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But even the horror and the fighting, and the blood and battles, none of it compared to my realization of feeling like I was home.
To live an entire life knowing something was missing and then having a small something fall into place and give you a sense of wholeness…it astounded me. And scared me that I could lose it after finding it so quickly.
Which was why the burns made me proud. I hadn’t given up on it at the first sign of danger. I’d fought. Like I had. Like I would.
There was a light tap at my door and it opened quickly. Noah had come.
I shifted a little on the bed but wasn’t sure what to say. He was slow to speak too. His gaze immediately went to my legs and he came toward me. Gracefully as ever, he pulled himself up onto my bed and knelt in front of my legs.
His brow furrowed deeply as his fingers traced the burns. I winced at the pain the touch brought, but the pain was replaced with cooling sensations.
Noah’s magic swirled over my legs and ran farther, up to my bruised ribs and chest, my neck, and I even felt the tingling run over my face.
When the coolness subsided, my legs were whole once more. No signs of the battle I’d waged on the rooftop. At least not on the outside.
I released a sharp breath, pain free once more.
Noah hadn’t moved his hands from my legs. He ran them over my shins, shifting upward and stopping gently at my knees. I forced myself to swallow the lump that was forming in my throat.
It was only then that I registered I was pantless again in his presence. For the love of everything—
He lifted his gaze, still not having said a word to me since he entered.
“How’s your arm?” I asked. Stupid question obviously since he was most likely fully healed already. The prince had just eliminated my burns completely and I was asking about a cut to his arm from hours before.
He raised his arm, moving his shirt aside, and I was surprised to find stitches where the blade had cut him.
“Stiches?”
Noah nodded once. “The blade was laced with something that included an iron compound. It hinders our healing and renders it ineffective, so old-fashioned medicine it is.”
He brought his hands back down to my legs, this time slightly above my knees.
I didn’t dare move.
“Your parents?” I asked next.
Noah stared at me, looking over every inch of my face. He spoke like he was off somewhere else in his mind when he answered. “They’re fine. The healers were able to assist and use what magic we do still have to save him from irreparable damage. The blade may have been iron-laced, but the king will recover with rest, thankfully. The queen will recover from her concussion as well.”
“Good,” I said. After a moment of staring at Noah’s hands and his thumb that rubbed at my leg slowly, I whispered. “It was the guard all along.”
Noah let out a grunt. “It would appear that way.” He closed his eyes, inhaling slowly and then meeting my gaze again. “The queen is having the entire guard interrogated and launching an inquisition. This time without the spell-induced bloodlust that took everyone over before.”
My body had ignited and made me feel like the dragon’s fire was on me again from Noah’s hands. Burning a trail of desire wherever his fingers grazed.
“We wouldn’t have anything if it wasn’t for you, Cora.” He froze and it took all the strength I had to meet his eyes.
In them, confusion, anger, and a mixture of other emotions danced across his face. “What were you thinking?”
Noah’s voice was shaky as he asked me the question.
The question I hadn’t even asked myself before bolting off down the hallway and after the attacker.
“That I didn’t want him to get away with information that could hurt my home.”
Noah’s gaze softened the minute I’d said the word. He didn’t know much about my past, but I think I’d said enough that using that word would show this place meant something to me. Maybe even enough to convey that he meant something to me.
“It was dangerous and reckless. You shouldn’t have been in that position. You should have waited, Cora. You just went through hell with the guard, and then—
