Page 62 of The Infirmary for Dragon Burns and Midair Mishaps

And when I looked at Vaela, when I felt the organ lurch in my chest, I knew it would destroy me one day.

I couldn’t do it.

I shouldn’t.

We just had to go back to being exactly what we were before: a dragon wrangler and a burn nurse. As long as we both stayed on opposite sides of that equation, we’d be perfectly fine.

Vaela cleared her throat suddenly. “I should probably get back to Min. We were in the middle of rounds when I came to find you.”

I nodded. “Thank you for dropping the scales off. I really do appreciate it. And thank Min for me.”

“Sure,” Vaela muttered, heading for the door. “Guess I’ll see you later?”

I nodded.

Not if I could help myself.

Vaela flung the door open, disappearing through it without a look back. I frowned, knowing it was for the best. I followed after her, intending to close the door, but she’d stopped on the porch, turning to me. Her eyebrows were knotted in a tight line. “Eden…” she said, voice low.

“Yes?” I whispered, feeling Nisse’s eyes on my back. I didn’t know why my hand trembled around the doorknob.

“Did I… do something wrong?” she asked, unable to quite look me in the eye.

I shook my head, feeling my heart beat in my throat. She’d done nothing. Nothing but endear herself to me somehow.

“Then did I say something wrong?” she tried. “Look at you strange or let Min tear up your garden or crush your precious blackberries⁠—”

“No, of course not,” I insisted. “Wait, when was Min in my garden?”

She clicked her tongue. “You know what I’m asking you.”

I did know, and all I could say was that she hadn’t done anything wrong. And that was the problem. I wanted her, and I shouldn’t. Couldn’t. Not if I wanted to live without the constant threat of loss hanging over my head. I needed to pull back from these feelings before she dragged me in any deeper.

Vaela sighed heavily, looking like she wanted to shake me. “I’m just trying to figure out what happened. What changed between us?”

“Nothing,” I whispered, the word sticking on my tongue. “Everything’s fine.”

“Fine?”

“It’s the same as it always was,” I said, which was perhaps the biggest lie I’d told so far. Nothing was the same. We both knew it.

Vaela took a stumbling step back, wringing her hands together. “I see. Great. That’s really… It’s wonderful. Glad I clarified things.”

I reached out. “Vaela⁠—”

She turned away from me then, setting off down the path, and a sick feeling burned in my gut. Stars! That wasn’t how I’d wanted this conversation to go. Pressure welled behind my eyes as I closed the door, locking it this time.

I didn’t want any other unexpected visitors walking in on us.

I turned around to find Nisse staring at me. “What?” I said, busying myself with the dragon scales.

Nisse barked a laugh. “You’re kidding, right? That woman is basically saying I want you with her eyes. Stars, she was practically saying it out loud. And all you did was turn her away.”

“I don’t have a choice,” I reasoned. “Relationships where dragon riders are concerned never work out. Only fools get themselves into those situations, and I can’t afford to be a fool.” I nodded once, trying to convince myself of my own words. “I know exactly where this leads, which is why I’ve put a stop to it.”

“Maybe,” Nisse agreed, dropping one hand to her hip. “But maybe not.”

“I can’t take the risk, Nisse.” I closed my eyes tight, fighting off images of flames burning across the sky. Hurt and ashes were the only things that awaited me as far as Vaela was concerned. I’d already buried my father without bones to say goodbye to, just an empty coffin. I couldn’t do that again if the worst happened. “I can’t fall for her any more than I already have.”