Page 15

“Razik—” Tybalt started.

“Either you want me to go on this mission, in which case I need to prepare, or you want to have this conversation, in which case I need to return my Source to the castle before we do,” Razik interrupted.

Return her? As if she were a possession?

As soon as they were alone, he was going to learn all about her rage—rational and irrational.

Tybalt’s features hardened, a muscle feathering in his jaw as he stared back at his adopted son. “As soon as you return, Razik,” he finally relented.

Razik nodded as he moved to place a hand on her lower back, gently guiding her deeper into the study. “You have my word.”

Tybalt watched them for a moment longer before he moved back to the spiral staircase. She glanced over her shoulder to find his gaze still lingering on them. Waiting until she could no longer hear his boots on the steps, she said, “He seems worried about you.”

“A decent father worries about his children,” Razik replied, not looking at her. He still held the other two books in his other hand.

He had a point there, she supposed. The male she’d known to be her father had only worried about her power, not her. Tybalt reminded her of how Sorin’s father had been. A parent who actually cared for the well-being of their child for no other reason than that they loved them. Razik clearly loathed his father, but at least he’d had Tybalt growing up.

“If you need to speak with him, I can wait here while you do so,” Eliza said, eyes dropping back to the book she still held open in her hands.

“As I said, I will speak with him when I return,” Razik replied. “But you may remain here as long as you wish. I can let Magdalena know to have food delivered to you while I am gone.”

She nearly tripped over her own feet. “What?”

“You said you were not going with me.”

“By the gods,” she muttered, snapping the book shut.

They stepped through an archway, and Eliza found the desk she had been wondering about. It was large, papers and books neatly arranged atop it. Two chairs sat before it, and along the opposite wall was an overstuffed sofa in front of a hearth. The windows continued behind the desk, the other two walls containing more books. His hand fell from her back, and he moved to the desk, beginning to rummage through drawers while she just…stood there.

“Why did you bring me here, Razik?” she finally asked after a full minute of silence between them.

“I told you. I thought you would want to get out of the castle,” he answered, shutting a drawer and grabbing a small satchel. “But since you are here, I can refill my reserves before I leave.”

She pressed her tongue to her cheek because godsdamnit. Of course she wanted to go on this mission, but that meant she was going to have to admit her brash reaction to him earlier.

He tossed the satchel onto the desk, pulling a dagger from his belt as he made his way back to her. She narrowed her eyes at him when he took the book and placed it on a chair before taking her wrist and pushing the sleeve of her tunic up. “Something to say,mai dragocen?”

That damn name again.

Her gaze darted to the windows when she said begrudgingly, “I will go on this mission with you.”

“I know.”

Her eyes snapped back to his at the same time he slid the blade across the Mark on her forearm. There was no smirk or vindictive look on his face. He just held her stare while he placed his cut palm onto the Mark.

She tried—gods, did she try—to hold in the gasp at their power merging again, but it escaped her lips anyway. His sapphire gaze dropped to her mouth at the same time she heard a light thump.

The dagger hitting the floor.

His arm looped around her waist, tugging her into his chest as her flames fed his dragon fire. She knew she shouldn’t do it, but she breathed deep, taking in his smoke and spice scent. She should stay behind simply because they shouldn’t be spending any more time together than necessary, but she also knew she would go anyway.

He knew it too.

“It will be a fast mission,” he said, his voice a low rumble in her ear, as though he knew the inner conflict she was having. “We will be back within a day.”

“I am not worried about being gone for an extended period of time.”

“No. You are worried about spending an extended period of time with me,” he replied. There was nothing accusing in his tone. Just a blunt statement of fact that she couldn’t argue against.