Page 18 of Resurgent

Maybe that’s why standing on my own feels so impossible right now. Why my legs tremble like they don’t trust me. And why the thought of being alive feels like a new kind of—

“ENOUGH!” Tyr’s roar rips through the air, spit splattering across my face as my chair threatens to tip backward.

I don’t know when it changed, but as his rage and his pain cut through my thoughts, I instantly become aware of my own breaths. Far too fast, far too shallow.

My fingers are curled into my palms, nails buried deep into my skin. I deserve that sting. It’s sharp. Clear. Something I can understand.

“Come on, Annalise,” Korr says tentatively from a few feet in front of me, and I have no clue when he got here.

Tyr’s lips raise in warning, teeth bared as smoke begins to billow from his nostrils.

Kali moves to stand between Tyr and Korr, and I can practically see the tension hanging in the air.

Chapter seven

Korr

“Why do you insist on pissing off the already temperamental Alpha?” Kali reprimands, lazily stepping in front of me despite the obvious threat ready to scorch me.

“I didn’t DO anything! She’s late to take her medicine, and she’s pushing herself too hard on her first day.”

“She’s sitting in a chair, not trying to run a marathon,” she mocks, her own irritation with me present for all to see as smoke curls from her nostrils and the tip of her tail lashes me in the back of my leg. Almost begrudgingly, she takes another step forward, solidifying the barrier between Tyr and me.

“And don’t even try saying you didn’t sprint over here because you thought she was having a panic attack.”

“I didn’t sprint.”

“You absolutely did. You tripped over the biggest root sticking out and barely had the wherewithal to save yourself from face-planting like a fool.”

“The root came out of nowhere!" I argue pointlessly. "And Dean Stevens would have my ass if I merely sat here and watched her fall into another spiral, or worse, another dissociation."

“Glad you're not being dramatic about your new guardian role. I'd hate to see what you do if she sneezes since she can't do more than breathe in a chair without you claiming she's having an episode."

“Uh-huh. And Tyr saw you try to take his bonded away from him because you acted like he was threatening her, which I don’t think I need to point out, but he is now doing to your life and mine.”

“He snarled in her face. You know what happened the last time I yelled at her, I’m not having it happen again on my watch.”

“She’s his bonded! Not only would he give his life to keep her safe, but he is literally in her head at all times.”

Fuck! I hate when she’s right.

Slowly, I step out from where Kali's hidden me behind her, my hands raised in submission to a very pissed-off dragon who has single-handedly raised the temperature in this area of the forest by at least ten degrees.

“Do you have a death wish?” Kali snaps, but I have no intention of using her as a shield.

“Annalise—” I start, but Tyr’s next roar is furious, his hot, wet saliva instantly drenching me.

When I look up, his razor-sharp teeth are far closer to my face than someone who has spent years around dragons should have ever let happen. If my dad were here, he'd be calling me every name in the book and threatening to make me muck the fields for being so stupid.

“You deserve more than a few insults,” Kali shoots down the bond, and though she’s right, I block her out.

“Annalise—” I try again, “is due for her pain meds, and we need to talk about the plan for her living and schooling until she’s healed. I know she’s safe with you, but I was assigned to keep an eye on her, too.”

Right as I'm about to ask Kali for a translation, the woman of the hour tries to stand, but her legs give way beneath her.

I rush forward to steady her, but Kali knocks me back with a quick jerk of her head at the same time Tyr's low, menacing growl echoes through the trees.

“I know you aren't this stupid," Kali chastises.