Page 15
“If that’s everything,” Mag said, yawning, “I’m taking my arse to bed for a bit. We’ll start the deeper search in the morning.”
“Morning, it is. Sleep well, my friend.” Lyriat clapped him on the back and watched him go, gaze fixed on the spot long after Magnus disappeared into the night.
Though it was not something he ever did, Lyriat used those few, silent moments alone to plead. With the Unknown. With the Sisters. With any cosmic being who would listen. Burning Solyrian, he begged them with everything he had.
Please—wherever she is, whoever has her—give Nyriadne the strength, for once in her life, to keep her bloody mouth shut.
Fern sat cross-legged on the massive four-poster bed in Brand and Lunara’s tower chamber, a ridiculous mound of her friend’s hair tangled around her knees as she braided a haphazard chunk of the strands. Two days since they’d brought the pair home, and there’d been nothing but stillness and silence since. She was ready to crawl out of her skin.
“Lunara’s going to hate that when she wakes up,” Hedda murmured from her spot on the settee.
Fern snorted. “We’ll be too busy laughing to care.”
“I hope so.” Hedda sat up, lips pinched between her teeth. “You should do Brand’s next.”
“Oh yeah?” Fern glanced at the Demon as she worked her fingers through a stubborn snarl in Lunara’s hair, pulling the tangle apart. “Why do I have the feeling he would hate it even more?”
Lunara probably wouldn’t notice at all, but Fern wasn’t positive about her mate. She didn’t know Brand aside from what he sounded like and that he was clearly adored by everyone around him. He was kind, though—Fern recalled that from when she was lost.
“Probably because you’ve realized he’s going to be irritated when he finds out you ripped those holes in his tunic for your wings.” Hedda raised a brow and aimed a pointed look at her stolen attire. “But also because he definitely would.”
Fern looked down at herself. “It’s not my fault I’ve got blimmin’ fuck all here. Besides, I am an unbiased borrower, thank you very much.” She stuck a leg up, flashing a pair of soft leather boots. “See? Found these with Lunara’s things in the wardrobe. And this”—a tug at the cord holding her curls on top of her head—“was loaned to me by the bowl on your dresser.”
Hedda’s jaw dropped. “You stole one of my tress ties?”
“You didn’t even know it was gone. And I’m only borrowing them.”
“Them?”
Fern slipped another one from the pile hidden under her bum and made a show of tying off the finished braid. As she started a new one, she said, “Maybe we should change their clothes as well. Throw Lunara in Wolflord robes. Stick Brand in one of Vann’s massive coats.”
“You can’t be serious.”
They stared at each other for a beat, then at the comatose lovers, Fern fighting a fit of giggles. “Nah, but can you imagine them popping up and finding each other like that?”
Hedda groaned, even as her lips twitched. “We really don’t need to be adding to this disaster by confusing them.”
“Confusing, or distracting?” Fern tapped her temple. “Eh? If they’re startled enough, it could keep them from realizing how fucked it all is. Maybe they’ll both forget he tried to kill her and we can all skip to the sea for a swim to celebrate—hair and robes and coats and all.”
Hedda’s eyes went wide for a split second before she lost it, her rusty cackles fueling Fern’s own.
“Seriously, though,” Fern said once they calmed a bit. “Should we clean Lunara up and get her changed? I know less than nothing about healing, and I feel like a pollen-headed pixie tit for not thinking of it ’til now, but she would’ve done it for us already.”
“I didn’t think of it either,” Hedda said quietly.
“Well, since Araxis pissed off without a word, I think that leaves us. Magnus and Faldir can do Brand later.”
They weren’t monsters. The youngest Son made sure Brand and Lunara were both cleaned the night they returned, but that was days ago.
“Thank you for not avoiding it.”
Fern’s gaze snapped across the room, something raw in the commander’s tone that was rarely present. “Avoiding what?”
Other than everything about herself.
“All of this. Everyone’s tiptoeing around on eggshells and I…” Hedda trailed off on a sigh, scrubbing both hands over her tired face. “Well, I’m glad we ended up on watch together. It’s nice to have a friend.”
“Mmm. Same.” Why the fuck did she suddenly want to cry?
