Chapter 28
Razik
“Fucking Fates, Greybane. You need a fuck or a fight. Or both,” Bram grumbled, setting his chair upright after dodging a burst of black flames. “Now my breakfast is burnt, you prick.”
Wren was silent beside Razik, but she stood, grabbing another plate and beginning to pile food on it. Once finished, she passed it down to Bram before sitting once more and pointedly ignoring him.
Great.
He cared about the feelings of exactly two people, and one of them was now pissed at him.
But Bram knew exactly what he was doing when he ran his mouth yet again about Wren. The male spent the rest of breakfast sulking, while the Cadre discussed the training plans for the day. Until his uncle strode in, features grim.
Everyone fell silent, straightening, and their food forgotten.
“More Fae were found dead this morning. Six of them,” Tybalt said. “Jarek, Fallon, and Draven, head to the docks and see what you can find out.”
“They were found here? In Aimonway?” Razik demanded.
Tybalt’s gaze slid to him. “That would be why I’m sending them there.”
“The attacks have never been on this side of the Nightmist Mountains,” Razik replied.
“Are you truly arguing with me about this right now?”
“I’m not arguing,” he retorted, but he kept his comments to himself after that. Everyone thought he was the broody ass, but when Tybalt was in a sour mood, even he steered clear of the dragon.
Turning to Bram and Ariadne, the Commander said, “There are also reports of creatures stirring southwest of Shira Forest.”
“The ones we have no defenses against?” Ariadne asked, already checking the buckles and weapons on her leathers.
“No,” Tybalt gritted out. “If reports are accurate, we’ll need Cethin, but I want to be sure before we bring it to him.”
Shit.
If they needed Cethin, then the reports involved the creatures of old. It would be the first time they’d have to deal with them without his parents.
Just…fuck.
The Cadre filed out, and he met his uncle’s gaze again. “Do you need me to do anything?”
“Just keep watching her,” Tybalt bit out. “The creatures of old have been under control for over a century. She shows up and suddenly there are issues with them and the Elder Clans? It’s not a coincidence.”
Razik wanted to argue with him. No, not argue. He wanted to talk out what he’d been thinking about the phantoms, Kailia, and all the fuckery. But with his uncle’s mood, it looked like that would have to wait a little longer.
Tybalt left as quickly as he’d arrived, no doubt to oversee training since the Cadre were now otherwise occupied.
Finishing off his juice, Razik stood as he set his glass down, already annoyed that Cethin and Kailia hadn’t come down for breakfast today.
That meant that when he got up to their floor, Cethin would likely be there.
As he started to leave, the sound of another chair scraping echoed, and he turned to find Wren following him.
“Did you need something?” he asked flatly.
“Yes. I need to talk to you,” she bit back.
“I don’t have time right now.”
“Then make the fucking time, Razik.”
He stopped, turning to face her fully. That was definitely fury shining in her navy blue eyes, her hands on her hips. Looks like it was the day for everyone to be in pissy moods then.
Grabbing her hand, he Traveled them to his rooms in the castle. She immediately yanked her hand from his, and he crossed his arms, waiting.
“What you did to Bram this morning was unnecessary,” she spat.
“He knew exactly what he was doing, Wren,” he replied, his voice monotone.
“Don’t do that,” she bit out, waving a hand dismissively at him. “Don’t take on your bored indifference with me. I don’t appreciate it.”
“You are the one who asked me to make it clear you were off limits to the Cadre. Now you’re berating me for it?” he demanded.
“Fucking Anahita, Razik! He offered to help me at the markets today. That was it!” she cried.
“There are plenty of others to help with that.”
“Like you?” she countered, mirroring him and crossing her arms.
“Yes, like—” He stopped, eyeing her as he realized the trap he’d stepped directly into.
“You’ve been busy, Razik,” she said, her tone softening a fraction.
“And it’s fine. It’s your job. We don’t spend as much time together, and I’ve had to fill that time somehow.
I’m not like you. I can’t sit around for days with only books for company.
” When Razik didn’t say anything, she asked, “Was he right? Do you need to release some tension? Because I’ve hardly seen you other than to refill your power after the last attack in Shadowfen. ”
Yes. No. Not now, obviously. He had to get to Kailia before she disappeared, forcing him to spend his day tracking her down.
He sighed. “Are you with him, Wren? Because if you are, that’s no longer an option. We both agreed if someone came along, the casual fucking would stop.”
“You think I wouldn’t have already told you if we were? I’d like to think you know me better than that,” she said with a small smile that told him her anger was abating.
“Meet me here tonight?” he asked.
She nodded. “Right after my date with Bram.”
“Not funny,” he deadpanned, his lip curling in a slight sneer.
“A little funny,” Wren tossed back.
He shook his head in dry amusement, Traveling to the king’s floor. Knocking twice, he pushed through the doors, finding Lia in the sitting room. Her legs were tucked beneath her, and the book he’d given her was open on her lap, a cup of tea steaming on the side table next to her.
“How many times are you going to read that?” he asked, trying to determine if Cethin was here or not as he made his way to a chair.
“How many times am I supposed to?” she asked. There was something different about her today, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
“I suppose as many as you’d like, but I can get you others,” he answered, stretching out his legs and crossing his ankles.
“In that case, that would be appreciated,” she replied, smoothing her hand over a page. “You are later than usual today.”
“Is Cethin here?”
“Should he be?”
“Are you going to do this all day?”
Her brows pinched. “Do what?”
“Answer my questions with a question.”
Slowly closing the book, she said, “That is irritating to you.”
At least that was an accurate observation instead of another question.
“Yes,” he said, picking at a stray thread on the chair.
“But most things irritate you. Why is this any different?”
Fair fucking point there.
“I don’t know, Lia,” he half grumbled, half drawled. “According to some people, it’s because I need a good fuck.”
“And you don’t think that would help?”
“Of course it would fucking help.”
“Then… I really don’t understand why you are irritated with me. You already know I can be of no assistance in that matter,” she replied, reaching for her tea.
“I wasn’t asking—” He swallowed his growl of annoyance.
“Are you irritated with me because I am his wife now?”
His head snapped up. “What?”
“Cethin,” she answered, as if that clarified anything.
“What does Cethin have to do with any of this?” he demanded.
She eyed him over her teacup, as if she were waiting for him to realize something. It took far longer than it should have for him to figure out what she was insinuating.
Standing from the chair, he stalked across the room, taking the teacup from her hand and setting it aside. Honestly, it was a miracle he didn’t throw the damn thing across the room. He wasn’t surprised when she lurched to her feet, standing on the sofa with a dagger in hand.
A dagger poised at his throat.
If he weren’t so godsdamn pissed off, he’d admire how skilled and trained she actually was. Too bad he was that pissed off.
Leaning forward a fraction, he felt the edge of the blade prick his flesh, and he leaned imperceptibly closer.
“Lia, I am only going to say this one more time, and if you ever bring it up again, I will haul your ass into the sky and drop you in the coldest stream I can find. Then I’ll steal every single one of your arrows and daggers and hide them where you’ll never find them.
Then you and I will have a brawl ourselves,” he ground out.
“Cethin and I have never been and never will be lovers. We will never be friends. We will never be godsdamn acquaintances. We suffer each other’s company because we have to. Is that clear?”
Her amber eyes were bright, swirling erratically with smoke. She leaned in closer, that blade sinking in a little more, and he felt a trickle of blood run down his neck.
“Let me make myself clear, Raz,” she said, and her tone was so dark and predatory, the dragon in his soul immediately raised its head.
A warning growl rumbled from his chest, and she fucking smiled.
“If you ever threaten me again, we’ll see if you’re as talented as the king you hate so much in surviving one of my blades. Is that clear?”
His answering smile was all teeth when he said, “It appears we’ve come to an understanding.”
“It appears we have.”
They eyed each other a moment longer before Kailia pulled her dagger away at the same time he took a step back. She dropped gracefully back down on the sofa, her feet tucked under her, while he swiped at the blood on his neck. His magic was already working to heal the small cut.
“Is there a reason you didn’t come down to breakfast today?” he asked.
“No,” she answered, the word more of a murmur as she studied the cover of the book in her lap far too hard.
“Did you eat then? Or do you need food?”
“Cethin and I ate a small breakfast here.”
“Great, then let’s go,” he said, crossing the room to grab her cloak from the hooks near the door.
He needed to get out of the castle. Get some air. He’d go flying if he could. Two arguments with two different females was more than enough for one day, even if his own actions were the reasons for both of them.
“Do I need to put it on, or just bring it with me today?” she asked, plucking the cloak from his outstretched hand, careful not to touch him.