Of course, the intimate moment doesn’t last long. A blink and Kazh is back to her usual self.
“Don’t go all soft on me, General,” she says and takes a generous sip of her wine. “I didn’t beat you with the cane for nothing.”
I giggle. “No way. I wouldn’t want to embarrass my mentor.”
She eyes me sideways, amused. “You’ve worked me to the bone as is.”
The very tips of my ears burn. “You don’t strike me as someone who likes when things are easy.”
At that, Kazh arches an eyebrow. “Is that right?”
I shrug and shovel some food into my mouth. Once I finish chewing, I say, “Obviously. You could have said no to mentoring me, but you accepted the challenge. You could have said no to coming with me here, to preparing me for the dragon hunt, and yet you accepted the challenge.”
“I couldn’t miss a historic moment like an Ezkai General bonding a dragon.”
My mood sours a little at her words.
Hopefully I’ll go into history as the Ezkai General, the very first human, to bond a dragon. Not as the human Ezkai General who was rejected by her chosen dragon and whose reign lasted all of three fucking months.
“Yeah,” I murmur into my own wineglass, watching Jax dance with Fern.
Is it just me, or is his hand resting on her waist lower now?
I narrow my eyes.Fucking bastard.
Fern, just like so many other women I’ve witnessed before her, is falling for his damn charms.
I grip my glass harder. The leather of my glove creaks.
Kazh’s chuckle draws my attention away from Jax to her.
“What?”
“You can muster enough emotional manipulation to kill people on a whim, and yet you’re terrible at taming your own emotions.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You brainless fetus,” she says, shaking her head. “If you don’t want rumors spreading amongst your Ezkai, you better learn how to hide your jealousy.”
“I’m— What— Jealous?” I splutter the words, my tone of voice rising a couple of octaves. “I’m not jealous.”
Kazh arches an eyebrow.
I scrunch my nose in disgust. “Why would I be jealous? He’s such a player. Insufferable asshole. He’s annoying.”
Another eyebrow rises in disbelief.
I slam my glass down on the wooden table and with a scoff, push myself to my feet. “Whatever. I don’t need to convince you to believe me.”
“Yeah,” Kazh says, amused. “You’re too busy having to convince yourself.”
With a roll of my eyes, I stalk away from the table and out of the dining hall.
Tomorrow, we leave before first light. I’d rather get some sleep than argue with Kazh, or watch Jax seducemydamn Ezkai.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
PHOENIX
