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I closed the window, cleared my throat, and sat on the edge of the bed. “Are you…all right?”
Prisca gave me a look that was caught between exhausted and amused. “Are you truly interested?”
“Yes.” Surprisingly, I wasn’t lying. She watched me, and I shrugged. “All of us are relying on you.”
The amusement disappeared, until only the exhaustion was left. Exhaustion and something hopeless. It was an expression I’d never seen her wear before, and it made my stomach churn uneasily.
Prisca let her gaze drop to the monster curled at her feet. She was silent for a long moment. Finally, she shrugged. “I can twist time whenever I like, and everyone will just…stop. But sometimes, more than anything, I wish I could be the one to pause. To be frozen for just a few seconds while the world goes on without me.”
A dull panic spread through my chest. While our relationship had progressed from when we were both serving the queen as her ladies, we weren’t friends. And I didn’t have the words she needed. Didn’t know what I could say to remove the increasingly wounded look in her eyes.
She needed Asinia. Lorian. Tibris. Demos. Someone who understood feelings.
“You’re tired. You’re mourning. You’re worried about the others. It’s…natural to struggle.”
Her expression cleared, and she nodded, dropping her gaze to her hands.
A pit opened in my stomach. Useless. I was useless.
The door slammed open. I loosed a fireball, which was immediately doused. The torrent of cold water swept through the air toward me, barreling into my face.
Prisca let out a sound I’d never heard from her before. I whirled, ready to fight, to kill.
But she wasn’t looking at me. And she wasn’t afraid. No, her expression had twisted into a kind of tortured relief, and her eyes…her eyes…
They glimmered with hope and sadness and fury. With liberation and passion—and with a love so pure, I had to look away.
Vynthar yawned. Clearly, he wasn’t worried.
Lorian crossed the room in a movement almost too fast to see. He snatched Prisca up with a kind of possessive fury—a dragon regaining its stolen hoard.
He was running his hands down her arms, her back, as if checking for injuries. When he was satisfied she wasn’t hurt, he tipped her chin back, staring into her eyes as if he could search her mind for damage. Prisca just shook her head, buried her face in his neck, and held him so tightly, her knuckles turned white.
* * *
I held on to Lorian for a long time. He clamped me to him, his huge body trembling. When he raised his head, it was to scan my face slowly, as if he couldn’t quite believe it was me.
“I’m fine,” I told him.
He shook his head, but his mouth found mine, his hand sliding to the back of my head.
I breathed him in, soaking up the feel of him. He was really here.
Someone cleared their throat and my cheeks heated. I pushed against his chest, and he let out a rumble of displeasure but lifted his head, dropping me back down to my feet.
Lorian refused to let go of my hand as I hugged the others. Demos squeezed me until I yelped, while Asinia swore if I ever put her through anything like that again, she would make me pay.
Rythos and Galon and Marth…
I stared at them, my heart pounding until I could feel it in my throat. “Cavis…”
Lorian pulled me close. “We know, wildcat.”
Rythos met my eyes. I’d expected blame. Maybe a hint of judgment. Instead, all I saw was understanding. “We heard about how you escaped. Cavis would be so proud of you, Prisca.”
A hollow ache settled beneath my ribs. For a long moment, I couldn’t say a word.
But I’d promised Cavis.
