Page 26 of Heart of Chaos (Chaosborn #1)

Chapter twenty-six

Arik

“We’ll be taking the eastern Rift,” Tormund declared as we gathered in his preferred aerie. Baldur had grumbled upon receiving the orders from his white, Vidar, and had relayed the reirleder’s instructions with a great deal of sarcasm.

As Einar had no doubt intended, the blow struck home. It had been an age since I’d been tasked with following orders, rather than giving them, and Baldur chafed with the insult of being relegated to the role of a bronze or gold.

It’s temporary, I reminded him as I stood at attention, my awareness divided between Tormund before me, Eisa next to me, and my ravaged back. Every breath hurt, and I suspected Baldur would struggle with flight, if he was even able to lift off.

Eisa was pale and serious, her anxiety about flying over the Odemark for the first time palpable through our connection.

The other members of Tormund’s reirhold had eyed us with a mixture of apprehension and suspicion. Only one of the drage—Brandt, with whom I’d trained after our Dragejakt—was someone I knew well enough to respect. He nodded tightly as we took our places at the back of the flight, and I maneuvered Eisa behind him to block her from Tormund’s view.

The reirleder looked at me with pure hatred in his eyes, and I stared blankly back as I reveled in the memory of repeatedly knocking him unconscious.

I can feel your smugness through the bond, Eisa hissed into my mind.

He tried to keep me from you, I replied. I felt a jolt of pleasure in her at my response and tried not to smirk. Don’t pretend you don’t like it.

I have no idea what you mean.

I took her hand in response, interlacing our fingers. Sure you don’t.

I glanced down at her and watched as she caught her bottom lip between her teeth. Gods, I wanted to be that lip.

“Something the matter, Prince? “ Tormund snapped.

I looked up, schooling my expression into one of bland disinterest. “Nothing, reirleder. Please continue.”

Tormund scowled.

“We fly in wedge formation. A full sweep should take about four hours. Follow Vidar, and don’t deviate.”

Four hours? Eisa asked.

That’s the normal length of a patrol, I replied, squeezing her hand in reassurance as Tormund began assigning sections. It will be nothing for Idunn.

Who is Vidar?

His white. Stay close to me and it will be fine.

“Since Baldur is injured,” Tormund drawled, giving me a nasty sneer, “You’ll stay behind and report to Einar for your orders.”

“Absolutely fucking not,” I growled, feeling Baldur shine through my eyes as his voice blended with mine. There was no way in all the hells I would leave Eisa with anyone other than me. “Baldur can fly.”

Tormund smirked. “I believe our Dragehersker informed you of the consequences if you failed to follow my orders.”

“If you fucking touch her, I will end you,” I growled, not quite able to keep Baldur’s fury in check. “I mean it, Tormund. This is my mate. ”

The other drage shuffled away from Baldur’s power as his anger pulsed through the aerie. I may have been relegated to a common drage, but Baldur was still the highest ranking dragon, and the others knew it.

“I’m well aware,” Tormund replied coldly. “And I expect you to address me as reirleder, from now on.”

Fucking gods, this was humiliating.

You’re letting Einar win, Eisa warned, shooting Tormund a look that I’d learned was one of dislike. It was subtle, as if she’d carefully honed her disgust to keep it hidden from men like Henrik who would beat her for it. He wants you to disobey. He wants you to feel humiliated.

It’s fucking working.

I know. Baldur and Idunn will stay in contact the whole time. She squeezed my hand tightly. Idunn will protect me .

Baldur growled in protest in my head, and I nodded tightly. I couldn’t risk Einar following through on his promise to kill me, and my death would also mean Eisa’s. Dragons couldn’t live without their mates, and I wouldn’t sacrifice her to the Rift for my stubbornness.

“As I thought,” Tormund jeered. “Meet in the sky in ten minutes. Einar is expecting you, Prince. “ He spat the last word, and several members of the reirhold looked at me with apprehension as they filed out of the aerie, as if Baldur was a bomb ticking down to an inevitable explosion.

Perhaps he was.

I pulled Eisa by the hand back to our aerie, unwilling to give Tormund the satisfaction of watching her shift. Baldur was on the edge of a draconic meltdown, and letting another man see her naked would push him over the edge.

“I thought the Drage weren’t bothered by nudity?” Eisa asked, an edge of amusement in her tone. I’d clearly been projecting my thoughts down the bond directly to her.

“I find I care a great deal if it’s your nudity we’re talking about,“ I growled. And you need to get a hold of yourself, I added to Baldur, releasing Eisa’s hand to trigger the iron door. Cold wind blasted in, but it did little to cool Baldur’s temper.

“Hey.” Eisa stepped toward me and lifted her hand to my face. Her fingers were already cold. “I’ll be fine. Idunn would like Baldur to stop fussing.”

“He can’t help it,” I sighed, letting her turn my face back to her. I placed my hands on her waist and stepped into her, breathing her in. Baldur relaxed a fraction in the presence of his mate. “I’m sorry. This is more challenging than I thought it would be.”

“Which part?” she asked. “The being mated part, or the letting me go out there alone part?”

“All of it. Promise me you won’t let Idunn land out there. Stay in the sky.”

“I’ll try. But Idunn has her own ideas. I can’t exactly stop her from doing what she wants.”

“You share a soul,” I replied, squeezing her waist in emphasis. “You have more sway than you think. She wants your trust, as much as you want hers. Promise me you won’t do anything brash or foolish.”

“Like threaten my new reirleder?” she asked, giving me a pointed look.

“He had it coming.”

Eisa rolled her eyes. “Make me the same promise. Whatever Einar wants from you, don’t let him win your anger.” She shook her head, her face grave. “I can’t watch you be whipped again like that. And the sooner you heal, the sooner Baldur can be out there with Idunn.”

I smirked, unable to help myself. “I knew you cared.”

“You know nothing about me,” she replied, conviction in every word. “Whatever this is,” she gestured between us, to the feeling of the bond strung tight between us, “it’s because of the dragons. Not because of you or me.”

That’s where you’re wrong, I replied, lifting a hand to stroke her pale cheek with the pad of my thumb. She leaned into the touch despite herself, and Baldur rumbled in approval. I do know you.

No you don’t , she breathed, her voice a whisper across the silver bridge between our minds.

I know you love people deeply. I dropped my forehead to hers and swallowed. Baldur nudged me to continue, his silver energy thrumming against the bond between us. That you miss Sigrid. That you think Baldur is funny, and you don’t like heights.

Eisa closed her eyes, and I pressed onward. I know that you feel a million different things every day, and that you think admitting you like me is somehow a weakness. I know you love Branka and would do anything to protect her, including throwing your lot in with me. And I know that you are fierce and stubborn and refuse to admit when you’re in pain. I wove my hand into her silky hair, the strands catching between my fingers as I reveled in the touch she was allowing me. Have I missed anything vital?

She didn’t reply for a long moment, her breathing shallow. She shivered in the cold, and when she finally spoke again, it was to ask, Were you disappointed?

Disappointed?

When you found out it was me. When Baldur sensed me. I lifted my head to look into her eyes, as blue as Idunn’s iridescent scales. Her face was blank as if she could somehow hide the rapid beating of her heart or the fear behind the question. Were you disappointed when you realized who I was?

I frowned, not fully understanding her question. Baldur growled impatiently and sent me a mental image of the day we’d met. Of the frail creature with matted hair and bruised skin who cowered from my silver eyes. Of the way her blood had burned blue, and the way Baldur had known long before Revna had put it to flame.

Of the scent—night roses in full bloom—that had dragged him long miles over Stalheim to find the soul who was meant to be his. Meant to be mine. The same scent that filled my nose now as Eisa trembled slightly, worried that I was disappointed.

No, Kj?re, I said with absolute certainty as I brushed my lips over hers. Her breath hitched, and I pulled away, not wanting to push my luck. You could never disappoint me.

Her reply was soft and tremulous. She rose on her toes and pressed her lips to mine as if asking a question I already had the answer to.

I didn’t move, still as death in case she changed her mind.

And when she sighed against me, I welcomed her greedily, pulling her close to me as I tasted her properly for the first time, soft and warm and hesitant in her inexperience.

I bit back a groan as she opened her mouth to mine. I swept in and explored eagerly, each brush of her tongue flooding my veins with fire. And when my hands found the bare flesh of her back beneath her tunic, her near silent gasp nearly undid me.

I felt my cock thicken with longing as she pressed her slight body to mine, and I had to remind Baldur that she was going into the fucking Odemark without us and we couldn’t take this any further.

Let them all wait, he rumbled as he strained at the bridge between us, trying to get to his mate.

We can’t. It was Eisa’s voice, breathless and frustrated as she pulled away from me. We have orders. Einar wants you to disobey.

Baldur growled in frustration, and I slammed a mental door to block him out until he could control himself. This moment was mine, and I selfishly didn’t feel like sharing.

Later, then. I willed my heartbeat to calm and my blood to steady, breathing my mate in one last time before she flew out into danger without me. Or never. We go only as far as you want, when you want, Kj?re . You, not the damn dragons.

Not never. It was barely more than a whisper, but it ignited something in me.

I pressed my lips to hers one final time, holding her tightly as if I could keep her from the Odemark indefinitely. For the first time in my life, I prayed to the Norns that they would keep her safe. That they would bring her back whole. That I would get a chance to prove to her that disappointment was the farthest thing from my mind.

Just in case you were wondering, Kj?re, I murmured, the feel of her soft lips permanently imprinted on my soul as I pulled away , that was a proper kiss.