“I’m okay, Aaron. See?” I turn my arm so he can see the skin knitting itself closed, slow but steady. “I’m already starting to heal.”
Tiana reaches us. She stops and her gaze cuts to me and my ears flatten against my head. She was right. She told me to go home and I didn’t listen and now look at what that got me.
Aaron pulls me into him. He buries his face in my neck and his scent floods me—coffee and sandalwood and the sharp metallic edge of fear underneath.
“I thought I was going to lose you,” he says into my neck.
“I keep telling you I’m not going anywhere.” I press my hand against the back of his head and hold him.
His scent shifts. The worry pulls back and frustration takes its place, hot and bitter, changing the coffee-and-sandalwood into an edge that makes my ears snap upright.
“Aaron?”
Tiana tears the air open and through the portal I can see the entrance to Wintermoon Medical—the wide archway and warm light spilling from inside where dragon shifters are already moving through the lobby.
“I’ve got her.” Tiana reaches for me. “I’ll make sure she gets looked over.”
The bolt of magic that hits Tiana’s hand is fast and vicious. She yelps and snatches her hand back, shaking it out, and when she looks up at Aaron her eyes are blazing.
“Aaron!” I snap.
“Don’t fucking touch my mate.” Aaron’s voice comes out cold. “Don’t ever go near her.”
“Aaron, stop?—“
Torin’s hand closes around my arm and pulls me backward. I hiss at him, my claws pressing against my fingertips, but he doesn’t let go. He pulls me behind him and holds me there with his body between me and the two Blackwoods.
“Can you smell that?” Torin keeps his voice low. “That’s two Blackwoods about to go at each other. We need to move.”
Past him, Tiana is still shaking her hand out. The skin across her fingers is already bruising.
“You are out of your fucking mind,” Tiana snaps.
“Oh, yes.” Aaron cocks his head to the side and the gesture is easy, almost bored, and my lion presses flat inside me. “Absolutely. What’s your angle, Tiana? You hate my mate that much?”
“You are a selfish asshole.” Tiana takes a step toward him. “You locked your mate and put her into a magical coma, forcing her to astral project.”
Torin stiffens behind me. “Wait—what?”
“Why don’t you tell us all what the fuck is really going on here, Aaron?” The portal to Wintermoon Medical is still open beside Tiana, warm light spilling across the ground behind her.
Aaron’s hands curl into fists at his sides. His magic is back, light crawling up his arms, and he goes quiet.
“I’m going to fix this,” he says.
“Really?” Tiana puts her hands on her hips. “When? After you blow Wintermoon the fuck up? You’re too selfish and your magic is out of control.”
She points at the portal. “Now, unless you’re gonna speak up, I’m taking Mara to Wintermoon Medical.”
“You touch her and I’ll fuck you up.”
“Aaron, what is wrong with you?” I push against Torin’s arm but he holds me firm.
“Yeah, man.” Torin shakes his head. “You need to chill out. Don’t speak to your sister that way.”
Aaron looks at us—me and Torin, and then he looks back at Tiana. His eyes are darker than I’ve ever seen them.
“Get back,” Aaron says.
