flint gets to his feet. He straightens and gives me a nod. “Get better soon. I’ll take care of things until you are back.”
“I know you will, but don’t get too comfortable because I won’t need more than a day…two at the most, and then I’m coming back.”
“I’m counting on it.” Then he goes.
I picture him buying those flowers and sitting next to Carla’s bed. He might hold her hand when he asks her out. Seeing him holding her close on the back of that dragon nearly had me shifting. I was in no state, but I almost did it anyway.
My dragon wanted me to rip his throat out, and Flint is my friend, dammit.
I grind my teeth together, trying to calm the fuck down.
I’m so damned jealous that it is almost laughable, and I have no right to feel this way. Carla is not mine. She never was. She never will be.
I need to move on.
It’s as simple as that.