Reaching blindly, I grabbed the blankets, pulling them up to my chin before dragging my knees up to my chest and resting my head atop them. When Theo turned back around, my lips partedin surprise at the sight of the massive red mark on his right cheek.
I’d done that. Fuck.
“I’m so sorry,” I began as he grabbed the half-drunk bottle of liquor from earlier and crossed to the bed.
He sat on the edge near me and offered the bottle to me. “Take a drink. If you broke the bones in your hand from that punch, I need to set your bones, and it’s going to hurt.”
I swallowed hard at the thought and brought my mangled hand up, wincing at the sight of it in the light. Punching Theo had been like smashing my fist into the stone wall, and it finally set in just how weak I was against the drackya, despite all of my years of training with Brenson.
“I want you to train me when we have down time,” I whispered, dragging my gaze from my crooked fingers up to his face. “I want to learn to fight against you. If you’re the strongest, I want to face you.”
I swore something akin to a purr rumbled through the room, and his dragon eye sparked. “My beast would love nothing more.”
He held the bottle out once more, but as my fingers wrapped around it, he didn’t let go. “For the record, wench, I’m not sorry you punched me. Your instincts did what was needed, and I won’t ever care if I’m caught in the crosshairs. Always choose yourself.”
The last time I was in this room with Theo, my heart had hardened toward him, icing over like a pond in the peak of winter. This time, something about his words warmed my heart, thawing it in my chest and leaving me with a feeling of gratitude toward the drackya that I hadn’t imagined possible. The letter from my father came to mind as the thoughts took me down a rabbit hole.
“You seem to have my best interest at heart,” I muttered, snagging the bottle and taking a healthy swig. “Even if your way of showing it is demented as fuck at times.”
His chuckling response floated through the air, making my toes curl as I soaked in his grin. Motioning for me to take another sip, he gently took my wounded hand within his large ones and gingerly inspected it.
I winced and downed more of the bourbon, praying to the elementals that it began to at least slightly numb my senses, and quickly.
“I need to set two of them,” he explained and I took a deep breath, nodding in answer.
My entire body seized up in preparation.
“I need you to relax, or this will be a hundred times worse,” he warned, sensing my fear. “Tell me about the loved ones you wanted to say goodbye to. The woman who was fighting the guards to get to you seemed to love you fiercely.”
The thought of Tillie had my body instantly easing and a smile taking up residence on my face. I missed her, despite it only being a couple days since I’d been so unceremoniously ripped away from her and the rest of my life in Andrathya. We’d never gone so long apart from one another.
“She’s my cousin, but truly, I consider her a sister,” I began.
Snap.
It was like a bolt of lightning flashed through my finger before a pulsating pain set in after. My throat constricted, a strangled cry catching in it. My breath froze in my chest as the pain radiated from my finger outward, arching up my arm. If I didn’t already know how it would go, my gut reaction might have been to punch Theo.
“She seemed like she wanted to kill me when I caught her gaze,” he offered, distracting me once more as his fingers moved deftly to the other broken one on my hand.
It was harder to stay relaxed this time, knowing that he would do it unexpectedly and now understanding the severity of the pain following the setting.
I focused back on Tillie, letting my love for her fill my chest. “She isn’t interested in combat like I am, but there’s a tenacity and fire to her that would ensure she found a way to put you in the ground.”
“Then it’s a good thing you’ll be returning to her, for my sake, right?” he joked, but somehow the reminder that I would one day leave here and return to the castle I was raised in made silence settle between us.
“Yeah,” I muttered, raising my brows. “Things will definitely be easier for you when I’m not around.”
Snap.
This time I couldn’t hold back my single shriek of pain. I rocked back and forth on the bed, cradling my hand to my chest now that he was done.
“For the record, wench,” he said, drawing my focus to those haunting eyes that seemed to want to devour me, “easier isn’t always better, I’m coming to find out.”
I wasn’t sure what to say back to that, feeling like every conversation we had gave me severe whiplash. The only thing I knew with certainty after tonight was that I could trust him to protect me until I went home, and maybe that just had to be enough for now.
It seemed he was content to also remain in silence, and eventually we both laid in bed, facing opposite ways. It was insane just how differently I felt laying next to him now. I wasn’t cursing him out in my head, furious for being here at the behest of men who hadn’t considered my wants or needs.
This time, all I felt was gratitude.
