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Asterion tensed at my side, the cut in Laszlo's words clear. But Laszlo's own fear was just as obvious, worry shaking his hand as it extended to me. Asterion had confessed to me just minutes ago his concerns about being lesser in my affections, but I couldn't turn away from Laszlo when he'd been the man caring so diligently for me recently, touching me so tenderly. Perhaps Asterion was right, even if I wanted to prove otherwise.
Hywel roared once more, making the brick and stone of the castle tremble with its force. I slipped free of Asterion's arm and accepted Laszlo's hand, reaching to hold his face.
"It will be all right," I said softly.
They were the words spoken to me so frequently of late, and I doubted them more than I trusted them, especially now when I had no idea what we were about to face. It didn't matter to Laszlo. His eyes fluttered shut and he sucked in a deep breath, jaw pressing into my cupped palm.
His arm snapped out, sudden and tight, banding me to his chest. He groaned softly, nudging his face into mine, and held me in place for a moment.
"Yes," he breathed, ruffling my hair with a sigh. He relaxed and then tucked me into his side, wings stretching. "Yes, it will. Come."
I resisted the urge to twist and search for Asterion behind us. His hooves were a steady beat, still following. Had I proved him right by taking Laszlo's hand?
It can't be one or the other. It has to be them all,I thought, then realized what the words meant and found myself blushing.
I'd just told these men I could be nothing to them, nothing real. I was accepting too much as it was—their protection, their attention, their bodies. But it irritated me that Asterion believed that he would be lesser. I should've been convincing him that he meantnothing, notless, but that would've been a lie, and instead I found myself wanting to prove to him that Ididhold him as dearly as the others.
I wished Conall were here to enjoy the tangle I'd found myself in. He'd find humor in it and remind me to do the same.
We were nearly to Laszlo's study when piercing screeches cut through the roar of the sea's waves.
"A harpy?" I cried, freezing in my steps and clapping my hands over my ears as the sharp notes dug into my skull.
Laszlo shook his head, frowning, and shepherded me forward. Asterion crowded at my other side, the pair of them flanking me. We stepped into the study, and Hywel's swooping figure blazed from outside of the terrace windows, streaking across a violently clouded sky.
Hywel roared once more, so fierce and loud and endless that the clouds clogging the sky shuddered and crackled in answer. He spied us as Laszlo pulled me through the open door, and twisted through the air to dart in our direction. I hadn't seen much of his flight the other night when he pulled me up before the crash, too caught up between terror and relief. I'd thought of him as a massive, lazy house cat while snoozing in his hoard, but now, elongated and razor-sharp in the sky, I understoodwhyAsterion had been so determined for him to wake once more.
He was terrifying and exquisite. Enormous and powerful. Had he shrunk himself to fit in the hoard, as huge and cavernous as it was? He seemed as large as the castle now, filling the sky with his huge wings, long bladed tail trailing down to the churning water, talons spread in warning.
My mouth gaped, body trembling. I wasn't frightened ofHywel, but nothing could convince my body and some deep instinctual part of me to not recognize him as the fiercest predator.
Birsha would shrivel at the sight of him, I thought, and I stood straighter, leaned in Hywel's direction, wanting to run to him. I would throw myself over the balcony edge, and he would snatch me up in those talons once more. The most dangerous grip in the world. The safest.
We crossed the terrace as Hywel shrank in the air, swooping closer and then shivering into a drop, landing on two feet, long legs and narrow waist arrowing suddenly out into familiar broad shoulders. He was scowling, severe and dour in his long features, and he reached an arm out toward me in a clear command. Laszlo and Asterion both released me, and I only hesitated a moment before dashing to his side. My gaze was on his face, studying the snarling lip and the tense squint of his eyes, but I glanced over his shoulder as his arm snapped around my waist and saw the sea.
Red with blood, twisting like a whirlpool, flesh and chum and gore mixing with a pink froth of the turning sea. Something long and serpentine splashed out of the water, a tendril of muscle and flesh, slapping back down to the surface in expressive rage.
I gasped, stepping toward the edge. "What—?"
Hywel's arm tightened, pulling me back, twisting us so that his wide chest blocked my view. He caught my chin in a firm grip, tilting it up so our eyes met, and shook his head, a grave frown pinching the corners of his mouth.
Laszlo stopped at my side and Asterion passed us, running to the bannister, releasing one deep bellow of shock and mourning as he stared down into the water. He turned, the flesh of his lips and around his eyes pale and stark.
"The akkorokamui," he said.
"It's a dream," Hywel said, voice heavy and carrying. "It's…notreal…"
There was an unspoken 'but' left on his lips.
"It's a warning," Laszlo said.
"Or a threat," Asterion continued, his gaze returning reluctantly to the sea, flinching and whipping away again. "We haven't heard from them in weeks. This may not be their true body, but it may be an answer to what's happened."
The red in the sea was spreading, shifting color to something sour and acidic.
"Can you make it go away?" I asked Hywel.
His lips flattened to a line, and he and Laszlo shared a brief frown. "Not withoutdreamingit away."
