“I’m aware.”
She blew out a breath before nodding her head sadly, her curls bouncing on her forehead. “I can help you . . . find a Vessel, if you’d like. Vet them, maybe? Then only introduce you to the ones that I think would be . . . best.” I hated the way she wouldn’t look at me. The way her voice shook, like I was going to admonish her at any point.
In fairness, that was exactly what I did all those months ago.
A pang of sadness shot through my body, through my very soul, thatmyactions had caused this reaction from such a stubborn, headstrong, independent woman.
“Faylinn,” I called softly. “Look at me.”
Her eyes stayed glued to the door.
“Please,” I added, and was surprised that she tilted her head slightly to meet my gaze.
“I’m sorry. For the way I acted when you Bonded Ben. For pushing you away. For not believing you when you said it was the only way to save him. That you were only doing ittosave him.” I made sure to hold her eyes with my own the whole time, so she would see the sincerity of my words. “I never wanted to push you away like that. I would like to go back to how things were . . . before. If you would like. You could work in my office with me, like you used to?”
Faylinn paused for a moment, seeming to think over my words, and my heart thumped erratically in my chest, hoping she would say yes.
To my delight, her head bobbed once before she opened the door, ending our conversation.
“Goodnight, General,” she called, propriety back in place now that there were other ears listening. Faylinn shut the door with asnickbefore I could call her back to me, wrap her in my arms, and drown in her warmth.
“Goodnight, Faylinn,” I muttered to myself, more at ease and content than I’d been in years. Maybe even forever.
Chapter 34
Lex
“And what were you doing that allowed this to happen?” a woman’s voice that I knew intimately hissed through my consciousness, but I found it hard to grab onto.
“I was where my Mage told me to be, Sasori.” A low grumble that sent tingles down my spine.
Ilyas. My lids fluttered but stayed shut
“Yes, well, look how wellthatworked.” Sasori, again.
“I cannot dictate his actions—he is my Mage and his own person. Nor would Iwantto tell him what he should do, unlike some people I know . . .”
Sasori scoffed, and I was finally able to pry my eyes open with a groan.
Instantly, both voices stopped speaking, and I heard the shuffle of footsteps before Ilyas’ scent wrapped around me.
“Lex?” he hedged, worry and love coating his tone. His eyebrows were drawn together, dark circles under his eyes like he hadn’t slept.
I was lying on our bed, naked as the day I was born, and struggled to push myself to a sit. Every muscle screamed inprotest with the movement until Ilyas lodged his massive hands beneath my back and pushed me the rest of the way. In one palm, he supported my torso while maneuvering the pillows in a way that would prop me up.
Once situated, he dropped into a chair pulled to the edge of the bed.
“H—” I coughed through a dry throat, and Ilyas handed me a glass of water from the stand beside our bed. “Thank you,” I rasped before taking a long pull.
“How long was I asleep?” I handed the glass back to Ilyas, but it was Sasori who spoke.
“Roughly eight hours. It’s midmorning.”
“Ah,” I said sheepishly. I supposed that explained Ilyas’ lack of sleep. Sasori looked as put together as always—there was nary a blemish or dark spot on her perfect porcelain skin, her raven-black hair was done into two plaits that reached her lower back. She was dressed in her Mage blacks, ready for the day.
It was clear that I was in no shape to attend my classes today—hopefully someone else had informed the new recruits that today would be a research day. This class was abnormally small—maybe only a dozen or so Mages—and could easily be combined with the class above them if necessary.
“Your classes are handled, Lex,” Ilyas said gently as he reached out to rub my bare shoulder, like he couldn’t stand to not touch me. After the scare last night, I’m sure he would take every opportunity to reassure himself I was alive. My body shivered in anticipation of how I was certain he would own my body later, and I inadvertently loosened a stream of Pleasure Magic in the air. Ilyas’ eyes grew wide, flashing briefly with mirth, before he grew serious again.
