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Tears streamed down the sides of her cheeks from the wind rushing by. Her feet pounded the uneven surface, but she barely made a sound. Everything blurred. It felt like someone tugged her hair behind her, but it was the pull of the wind. She’d never moved this fast. Not even close, like she was a dragon on a dive for prey; even her stomach tickled.

The giant wall came into view, and she finally slowed, sucking in deep breaths. Hel was nowhere in sight, and she smiled triumphantly. She hopped through the wall then silently cursed.

He sat in the middle of the front steps of the manor. Gritting her teeth, she strode forward and meant to march right past him until he said, “About time you show up. Perhaps you’re a tortoise rather than alittle rabbit.”

“Prick,” she moved around him.

“Asshole.”

She stopped and did a full turn. He stood and slid his hands into his pockets.

“Did you just call me an ‘asshole’?”

“What’s the matter. Don’t you like the taste of your own medicine?”

She didn’t even know how to respond. Thane had never called her a name back. No one did except maybe Talon. With her fists clenched at her sides, she whipped around and marched up the stairs.

“You’re going to run away from two fights today, I see.”

Growling Layala turned and started back down toward him. “I didn’t run away. I stayed calm and controlled. Just like you taught me, then left because I’m covered in ale, thanks to you getting in that girl’s head. And this,” she gestured back and forth between them, “isn’t a fight.”

“That was all her. I only told her to flirt with me.” One eyebrow arched and he stepped closer. “But what if I did this?” He vanished and appeared behind her, sliding his hand around her throat. He leaned down and ran his nose and mouth along her neck. “You smell good.”

Layala stiffened, her entire body tensed, goosebumps peppered her skin. Her magic didn’t fight to break free, however, she took control of her breathing, pushed her fear and agitation down.

“Where is my little rabbit?” His hand marginally tightened on her throat pulling her back close to his front, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.

“She’s gone,” Layala said.

“You’ve gained control. I’m proud of you. I think even just a week ago you’d have lost control of your magic back there, and we all know how you reacted to me touching you.” He released her and stepped around. “You’re not afraid of me anymore.”

“No,” she said and smiled.

He smiled back. “My little rabbit has outgrown her nickname. Whatever shall I call you now?”

“How about my name?” she said flatly.

“Which one?”

She hesitated but said, “Val. I like Val.”

“So do I.” He went around her, his shoulder brushing hers as he passed. “It would be rude of us to leave all the cleaning and repairs to Presco. We’ll be here a while so we might as well make it to our liking.”

“I thought we were training?”

“We did. You passed.”

Chapter36

LAYALA

The afternoon was spent cleaning the manor. Layala started by wiping the tops of mantels in the dining and sitting areas. The dust was inches thick, and she had to dunk her cloth into the bucket after a single swipe. This was going to take days, if not a week just to clear the dirt out.

She enjoyed listening to Presco and Hel chat about dragon politics, how many kingdoms and clans there were now. Seven dragon clans with one king. And the king was now Varlett’s younger brother.

Hel ran a broom across the floors. The swishes of the bundled straw scraping stone became a steady sound. This was the first time she’d ever heard Hel have a normal conversation that didn’t include snide comments with someone other than her, like she would chat with friends. He laughed at appropriate times, had witty comebacks, or added to whatever Presco said. Their chatter flowed easily. She didn’t know why it surprised her that he could be normal. Well, normal wasn’t a word she could associate with him. He was anything but that.

Presco was an intellect and some of the things he spoke of went right over her head, like his comments about how magic interacted with cells within the body and mutated them beyond that of someone without the ability making them resistant to disease, illness, and injury. She didn’t even know what a cell was, but Hel appeared to. And it was strange to see him doing housework. It felt like a task below him or at least he’d think so. And couldn’t he use magic to spell the broom to sweep for him? Layala added to the conversation here and there when prompted but for the most part she listened and focused on her menial task.