Chapter 42
Chapter
Forty-Two
ARA
The following days are full of training and boring functions, as everyone who thinks highly of themselves is eager to host something in our name. Never mind that two full flights of Belarra’s riders died in the last competition, not to mention countless others as well.
I stand between the others in someone’s fancy home just outside Avina, and it seems like he has invited all the remaining competitors and everyone who matters in Avina’s society. I’m pleasantly surprised when I spot my brother across the room.
“I’ll go say hello to Dar,” I whisper to Tate, who has stayed glued to my side since we arrived.
A glance and a nod, and I’m moving through the room.
Tate is incredibly tense tonight, but then he never seems to enjoy any of the parties we’re at, and his glare is more effective than a fence in holding off people.
“Hey, stranger.” I slide next to my brother and grin up at him.
He gives me a small smile, but seems tense as well.
What is it with them? Do they know something I don’t?
My gaze sweeps over the crowd, and Tate’s smile when our eyes meet makes me feel instantly better despite my brother’s unusually cool greeting.
“Did I do something to piss you off?” I ask, turning back to him.
“No, of course not,” he replies gruffly and pulls me into a hug, holding on for a long moment.
“Dar, are you alright?” I study his face more closely now. He looks as calm and collected as always, but there is tension next to his eyes, and they are shadowed. His hair doesn’t look as perfect as usual either.
“Yeah, just a lot with the trials and everything.” He waves away my concern.
“But you’d tell me if I could do something for you, right?”
He gives me a smile, but it looks strained and his eyes are missing their warmth.
“Is Elena alright?” I prod again.
“Would you stop harassing me? Everything is fine. Elena is visiting her parents.”
“Ah, you miss her,” I conclude. “You’re so sweet.” I laugh when I pat his cheek, and he swats my hand away, scowling.
“General, just the man I wanted to talk to.” An older man interrupts us, and I leave my brother to his dealings.
“Just who we were looking for.” Morgan steps up next to me with a stunning red-haired woman at his side. “Ara, this is my sister. Marina, this is Tamara Blackstone.”
“I’ve heard so much about you.” Her voice has me openly gaping.
It’s the quiet lapping of waves, promising a thundering strength beneath.
It’s sultry, mesmerizing, and alluring, like a cool breeze on a hot summer day.
And it spreads magic with every word, hooking everyone within earshot.
A crowd surrounds us in seconds. She sighs, causing everyone to lean in, then signs something to her brother.
“That is why she avoids speaking when people are around,” he explains, and Marina rolls her eyes. “Most people lack the self-control to resist a siren. It has a polarizing effect. People hate or obsess about her.”
“Shit, I’m sorry,” I say, making her giggle. The expressions, especially of the surrounding men, turn feral. She rolls her eyes again and signals something to Morgan.
“She is delighted to meet you and would love to meet up somewhere quieter. But we’ll go now before it turns unpleasant.
” A warning glare accompanies his last words to anyone still fixated on his sister, completely out of character for his usual light and charming personality.
He reminds me so much of my brothers that I can’t help but like him even more.
On my way back to Tate and the others, I pass a group from Kystis. The wyrms draped around their necks declare them part of the games. One of them lets his eyes run over me, only to say something that makes all of them laugh.
Unease snakes up my back and gets even worse when I recognize the lindwyrm around his neck as the one who chased Solaris and me. At least it’s the same color. Other than that, all the beasts look the same to me, just like their riders.
They are tall, pale men with long pale or sometimes reddish hair, their faces half obscured by beards that are carried long and often braided.
I dismiss them and keep walking, but a voice with a hissing lisp makes me stop.
“You cheated, witch,” the man snarls. That word again. The same as the man in the alley called me—witch.
I turn around and eye the one I noticed before. He is glaring at me now. I shake my head.
“Go tell someone who cares,” I say and walk away.
A few steps later, I nearly run into Tate, who is coming the other way.
“Where are you going?” I ask.
“I was coming to you,” he says, his eyes running over me. “What did they say to you?”
I shake my head, smiling at him. “Nothing important. What do you think? How long do we have to stay until we can leave?”
“Too fucking long,” he growls, and I laugh while we make our way back to our friends.
TATE
Large gatherings always make me wary. That Ara looks like a dream, and I’m not the only one noticing, isn’t helping. I’m not sure if she is oblivious or if she enjoys driving me crazy.
Either way, it’s working.
I grind my teeth while a blond fool, old enough to be her father, holds on to her hand far too long. When he steps even closer, I clear my throat. His eyes flit to me, and he drops her hand, taking his leave shortly after.
The next one is a persistent little bugger, and unfortunately, he seems to know Ara. He holds on to her hand as if he has a right to it and ignores my subtle warning. When his hand lands on her shoulder, I’ve had enough.
I’m next to him in a heartbeat, removing his hand while keeping it in a painful grip. I increase the pressure while giving him a smile that lets him know I mean business. Sweat pops up on his brow, and Ara nearly chokes on a laugh.
“Tate Kyronos, Pascal Devont, heir of the Devont family.” Ara makes introductions since I don’t make any efforts. So this little shit thinks that because he has money, he can disregard Ara’s personal space. Not on my watch.
I lean in so only he can hear my next words.
“There are things you don’t get to touch, no matter how much money you have,” I whisper. “Unless you want to lose your hand or your life. Do you understand?” I pin him with a glare.
The man nods frantically and hurries off as soon as I release him.
“You are in a rare mood today.” Ara slips her arm through mine. “Let’s get some fresh air before Avina’s high society is missing a few of its members.” She grins. I look down at her arm circling mine. Seems like we stop pretending for tonight, not that I’m complaining.
“So you don’t like parties?” she asks once we step out into the night air.
“It depends,” I answer.
“On what?”
“The party.”
“I have seen you now a few times in surroundings like this.” She makes a sweeping gesture. “And you did not look like you enjoyed yourself.”
I wonder why, when someone always seems to think they have a right to what’s mine, and I can’t challenge them openly for it.
And then it’s hard to keep track of everything when so many people are around. Even though I had been within sight, it had taken me some shoving and precious minutes to get to Ara when those shits from Kystis talked to her. I grip the stone railing so hard my knuckles turn white.
“Hey, relax.” Ara trails a finger over the back of my hand, tracing the marking.
At her touch, the tension seeps out of me, replaced by awareness.
Her gaze is fixed on the back of my hand, on the featherlight touch that sears my skin.
“We don’t have to go back in there right away,” she murmurs, and my heart stumbles.
“What,” I say, then clear my throat. “What do you want to do instead?”
She gestures to the dark garden beyond the balcony. “How about a walk?”
Hasn’t she realized yet that I would follow her to the depths of the mists without a second thought?
I nod.
The night air is heavy with the scent of jasmine and roses. The laid-out gardens are serene and dark, the sound of people blissfully muted and fading against the crunch of gravel beneath our feet.
A quiet giggle to our right tells me we are not the only ones with the idea of a night stroll, and I gently steer Ara in the other direction.
My body hums with her walking next to me, and I pull her into my side as soon as we are out of the light. Her quiet sigh and the way she leans into me settle me.
“I’m not good with crowds,” I confess. “Ever since…” Even mentioning the attack is hard, like something constricts my throat.
“The attack?” Ara inquires. “The one where you lost Jared’s brother, right?”
My eyes snap to her.
“Jared told me,” she says softly, “I’m sorry that happened to you. I’m even more sorry you had to deal with it on your own and the shit people made up about you. Don’t look so stunned.” She smiles up at me.
“I thought…” I swallow against the tightness in my throat. “What you said before I left…”
“You thought I believed it?” Her eyes widen, her hands reaching for my face. “No, baby, gods no. I would never…” She shakes her head. “I know you did everything you could.”
“It wasn’t enough,” I mutter, and the words taste bitter.
But she shakes her head at me and pulls me down, sealing my lips with hers, replacing the bitterness with something sweet. The kiss is soft, reassuring, soothing. I pull her closer. What would I give to stay in this moment with her?
She pulls back with a soft sigh, then turns and snuggles into me, her back to my front, my arms circling her waist, her hands resting on mine. She leans her head back against my shoulder and takes in the stars above us, then contentedly hums in her throat.
“Whenever I look up at the stars, my problems shrink until they are insignificant. What are the thoughts and worries of one person compared to all of this? To everything that came before me and will follow?”
I tighten my hold on her. “Nothing about you is insignificant. Not to me.”
She turns her head and kisses my jaw. “Tell me about it.”
I tense.
“I can’t,” I whisper, and when she stiffens, I prepare myself for the accusation, for the doubt, for everything that typically follows, but it never comes.
“They made you promise?” she hisses with anger on her face, but it’s not directed at me; it’s on my behalf. And if I didn’t love this woman so much already, I would fall for her right here and now, while she looks up at me, her eyes blazing, her jaw set, ready to go to war for me.