Page 79 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury (House of Embers #1)

What did she do? Fuck, I was wrong. My baby sister had grown up in the past six months. “I… I promise.”

Her blue-green eyes searched mine. “Are you happy here?”

I released a breath. That was much easier than what I thought she’d say. “I am.” I smiled. “It was hard at first, but I really am happy here. If I wasn’t, I would’ve taken you and ran.”

A frown tugged at her lips, but it quickly disappeared. “Kieran Caddel. Are you in danger?”

Oh. I looked at her set jaw, at the way she squeezed my hands. Clara was ready to fight for me. The realization sat like a stone in my belly. “No. I’m not,” I added when her frown deepened. “I know Wes has a grudge against him—”

“For good reason! He’s a backstabber.”

Fucking Wes. Of course he’d let his grudge influence my baby sister. “You don’t know him.”

She raised her chin. “I know Wes.”

You don’t know him either, I wanted to snap but doing that would just cause a whole other argument, and I wasn’t going to ruin our reunion.

“Their fight isn’t ours, Clara. And I’m a good judge of character.

” Clara frowned again, and it took a hell of a lot of self-control not to comment on it.

“Look, I didn’t trust him at first. I fought him on literally everything.

But he countered all my doubts. He was the reason I got to say goodbye to you. ”

Clara’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“Yeah. He knew there was a chance I wouldn’t survive the first flight, and he wanted you to be able to see me one last time. To have a real goodbye.”

Clara’s eyes glistened, and her bottom lip quivered. “Just be careful, okay? I—I can’t lose you. I don’t want to—I can’t—I—”

I pulled her into a hug. Gods, I was such an asshole. Of course she was scared. And Wes wasn’t a total jackass. Even if he did make Kieran befriending Clara harder. In his own way, he was looking out for her.

Because of me, Clara’s entire world had been rocked, and she wasn’t able to do anything to stop it.

Even with my hand twisted behind my back, I’d gained a dragon and trained to get stronger.

But Clara only had her bodyguard, who doubled as her jailor.

It was only natural she feared for me, since she knew personally how it felt to be helpless.

Tears stained my shirt, and I willed myself not to cry. Instead, I stroked her hair and kissed the crown of her head. “I’m not going anywhere, Clara. I’ll live forever.”

And I would. At least from her perspective. Gods… I’d see my baby sister die. It was a horrifying thought .

Clara squeezed me tighter, letting out a broken sob.

When we both calmed down, we went to the dragonsguard wing to have dinner with the rest of the team.

It was strange to see my two worlds collide, to see my sister and my team in the same spot.

I fought to control the muscles in my jaw when Wes sat beside her or the way she relaxed when he did.

Of course he’s a comforting presence to her.

They lived together for six months. Still…

it was more than a little infuriating. That nasty possessive side of me refused to die down.

Even with months of the best food and medicine anyone could ask for, my sister still tired easily. She relaxed into the chair with a little too much relief, and I immediately kicked myself for letting her excitement to see everything cloud my judgment.

“How do you like the castle?” Gareth smiled warmly at her. I shot him a relieved look, because I had no idea what to say to break the awkward tension. The only thing I’d been doing was glaring at the others to behave.

Clara flushed. “It’s nice. Everything’s so lovely here.”

“Of course it is.” Aurelia scoffed. “We’re the dragonsguard. As if we’d settle for less.”

Clara’s shoulders slumped. I shot Aurelia a glare, which she ignored.

“Not every castle feels the need to be pretentious,” Wes cut in before I could say a word. It was hard to ignore how Clara brightened. Something ugly rose inside me. “It’s far more refined to show restraint. I thought House Benson knew that. ”

“And I thought—”

“Behave, children.” Shadows rose from the table as Kieran’s sharp voice rang out. His shadows hung threateningly above Wes and Aurelia, right over their mouths. “If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”

He caught my eye and nodded minutely. I relaxed in my seat.

Kieran would protect her. Not only that, so would Wes.

It’s a good thing she has allies. Stop being so fucking possessive.

I never thought I’d have to share my sister before.

Not really. It was an entirely new experience, and I wasn’t sure I liked it.

Aurelia huffed but kept her cutting remarks to herself.

Kieran gave my sister his ‘Captain Kieran Caddel’ smile. Or rather his ‘I’m-the-leader-of-the-dragonsguard-and-you-can-trust-me’ smile. “It is nice to meet you, Clara. I know your sister and I haven’t gotten off on the right foot, but we have settled our differences.”

I refused to blush, especially when Kieran looked my way. Godsdammit, now I’m blushing. I took a sip of my drink. Stop being so obvious. Aurelia can’t know. I glanced at her, but she wasn’t even looking my way. Good.

Clara studied him. I’d never thought my sister could be intimidating until she gave him a silent once over.

“Okay. We can start fresh.” She turned her gaze to the rest of the table.

“I, uh, I brought you all some presents.” We had to lean in to hear her.

My sister always talked quietly when she was uncertain— though she had none of that meekness when she’d spoken directly to Kieran just now.

“Wes said the servants brought them to my room, so I’ll bring them to you all later.

It’s nothing much. Just some trinkets and paintings I made.

They’re awful—the paintings, but I… I wasn’t sure what to give nobles. ”

“They’re lovely.” Wes cast a warning glance around the table.

I ground my teeth. “I’m sure they’ll all appreciate them.” I leveled a glare at Aurelia. To back up my words, a shadow lifted ever so slightly from the table, as if wagging its finger at everyone. Thank you, Kieran.

Aurelia huffed. “I wouldn’t reject a present. I have manners.”

“It’s hard to believe you’re related to that, ” Ben said dazedly, pointing his fork at me. “You’re too nice. It’s a little unnerving.”

“Fuck off.”

Clara giggled.

Ben gave her the look . It was a simple fluttering of his lashes and a charming smile. “If you ever want to—”

“I will cut you.” I grabbed my knife and pointed it at him. “I will wait until you fall asleep, and I will stab you. Do you want that?”

Nimue snickered. “I’ll hold him down.”

Ben raised his hands in defeat.

I scoffed. “Come on, Clara. We’re going to my room.” I grabbed her hand, not waiting for a response, and led her to my room. I felt like a dragon, wanting to hoard her away from all the others.

Clara admired my room, and her eyes sparkled when she noticed her painting proudly displayed on the wall parallel to my bed. “You hung it up?” Her blush went all the way down to her neck. “But it’s awful.”

“You made it. It can never be awful.” I grinned. “Besides, it’s abstract, remember?”

That sparked a laugh out of her. “Yeah. Abstract.”

I sat on my bed and motioned for her to join me. After a beat, I coaxed her into laying her head on my lap and undid her braids for her. She never liked to have her hair up for long—it always gave her a headache. “How has your stay been, really?”

Clara fell silent. “I missed you every day, but I knew you were working hard, so I did the same.” She tensed under me. “I liked it.” She said it so softly, like it was something to be ashamed of.

Immediately, I wanted to take all of her insecurities away.

“We’ve had a hard life. Of course you’d like it.

” But I wasn’t going to tell her that that little admission was like a knife to my heart.

Stop being selfish, Selena. “It’ll be an adjustment, but I know you’ll be happy here. And we’ll get to be together.”

Clara leaned into my touch and closed her eyes. “Wes told me I’d get to stay. I didn’t think it’d happen this soon.” She peeked open an eye. “I’m glad we won’t be separated.”

“Me too.” I smiled and ran my fingers along her curls.

“Do you think Wes will stay with us?” The whispered confession, the obvious hope, was another dagger.

I bit back my initial response. “You’re family of a dragonsguard now. I think they’ll keep a bodyguard with you to keep you safe. So… it’s possible.” As much as I wanted to kick that jerk to the curb, Clara had come to rely on him. Maybe Kieran can push for him to stay with her.

It killed me when I felt Clara relax. I should’ve been the one she felt safe around, but she didn’t. At least not completely. Not anymore.

“I hope so,” she whispered. “I’m really proud of you, Selena.”

I laughed. Clara had always been an old soul. “I tried to keep my promise and not be so rash.” But I was in the end. Kieran liked to call me a siren, but I couldn’t resist his call either.

Clara smiled. “I’m glad. I knew you’d make a home for yourself.”

My gut twisted. Because I shouldn’t have, not without Clara here. But it’d be fine. We’d make this place a home together once everything was settled. “I have to go on another mission. It’s too important for me to pass, but after that, we’re going to set down roots, okay?”

Something flickered in Clara’s expression, but it faded fast. “That sounds nice. I’ll miss you.”

I ran my fingers through her hair. “It won’t be long. Everything will be okay, I promise.”