Page 79 of Tailwind

I rankled at the command, but my body was so far gone that it obeyed anyway.

Gottyk wandered past us and rested his head on the low wall next to me.

‘Um, excuse me? Where’s my backup? I thought you were my guard-dragon.’

‘The only person you need protecting from is yourself.’

My head whipped back to him so fast that I had to hide the spasm it caused in my neck.

‘I’ve settled Taicasso back in the aviary, taken time to shower, do my hair and come all the way here.’ He sounded like his mother. ‘And you’ve not even cleaned the wounds on your face.’

I sighed. Sitting down had tempered my will to fight.

‘Fine.’ I expected him to open up the medkit so I could get started, but instead he crouched down and reached for my boots.

I recoiled. ‘What are you doing?’

He sighed. ‘Helping you take your armour off.’

‘I don’t need your help for that.’

‘Okay,’ he said, balancing on the balls of his feet. ‘You do it.’

I looked down at my feet. Even sitting they felt a long way away.

‘No rush.’

I threw a scowl his way. He was enjoying it far too much. So I leaned down, holding in the groan that was so desperate to come out. As my fingers brushed my toes, the augment haptic feedback letting me know how close I was, my vision dimmed.

Gottyk snorted as I tilted to the side.

‘Okay, I think we’ve seen enough.’

Two firm hands landed on my shoulders and pushed me back upright. The top of Theo’s head danced in my vision, slowing to a stop as the blood rushed away from my head again. I braced myself for a snarky comment, a wry look, something that said ‘I told you so.’

Instead, he just knelt down and disconnected the armour on my feet, setting it aside. Then the legs. He worked quickly, with deft hands that knew where the connection points were from years of practice. As his head bobbed in front of me, getting slowly closer as he worked his way up my torso and arms his citrus smell hit me.

Suddenly I was back on the roof of his family home. We’d just had our tattoos done and climbed the side of the house to avoid his parents. I had hauled him up behind me, the top of his head nearly hitting my nose. We’d laughed and taken turns shushing each other to be quiet.

‘Fuck!’ The word escaped without permission.

He looked up at me, his hands flinching like he’d touched dragonfire. ‘Does it hurt?’

My voice cracked. ‘Yeah.’

He nodded. ‘This is the last piece, then we’ll sort out your face.’

I got a brief reprieve from the closeness as he moved to prepare the medkit. I blew out a breath and unbuttoned my flight suit. Without all the material bunched up around my neck the air felt fresher, my lungs more full. My brain less mushy.

I watched him unpack the patches and prepare the cleaning swabs. Gratitude rushed through me.

‘I can do it.’ I reached for the first swab. The last thing I wanted was to feel like I owed him anything.

‘You couldn’t find your nose right now if you tried.’ He brandished a small cloth at me. It smelled of the aggressively clean liquid used to disinfect wounds.

I shifted my focus to replay the race in my head, to avoid the feelings of the physical world. The sting on my cheek that I felt to the bone. The warmth of his fingers as they brushed my rain-matted hair out of the way.

I needed a better distraction.