“I don’t know,” I said. “Honestly, I don’t.” Instinct had pulled the sentence through my mind, not reason. And I wasn’t sure how to dissect it. But intuition warned me against trying to do so now, with his attention trained on me. “But yes, their colony is larger. I don’t know how large exactly. I heard Thaan and Selena fighting over it once. Would you hand me that jar, please?”
He reached back, grasping the jar of seawater from the counter and uncorking it with a small jerk, still lost in heavy thought. Then upended it into the tub. The salt immediately stroked my skin, soothing and soft, and my legs fused together as they elongated, golden scalloped edges rising over the surface of my tail.
Kye raised a brow, though he didn’t try to hide his interest, taking in the pale armor of my scales with sparkling eyes. He leaned far enough to stroke a finger across what would have been my thigh, and a cool shudder twisted down my spine.
I sighed, closing my eyes and curling my flukes in toward my face, my tail too long now to remain completely underwater. “You said my demons were your demons, Kye. My fights were your fights. It goes both ways. You’re mycordae-cruor. We’re bonded for life. You can’t keep me away for the sake of your own peace. You’re right, I don’t know military strategy. But I know the fear of losing you. And I promise it’s as strong as your own.”
Kye massaged his forehead hard enough to leave a white circle in his skin when he pulled his fingers away. He stood, shucking off his boots and shirt, unbuttoning his pants. “Scootch forward.”
I did, and he clambered in behind me, water sloshing dangerously close to the surface. A little animal tittered in my stomach at our conversation, something erratic and skittish like the squirrel Hadrian had once pointed out to me in the Corrum Wood. But Kye pulled me into him, and my back deflated against his bare chest and abdomen, warm and hard and familiar. Rain and mint drifted through the air. And the animal inside me finally slowed enough to curl into a ball and lay its head on its tail, beady eyes drifting shut. I found myself staring at our hands, folded together in my lap, the tattooed helmet-and-laurel-leafed crest of his mother’s family peeking out from his inner forearm.
Kye’s chin found the top of my head. “Swear you will not cross the front lines. Even if I do.”
“No.”
“This is as good as it will get, Leihani. Swear or I’ll throw boiled shield weed in your morning tea and you’ll spend the afternoon waging war with this bathroom instead of leaving with us.” He caught my chin with his thumb, angling my head so I looked upside-down at him, and his metallic eyes melted into mine.Please.
I suppose if there is one word that was my undoing, it was that one. Spoken with that voice. While those irises drank me in. And these arms wrapped around me. I spun slowly, revolving until we were stomach to stomach, and he took my kiss the moment it was within reach, lips soft and cool and sweet.
Okay lout,I sighed, fingers twisting into his.Only because you asked nicely.
Hands wrapped together, Kye tugged my arms above my head, dragging me up his body to better claim my mouth.
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74
Maren
“Are you going to wear this black dress the rest of your life?”
“Maybe.” I turned in front of the full-length mirror, avoiding my face’s reflection. But I liked how the black silk caught the light, slippery and sweeping. How the layer that dropped from my waist shifted and rippled as I walked, how the slits came to my thighs and freed my legs without ever growing too hot or too cool. How I could run or jump or ride Kolibri. How it wasn’t skintight, but it wasn’t loose either, and my frame was visible underneath it, sheer but yet not.
Even if I covered it with a corset and a wider skirt.
Kye strapped a silver-tipped black fur over my shoulders. “When we arrive in Winterlight, I’m finding you some real armor.”
“You just want to see me in leather pants.”
Walking ahead of me, he tossed a quick grin over his shoulder. My gaze drifted down his back to his buttocks, and I couldn’t say I disagreed with the sentiment.
We found Aren readying the horses outside. Selena and Aitne already huddled against the stable wall, their breath fogging in the cold. Aitne’s cheeks pinched ruby red, and though Selena sported thick suede gloves, she rubbed her hands together as she watched us near.
We shuffled around haggardgood mornings, most of us still fighting to wake up, though the frosted wind endeavored to help us if the instant clench in my teeth was any indication.
“Just waiting on Leal,” Aren said, handing Kye his reins.
Kye frowned. “Where’s Dimas?”
“After you two left, one of the miners stopped in at the tavern last night and said the army was preparing to leave, so he rode into town to check on things.”
“He rode through the night? In this weather?” Kye glanced out at the sparkling world of beauty and bone-chilling white.
