Page 184 of Flameborne: Chosen

There were more half-hearted protests, but my brothers had taken their seats again, and a barmaid brought a tray of drinks. I assured them I’d be the happy one tomorrow when they all woke up with hangovers. Then I walked as casually and steadily away from the table and out the door as I could, the skin on my back heating when Donavyn met me in the aisle atthe end of the table and ushered me to the door and let his hand hover at my lower back when I slowed to open the door.

I prayed the heat I felt in my cheeks was just the wine, and he wouldn’t notice.

I also prayed he’d do that again.

Please, God, let him do that again.

52. Affirmative, Sir.

SOUNDTRACK:Tonightby Secret Nation

~ DONAVYN ~

Two blocks from the tavern, there were players on the street. Fiddles and flutes rose to fill the air, a cluster of barmaids and passersby formed a ring to clap and jig. And even though we didn’t stop walking, I had the distinct pleasure of watching Brendance.

She hummed along with the music, skipping her feet. When we reached the circle, she twirled on her toes, hands over her head, laughing.

One of the men caught her at the waist to turn her into the jig—but I caught her tension and the flash in her eyes.

I took his elbow and tugged her free before he’d even had time to pull her close. When he turned, the scowl on his face dropped away as his gaze trailed up my chest, my uniform, to the fire in my eyes that told him in no uncertain terms, man-to-man, that if he touched her again, I would remove the offending limb.

Dear God, what was wrong with me?

Thank God, Bren didn’t notice my fury.

After slipping sideways out of the man’s grip she dropped her hands, but continued to bob and skip, smiling and humming along with the music as she skipped up the street and away.

Away, away, away.

I’d never wanted to get the hell out of the city more. I didn’t breathe properly until we’d passed out of its walls and onto the rutted road that would take us the half-hour’s walk home.

Bren was no longer dancing, but I’d never seen her sohappy.

“I did it, Donavyn,” she said when we were alone on the road, hugging herself. “I really did it. Alone. No one helped me except Akhane. And it was my idea.”

I didn’t want to burst her bubble by reminding her that the dragons were far sharper-eyed and minded than we were—which was why Kgosi had to give them the order not to offer Flameborne ideas during a trial.

But still, shehadthought that up on her own. She’d studied the terrain, come up with a plan, and executed.

And almost executed herself in the process.

I frowned and kept walking, made myself keep my eyes on the road ahead—which appeared to sway slightly, because I’d drunk too much ale too fast.

She was here and safe, I reminded myself. And smart enough not to get shitfaced, even when her brothers were.

“Are you angry?” Bren walked right at my side, so close the hair on my arms rose because I would have sworn I felt the heat of her, though she wasn’t touching me. “Donavyn? Are you angry with me?”

I blinked again and clawed a hand through my hair, forcing myself to look at the road ahead. “Of course not,” I growled.

“Are yousure?”she said, her tone implied I might be lying, or she might be teasing.

I cleared my throat and braced, forcing my lungs to inflate when I looked down at her again. “I’m certain. I’m proud of you, Bren. Very, very proud. That wasstunning.”And it said a lot about who she could become. And how much she trusted Akhane.

I’d worked with them long enough to know if a bond wasn’t deepening, it wasn’t the dragons that were the barrier. The bond required intimacy to grow. If the Chosen human devoted themselves, the dragon would give everything. If a human kept their heart and mind walled off, the dragon would be miserable. The more a Chosen held back from their dragon, the more a bond struggled to thrive.

The fact that Bren was already prepared to throw herself off a tower and trust Akhane to catch herwasworth celebrating. I should have heralded it. Applauded. Urged her to keep doing it.

Instead, I wanted to curl her to my chest and close my jacket around her like a blind, helpless newborn kitten found in the barn.