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I made it back to the convoy we’d rode here on, and everyone was frantically packing the carriages and getting the horses ready to run. The horses themselves were antsy and clearly knew there was incoming danger.
Wey and Kasper landed on top of the front carriage, and Kasper began strapping the chest down, but Wey stood up, staring at the copse of trees that ended where the road began. His eyes scanned the area before moving across all the people trying to get onto the carriages. His eyes stopped when they reached me, and I saw him sigh in relief before he leapt off the carriage and soared over the crowd to land directly in front of me.
“You can’t do that to me,” he murmured as he hugged my head. I nuzzled him, then quickly shifted back—and dropped the bag of keys into my hand—because wereallyneeded to get out of there.
Wey didn’t give me a second to say anything before he wrapped his arms around my naked body, pulled me in tight, and leapt high in the air. A surprised gasp came out of me, but I simply clung to him. We’d been training enough together that I wasn’t surprised he was strong enough to lift me this way. Although, it was damn impressive, and maybe a little sexy—not that it was the right time for those thoughts. At all.
He glided back over to the front carriage and landed beside it, then gave me a push. “Get in.” Ignoring me—now that I was relatively safe, apparently—he called up to Kasper, “Is it secure?”
“Yes. Get in. We’ll leave in thirty seconds,” Kasper called back from the roof. Then he started yelling out orders for everyone else, trying to get everyone going. We were cutting this too close, and our horses were going to have torun.
Wey gave me another shove since I hadn’t gone in, so I hopped inside, dropped the bag of keys to the floor, and grabbed my clothes that I’d left under the seat. Wey climbed in after me—after putting his wings away.
When I met his eyes, he didn’t look happy, so I gave his beard a tug, leaned in, and kissed his cheek. “I’m okay, Wey.”
“You should’ve let me carry you.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m just as fast on four paws as you are in the air. I’m a tiger, Wey. I was fine.”
The carriage jerked forward, and Kasper continued yelling at people from on top of the carriage… or maybe he was flying? Who knew? All that mattered was that everyone was getting away from that lava mountain—volcano, dammit. The horses were running at a fast pace, thank the goddess. Hopefully this hadn’t been a useless mission, and we’d find what we needed inside that chest.
Once I was dressed, I stuck my head out the window and saw the rest of the convoy on the move, everyone going just as quickly as we were. The lava was following us down the road, though, and I swallowed my unease. Hopefully, we could outrun it, and no one would get hurt. Glancing up in the sky, I saw Kasper flapping around, checking on everyone.
When I sat back down, Wey frowned at me. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, and he kept staring out the window, pretending to ignore me. My grumpy gargoyle made me smile.
Leaning in, I stuffed my face in the crook of his neck, and he huffed but didn’t move. So I nuzzled him there and leaned more fully into him.
“I’m okay, Wey,” I whispered into his skin as I placed my hand on the other side of his neck and rubbed my fingers over his plates. “I’m okay, baby.”
He huffed again, then sighed and uncrossed his arms, draping one around my back. I smiled against his skin and crawled onto his lap. I had to squish myself up a little so I didn’t hit my head on the roof, but that was fine because I could just keep nuzzling my grouchy gargoyle.
After a minute, he sighed and wrapped his other arm around me, too. I smiled and kissed his plates. When Wey kissed the top of my head a few minutes later, I knew he was no longer angry with me.
* * *
Kasper joinedus inside the carriage and didn’t even blink when he found me curled up on Wey’s lap. I slid down beside my gargoyle, though, so I could face Kasper as well. I was sure he’d want to talk to Wey.
As soon as my nose was away from Wey’s skin, I was hit with the scent of Florin again. It made me gasp, and I closed my eyes to calm myself. Florin wasn’t here. It was the chest that smelled like him—why? I had no idea, but maybe we’d figure it out once we opened it.
Goddess, how I wished it was Florin here. If Florin was here, we’d find Theon with him. Theon and Braz. I missed that giant lug almost as much as my heart ached for Theon.
Kasper caught my attention when he spoke, and I was grateful for that because I’d shed enough tears since my little bird left me. I didn’t need to shed more, especially not in front of the Resistance leader.
Kasper said, “We haven’t seen any lava behind us for about an hour now, so I think we’re safe. I’d like to open the chest out in the open, away from camp, just in case there’s another booby trap.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe opening that door made the volcano erupt.”
“That had to be some strong-ass magic,” I said.
Kasper and Wey nodded in agreement, then my gargoyle asked him, “Are we going to stop soon?”
“I told the driver to stop beside a field I could see in the distance. We should be there in about ten minutes.”
Wey gave another nod, then placed his hand on my thigh, giving it a light squeeze.
The past month and a half without Theon, Braz, and Florin here had been rough, and not only for me. Wey hid it well, but I could see the worry in his eyes and on his face when he didn’t know I was looking. He’d also been initiating contact—like his hand on my thigh or an arm around my shoulders, or even simply pushing his shoulder against mine. He never used to do that.
I knew what he was doing. He was making sure I was still here because he was worried I’d disappear the same way Theon had.
I knew because I was doing the same to him. I was terrified that I’d wake up one day alone, that Wey would be gone, that he would leave me without a word.
