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He worried they wouldn’t be able to focus on their duty if they crossed that line. It could cause them to be distracted or cause them to react irrationally in situations. Someone could get hurt—or killed. But it was agony seeing them and being near them day in and day out—wanting to touch them, and wanting them to touch me, but none of us being able to until Alaric made the final decision.
A distraction, indeed. Though I thoughtnotgiving in would be an even greater distraction than to allow them to be satisfied. I couldn’t explain the bond I felt between us. Even Finn, in these last few days had come around, spending the evenings guarding me as I slept in place of Alaric. There was a quiet energy about him I couldn’t describe as if he had a hard outer shell shielding something worth discovering below the surface.
“You’re so quiet,” I said to Finn as I readied myself for bed, earning myself an inquisitive stare.
Finn shuffled his feet where he stood against the far wall of my bedchamber, “What would you have me say?”
I couldn’t get the pin out of my hair, Thana had it so tangled in there I was sure I would need to cut it out. I tugged on it again, groaning, “I don’t know, justsomething.Distract me from—” I grimaced, tearing at the pin with both hands now, “From all—well everything.”
Finn strolled over to where I sat at my dressing table, catching my hand in his and removing it from my hair, “Stop that, you’ll hurt yourself. Here,” he said, deftly untangling and removing the pin within seconds. He straightened the mussed hairs back into place, running his fingers down their lengths to smooth them. “That’s better.”
“Do you think I’m crazy?”
“Crazy? No. Impulsive… definitely.”
We shared a short laugh, and then Finn went back to his self-designated spot against the far wall after turning all the lanterns down low.
“Goodnight, Liana,” he whispered through the dim, “Sleep well.”
“’Night.”
I crawled into bed and stared at the gossamer fabric woven like a canopy over my bed.Sleep well… I hadn’t slept well in days. Finn had found nothing in the royal archives to help us and had returned to searching the scrolls of the library, where Tiernan had offered to help him. After I explained to Finn that Tiernan knew of the situation—and I trusted him, he begrudgingly accepted the emissary’s help.
Nothing had come of monitoring SelbiorEdris. And the nobles were growing restless, wanting to know why their queen spent most of her time away from regular court functions. Everything was hanging in the balance, and it hinged on my being able to produce a Grace—which was something, it seemed, I couldn’t do.
I thought I was drifting off when a murderous screech filled my bedchambers. I shot upright, bolting from the bed. Finn appeared in front of me, holding me back with one arm, brandishing a long sword in the other.
“What was that?” I whispered, trying to look out onto the terrace. Tiernan’s falcon darted past.
Finn relaxed, lowering his sword, “That damned bird!” He stomped onto the terrace, leaning out to peer into the night. I caught his intake of breath before a shadow passed over the moon and something yanked him over the balcony.
“Finn!” I raced outside. Tiernan’s falcon screeched again, but there was no sign of my sentry. “Finn!” I called again, pulse pounding in my ears.
The shadow shot up from far below, a winged male dressed all in black. A Draconian. He hovered in front of the terrace, not twenty paces from where I stood. His face was cast in shadow, but I could see his glowing eyes—the way they shone with the promise of destruction. He lunged for me and I fell back, landing hard on my tailbone.
His hands reached for me like talons—black hair blowing in the wind. He was knocked from reaching me by Finn, who had come soaring in from the abyss of black below. The two fought without weapons. The male with the black hair was fast, too fast for Finn to react, sending a bolt of lightning from his raised hands into Finn’s chest. He fell, tumbling through the air, unconscious. “No!”
Hot tears welled in my eyes. I was half blind with them when the male dragged me from the terrace and shot into the sky. I writhed in his grasp, twisting and punching and kicking. I’d have preferred to die from the fall then be carried off to gods-knew-where with the winged beast. The palace grew ever smaller as the male carried me northward, towards the Wastes.
I heard Kade before I saw him, his growl pierced air. He shot skywards like a knife slicing up through the night. The male faked to the right, but Kade was ready, sword in hand. He sliced into the Draconian’s wing, and the male cried out. He dropped me.
The ground rushed up to meet me in a blur of tree and rock. I threw my hands out, as though by sheer force of will alone, I could stop myself from falling.
“Kade!” I called, my voice muffled by the rushing wind.
A strong arm wrapped around my middle, lifting me into thick, warm arms. My breath came in ragged gasps. My vision blurred. I thought I saw the retreating form of the other male, his flight sloppy, falling and rising only to fall ever lower as he escaped.
“You’re alright,” he sighed through panting breaths, “You’re alright.”
“Finn,” I choked out, “You have to find Finn.”
Kade’s arms tensed around me, his breathing stopping entirely. “Where—”
I grabbed his arm to steady myself and felt the heat fade from his skin, “He fell. He—he wasn’t conscious. There, near the bay.” I pointed to where he had fallen and could only prey he’d hit water and not land.
Kade sped toward the bay, tucking me in tight to his body, and hurtled us as fast as he could. He spread his wings wide, stopping us to scan the cliffs and white-capped waves below.
I didn’t see him at first, his limp form smashing against the cliffside with each strong thrust of the sea.
