“Punishing yourself for everything that’s happened.” She shifts closer, her arm brushing against mine. “You think that if you stop hurting, then losing them—Finn, Rowan, your friends back home in Ashvale—won’t mean anything.”
My fingers freeze against the pillow.
Ouch. I didn’t realise how much the truth would sting.
“Look, Darren does the same,” she continues. “Since his family died. He pushes me away, works himself into the ground, and acts like he’s fine when he clearly isn’t.” I glance over ather and catch the unease in her jaw. “It’s like he thinks he’s not allowed to be happy. Like if he is, he’ll forget them. Or like the pain is the only thing keeping their memory alive.”
I chew on my lip, not sure what I’m supposed to say to that, but Neeve doesn’t seem to expect an answer, she simply lets the words settle. Then the mattress dips as she gets to her feet.
“I’m here if you need to talk.”
“Thanks.” I flash her a pathetic attempt at a smile, which she definitely doesn’t buy, but she smiles back anyway before slipping out of the tent.
“You sure youstill want to do this?” Reya asks the next day over the roar of the crowd, one brow lifting as she reaches for the cage door—the cage holding Dave the fucking Dick.
Glancing up, I spot Ahria, perched above us, her beautiful emerald scales shining in the afternoon light in a way that pulls my Threads impossibly closer toward her even as she viciously tears into a small rabbit she picked up on the way here.
With a dry mouth, I swallow and nod before I can think too hard about it.
“Yes. I want this. I want to be pushed. I only have two weeks left before the Blood Moon and I can't keep losing my shit around dragon-fire.”
“Oh, you’ll be pushed today, alright.” Reya laughs as I step inside and slams the door shut behind me with a clang that rattles through my bones.
God, what the hell am I doing?
But there’s no time to answer. No time to panic. Forcing my feet to stay planted, I pivot toward the latch, keeping my arms locked at my sides, fists curled enough for my nails to bite into my palms.
Okay. Twenty seconds. That's what I'm aiming for. Just last twenty seconds without passing out.
But when I look across the cage, everything inside me drops so hard I have to clap a hand over my mouth to keep the fear from spilling out.
Dave isn’t there.
The man who usually opens the latch isn’t there either.
Someone way worse is. Someone who sends my pulse slamming straight into my throat.
He lifts both hands, and the sides of the cage burst into flames, fire climbing the metal in bright, violent lines, licking through the bars, sealing us in until the crowd beyond disappears into heat and noise.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
No way in.
No way out.
But it’s not even the fire that has my heart crawling for my throat. It’s the smile he gives me, hooking left before pulling wide.
“Hello,Thorn.” Talen’s voice cuts effortlessly through the roar of the flames. “You’ve been avoiding me.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
TALEN’S POV
Lyra’s eyes flare wide as my flames race up the cage bars, roaring high enough to swallow the world beyond until there’s nothing left outside.
Just me.
Just her.
