Page 19 of Why Broken Wings Fray

Grumbling under my breath, I shut the door behind me.

“I hope you don’t mind–” Killian’s sudden appearance pulled a shriek from my mouth that forced my feet to stumble backwards, my back soon shattering against the door just as my heartbeat accelerated.

“Killian! For f–” I shook my head a few times, my hand over my heart. “What are you doing here?”

There was no need for words. The moment his eyes found mine, he stormed through that room and had me wrapped up in his arms within seconds. One hand around my waist, one hand on the back of my head and pushing it farther into the curve of his neck.

I wasn’t sure if I was laughing or crying as he twirled us around, an equally breathy-laugh coming from his mouth. Once he finally stopped spinning us, the world continuing on without us, he set me down and placed both hands on either of my cheeks.

“Oh, Olivia,” he breathed, his forehead finding mine and his breath skimming my lips. Everything halted in me then – this plan with Rory, the odd interactions with Raegan – none of it mattered. I was back in Killian’s arms with his face as close to mine as ever, and I wanted nothing more. I needed nothing more.

His grip, having moved to the back of my neck, tightened just as he pulled his face away from mine. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

“So I heard,” I chuckled, taking a step away from him and assessing whether or not I had been crying. “I guess I should have expected to see you in this room.”

His own face twisted into a matching frown as he cocked a brow. “What?”

“Why else would you not let anyone into this room? How long does a scent linger, anyway?”

Killian let out a rough laugh. “What, in the name of the gods, are you talking about?”

A certain male.

The realization hit me like a sledgehammer as I palmed my forehead and ushered a silence curse in Raegan’s direction.

“Can you two discuss this another time?” Urram cawed. Startling me for the second time in such a short period, I pivoted the full extent of my exhaustion in his direction.

“It took you a day to find me?”

Urram spread his wings to either side, freeing a loose feather that fluttered down to the ground as he let out a demanding scream. “You say that as if it is not impressive.”

“It’s not,” I huffed. “A day Urram. I could have died.”

“You shouldn’t have snuck off, then.” Urram blinked his creepy little eyes a few times. “And in my defence, there have been many nights that you did not return home until the following morning. How was I supposed to know–”

A few coughs shuttled up my throat as I tried to look at Killian over my shoulder. Not surprisingly, he had very little showing on his face other than a brow that seemed incapable of dropping. I had forgotten that Killian was incapable of hearing my dragon-parrot.

Nothing was capable of stopping Urram. “It wouldn’t have been the first Wednesday that you either returned at an unreasonable hour, albeit utterly out of it, or returned the following morning.”

Shut up Urram. Instead of saying that, I spat out, “Thanks, Urram. Glad to know you think so highly of me.”

The parrot simply clicked his beak and let out a shrill caw.

“We must talk,” Killian said, the sudden gloom to his voice enough to cause me to refocus on him. He motioned to the bed, where we both perched on the edge of it and tried not to focus on how close our legs were to one another.

It was there that he took my hand and interlocked his fingers with mine. I didn’t pull away.

“You have no idea how happy I am to see you. But… But you should not have come back.”

“Why?”

“The threat that the two kingdoms face is still present. Which, if you recall, was one reason we sent you away in the first place.” He chuckled as he playfully elbowed my ribs. “But now… Well, now there’s more to it than that.”

Frowning, I pulled one leg up to cross over the other and turned to face him. I already knew what his answer would be, yet I asked anyway. “What’s going on?”

Killian stared at the ground for a few seconds longer, some of that dark, tangled hair obstructing his eyes. I grabbed on to a piece, tucking it behind his slightly curved ears and earning me his full attention.

“It’s Raegan. He’s…” Killian suddenly shot upright, his palm finding his forehead. “He’s changed.”