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“Like you had a choice,” Sulat hissed as soon as he had enough air in his lungs to speak. “Or have you forgotten that Raenia was as stubborn as you and as spirited as our little whirlwind? You weren’t her keeper, Riq. She made her own decisions.”
“And one of them got her killed. That’s on me.”
Sulat straightened but didn’t move to restart their fight. “I was there too. I told you both to go and enjoy some time together. Do you think I don’t regret that? I wanted you both out of the house so I could have some peace and quiet. I never thought…” Sulat’s throat tightened. “I never imagined. I needed a few hours of solitude. Not a lifetime.”
For the first time since they’d started this damned fight the two of them locked gazes.
Tariq uttered a low, pained chuckle. “You blame yourself?”
“I did, but eventually I accepted that this wasn’t anyone’s fault. A terrible thing happened. We lost her. I grieved. I railed against the winds of fate, but eventually?” Sulat sighed and lowered his blades. “Eventually I realized that Raenia wouldn’t want us to mourn forever. Winds and tides, can you imagine what she’d say to us if she could see us right now?”
Tariq snorted with derisive laughter and then groaned and wrapped one arm around one side of his chest. “She’d call us names, stamp her foot the way she did when she was utterly furious, and threaten to string us up by our wings.”
“Didn’t she do that to you once?”
Tariq actually grinned. “That was entirely consensual.”
He walked over and placed a gentle hand on his anrik’s shoulder. “I miss her too. Every day.”
Tariq turned to look at him, his expression sharp. “Then why are you trying to replace her?” Even has he said it, something in his hard expression changed, as if hearing the words spoken aloud granted him some missing insight.
Sulat stayed quiet and let the moment play out.
“Qarf. I really am an idiot. Of course you don’t want to replace our Raenia.”
“For a brilliant healer, you can be remarkably dense at times.”
This time the glare shot his way was full of wry humor. “Asshole.”
“Does this mean I can put the blades away? Or do I need to beat you up a little more?” Sulat asked.
“That’s what you think happened here? You’re wrong, my friend. I was clearly beating you.” Tariq swiped at his split lip with the back of his free hand and scowled at the fresh blood that stained his scales.
“I’m not the one bleeding,” Sulat pointed out.
“Oh, you are,” Tariq said smugly.
Startled, Sulat checked himself over and cursed when he discovered blood trickling down his side from a set of slash marks that started on his back and trailed over his side. “How?” he started to ask but then answered his own question. “You got me with your claws, you sneaky bastard.”
Now he knew about the injury he couldn’t ignore the discomfort anymore. Sharp pain from the slashes rose in his awareness accompanied by a litany of smaller aches and bruises.
“You know,” he groaned as he took inventory of his injuries. “I’m starting to think Raenia was right. There has to be an easier way to make you talk about your feelings.”
“My feelings? This was about both of us. You never told me you felt guilty for encouraging us to go out that day.”
“And you failed to mention how you felt, too.” He glanced skyward. “Sorry, mahaya, we are still too stubborn to do this any other way.” Sulat looked over at Tariq. “We still need to address one more topic.”
Tariq nodded. “Jody.”
“Jody,” Sulat repeated. “I want to follow that wind and see where it carries me. The question is, will you be with me, or do I make this flight alone?”
He braced for the worst, but Tariq surprised him. “Give me a few days to think about it. We have always been attracted to the same females, and that hasn’t changed.” His anrik rubbed the back of his neck. “Do you have any idea how to even make a romantic overture to a human female?”
“Some. It involves meals, conversation, and plants.”
“Plants? Why plants?” Tariq asked.
“I’m not sure. Vixi mentioned something about it.”
