He brushed a lock of my hair behind the winged tip of my ear, as he studied the side profile of my face.
“You are a glorious distraction,”he breathed down the bond, sending shivers down my spine.“One I want to lose myself in and see what I find.”
“You two good?” one of the Talons asked.
Vashari I’d heard Ivyana call him once. I looked into his light green eyes, so light they looked hazel, and flushed.
“Yeah,” I bit my lip, grabbing my goblet. I cleared my throat. Twice. “Why…why wouldn’t we be?”
Stars, I was hot. Seriously, I needed a breeze or something to cool down. How suspicious would Daelun get if I asked for a bit of wind? Better yet. Could I trust him to keep his mouth shut? Quazar chuckled down the bond, clearly amused at my visible distress.
“Don’t know,” piped in another Talon.
Chen.
He was as big as Dakairi, with short black hair, tattoos from the neck down, including his mark of thorns, and with the same hawkish eyes like Daelun. The sheer size and height of him was…astounding. Between him, Dakairi, and Vashari, Quazar had a group of titans in his Legion.
“You two look like you need some privacy,” Chen continued, smirking. “It’s getting a little steamy in here. Should we clear the table?”
“You can find the nearest cliff and jump off of it instead,” I said sweetly, batting my lashes at him.
Ellabeth, Isandra, and the Talon called Ariella, snorted into their plates. Ivyana nodded with a full mouth, pleased, snapping her fingers twice. Even Amayah chuckled behind a palm, covering her mouth.
“Spicy,” Chen and Vashari said at the same time, their eyebrows wriggling.
“Just the way he likes ‘em.” Dakairi grinned.
“Butmyfriends are the idiots,”I threw down the bond.
Quazar laughed out loud, throwing back his goblet before refilling it for the fifth time. Just as he slipped a pair of wings around my shoulders, bright light exploded behind our table illuminating the hall. Seven star gates surfaced.
“Blessed lights,”Daelun hissed.
“Playtimes over younglings,” I grumbled, pushing off my cloudchair and away from the table. I looked at Quazar.
“No matter what it is you face out there, do. not. yield.”
I swallowed the growing lump in my throat. I nodded.
And for some stupid reason, without thinking, I leaned down and kissed him sweetly at his temple, letting my lips linger on his skin.
I was keenly aware of how deathly quiet the chamber had become. I held Quazar’s gaze, ignoring the rest.
“I won’t.”
Quazar smiled. Raised a wing and intertwined it with mine.
“You come back to me unharmed, or I will rage,” he promised out loud. His deep voice slipped between my hearts, making me feel stupid, reckless things.
I rose to my full height, standing tall. I turned to the star gates. They were each labelled with our surnames. When I saw mine, I frowned.
“Well, then.” I faced Seventh Choir and the Xadari Talons. “Wings high.”
The Talons instinctively clapped their wings once, all at the same time. Seventh Choir nodded their heads while looking at their own star gates.
“See you when we get back,” I said to my friends.
“In one rotting piece, Safah,” Daelun barked.
