Page 200 of Feralheart

He was quiet long enough that I thought he wouldn’t answer.

“How long?” he asked.

I knew what he was asking. I stared into the flames before flicking my gaze his way. “Too long to pretend otherwise.”

“Good,” he said, so softly I almost missed it. “Me too. If you knew what it took to keep still right now, you’d stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re not afraid of what comes next.”

I turned my head fully to meet his eyes. “Maybe I’m not.”

His pinky tightened around mine.

“Your dragon is insufferable,” he said with a touch of humor in his voice. “I swear she’s watching us.”

“She is. As for being insufferable, she’s bonded to me. It’s a feature.”

“Dragons aren’t supposed to look smug.”

“In her mind, she’s been waiting for this for a long time.” I paused. “Don’t tell her I said that.”

His snort rang out. “Your secrets are always safe with me.”

I believed him. An elite, let alone the prince of the elites, and I believe him. The wonder of it coasted through me, warming me from the inside out.

He lifted our linked fingers and studied them. “Whatever tomorrow is, it doesn’t get this.”

“What is this?”

He lowered our hands back to the ground but didn’t let go. “I haven’t figured that out yet. But it’s mine.”

The words turned over in my chest. I let my head tip until it rested against his shoulder.

“Careful,” I said softly. “I’ve been known to keep things too.”

“I wouldn’t want it any other way.” His thumb moved across my knuckles. A slow, deliberate gesture I felt all the way to my bones.

We stayed like that a moment, the fire dying between the words we weren’t saying.

“Tomorrow’s going to be brutal,” he said.

“It always is.”

“Then we should⁠—”

“Yes.”

Finally, I forced myself to stand.

“Goodnight,” I said.

“Sleep well, Eradin.”

I crossed the space again, ducking into my tent before I could change my mind and sit back down.

Lyndie had pulled the blankets up over her head, and her chest rose and fell softly.