Page 57 of Of Blood and Banes (The Arterian #2)

POISONS

I ’m lying on the ground, my muscles still paralyzed from the poison, but at least I’m alive.

Turning my attention away from Daeja, I find Sethan and Archie still crouched at Corvin’s side, with more soldiers gathered around them in a half circle.

Marge hobbles over to me, her legs and staff blocking my view of Corvin as she nears.

She crouches down in front of me, my vision filled with her warm, wrinkled face as she stretches out a hand and presses it to my forehead.

Cole’s right behind her, also dropping to his knees in front of me. His mouth moves quickly, but no words come out. Marge turns to respond, but I still hear nothing.

“Why…why can’t I hear you?” I mumble, the words feeling like a mess on my numb lips.

Marge and Cole turn their attention to me, eyes wide with concern. Cole says something, but I can’t read his lips. I try to glance around them to where Corvin is.

“Is he…is he okay?” I ask.

Cole lowers his gaze and tosses a quick look over his shoulder as Marge frowns and shakes her head.

“I’m sorry…he was too far gone,” Daeja whispers.

I strain against the invisible block, gritting my teeth as I fight to sit up. But it’s no use. A heaviness blankets my body from my neck down.

Cole leans forward, sliding his hand underneath the small of my back and my head before lifting me up off the ground into his arms. Daeja turns a pointed glare at him, and I can feel the vibration of his deep voice rumble in his chest.

“He wants to carry you until the poison fades from your system.”

I slur the words out loud, unsure if I’m making much sense, “When will that be?”

When Marge answers, Daeja relays the message, “She says it could be an hour or two, depending on how much leaked into your bloodstream. But since that earth dragon gave you its breath, it’s likely to speed up the process.”

I nod, sighing and sagging into Cole’s arms. When I glance up at him, he meets my gaze and mouths, “It’s going to be alright. Rest if you can.”

An hour or so later, the numbness fades from my nerves.

I walk alongside Daeja and the rest of our group, a sad silence settling over us.

Cole is with Archie, rubbing his back and murmuring to him.

Daeja informed me they strapped Corvin’s lifeless body onto A’nala’s saddle to transport him to the next town, since the wagons didn’t have quite enough room.

By the time we make it out of the Forbidden Forest, the jagged spires and rooftops of Pinepoint reach into the sunset.

The other dragon riders fly ahead of us, their thunderous beating wings are the first sound to bubble up through the silence blocking my hearing.

Melaina relays that they’ll check in with the city council, then loop around Pinepoint to ensure the city is safe for us to stay overnight.

And to find a proper burial site for Corvin.

We stop a few miles out from Pinepoint out of caution—the size of the rebellion against Sethan is building, though no one knows the numbers.

We sit on the grassy hills and watch the clouds race by in vibrant bursts of pinks and yellows.

I flop down, and Daeja takes a seat next to me, her hip touching mine.

“It wasn’t your fault,” she murmurs, swinging her gaze to me.

Shaking my head, I wrap my arms around my knees and stare down at the grass swaying in the wind. “I should have saved him. The only thing I knew about him was his name, and I should have saved him.”

Archie plops down next to me and wraps his arms around his legs before whispering, “Thank you for trying.”

I turn my face toward him and find his eyes lined with tears.

“It should have been me. I was the foolish one,” he croaks. “Gods, I feel so fucking stupid sometimes.”

“Hey…” I grab his shoulder nearest to me and shake him when he won’t look my way. “Hey, it was an accident. You didn’t know they were dragon eggs.”

He shrugs out of my grasp, his face settling into a somberness. “It doesn’t matter. Sethan already hates me and thinks I’m not worthy of Melaina. I can’t imagine this will do anything in my favor. And maybe I’m starting to agree with him.”

“Sethan doesn’t think a lot of people are worthy. Even me sometimes.”

He blinks, then glances sideways at me.

I press on, “You are the most eligible man I know. You are kind, brave, strong, and all the things me and any other woman would dream of having in a man. And I’d be next in line for your hand if I didn’t already know you belong with Melaina.”

“You’re ridiculous.” But a distant smile winks at his lips.

“Ridiculous or not. It shouldn’t matter what he thinks of you.”

“But it does…” His voice breaks. “Because I’m in love with her, Kat.”

I bite into my lip to stop the creeping smile and nod. “Then that’s all that matters. Don’t get hung up on what he thinks. He’s not the one you’re in love with…unless you’re in love with both of them, which would just make things awkward?—”

He chuckles and shoulders me. Firmly enough it knocks me off my balance and I tip over into Daeja’s side before she nuzzles me back into my spot. Warmth returns to his expression, and it distracts me from the guilt sitting in my chest.

“Have you told her yet?” I whisper.

He shakes his head. “I haven’t been able to find the right time. And part of me is scared she doesn’t feel the same way.”

“We all feel like that. The first time you say it is always the scariest. It gets a little easier after that.”

“What was he like?”

I snap my head in his direction. “What?”

“O-or she?” he covers.

“No…he umm…” I break eye contact with him, trying to trudge through all the emotions I can’t quite decipher in my heart. Daeja leans gently into me, silently reminding me she’s there.

My gaze floats up to Cole speaking to Marge, far enough away I can’t hear what they’re saying.

They’re backlit by the sunset. With that soft, golden glow outlining their silhouettes.

Cole brushes the auburn hair at his forehead back as he looks down at Marge.

When he nods and lets his hand fall to his side, he has a soft smile. The one that’s like daylight.

And it fucking kills me.

“He was everything I wanted. Everything I dreamed of. He was like daylight…” My throat tightens, and I clear it before I continue, “Like when you wake up for the first time after a long night. Everything’s a little blurry at first, and you can’t quite…

figure out what’s around you. So, you blink until your vision corrects.

And then it’s like seeing everything for the first time.

Eventually, it becomes all you’ve ever known… ”

Cole, mid-conversation with Marge, glances my way. A tidal wave of yearning rushes over me, and I can sense he’s drowning in it, too. Time fades. And I can’t tell if we’ve been looking at each other for seconds or hours.

Marge whacks the side of his arm with her staff, and he shakes himself out of his distant longing. Finally returning his attention to her.

I glance at Archie. And he’s shifting his gaze from me to Cole and back a few more times.

“W—wait. Wait. This isn’t…what did I just see? What was that?” He flicks a finger between me and Cole.

“Cole isn’t my brother, Arch,” I whisper.

His mouth drops open as he pushes up to his feet. I follow and grab his shoulders as he runs his fingers through his sandy blonde hair.

I say under my breath, “Let’s talk about this. Away from everyone else?—”

“What the fuck?” he mutters.

“Archie, please. No one else can know.”

He lets his arms fall to his sides, his hair strewn from raking it with his fingers. Without waiting for permission, I grab him by the elbow and tug him with me until we are so far out of earshot, we’d need to scream to get someone’s attention.

Daeja follows us closely behind and puts herself between us and the rest of the group. She unfolds her wings and stretches them out to the side to block us from view.

“Thank you.” I toss a grateful glance at Daeja.

She settles into a comfortable seat with a nod. Forced front row tickets to what’s about to be anything but entertaining.

Archie whirls out of my grip. “What the actual fuck, Kat?”

Hearing him use such vulgar language is like a dagger to my lungs. And even though we are a healthy distance away, I can’t help but whisper, “Listen?—”

“No, you listen! I have been nothing but honest with you. I have told you all my secrets, even if it was hard for me to admit. And when I found out about,” he whips a hand up to Daeja, “her, I kept that a secret from everyone ! Even when it could have lead to my execution!”

“I know,” I whimper. “I know?—”

“No. You don’t know. Because even after all this time, it’s still not enough for you to trust me with the truth! Who all knew about Cole not being your brother before I did, huh?”

I shake my head, my pulse racing. It feels unfair to put Melaina in such a situation?—

“Answer the question, Kat.” His voice is an unsettling amount of seriousness.

“Why? Why does it matter?”

“Because it’ll show me all the people you’ve trusted over me.”

“But that’s not why they kno?—”

“Answer the Gods. Damn. Question.”

Letting go of a breath, I sag my head. “Sethan…Marge…and…Melaina.”

He tips his head back to look up at the sky and turns his back to me.

I reach forward and grab his shoulder. “Marge put it together herself. Sethan caught Cole and me kissing. And Melaina…don’t be mad at her. I asked her to let me be the one to tell you. And because of this sick, twisted prophecy, she was forced to comply to my wishes.”

He turns to glance at me. “It doesn’t matter. You still told her before me.”

I swallow. Here comes the next blow. “Because I slept with Darian. For a second time. The first time was in Arterias when I almost left in the middle of the night after I found out Cole was engaged to Celeste. And the second time was last night. Melaina just found out this morning when she came to my door, and I asked if she could get me pennyroyal from Sethan.”

“And you couldn’t have asked me?”

“Arch…” I pull him to face me, angling my neck to try and look him in the eyes. “If I asked you to get pennyroyal from Sethan, he would have had your head put on a spike before you could explain it wasn’t for you and Melaina.”

He turns his brown eyes on me.

“And…and…” I pull my glove off my left hand.

The words pour out of me like a floodgate.

And now I’m just desperate to tell him everything, if it means he won’t hold me at arm’s length.

“This ring? The Blood Ring? It links my life to the King’s.

But long before I knew what it was, I wore it as Cole’s fiancé.

Before he came to the military, before he was engaged to Celeste… ”

A tear slips down my cheek. “He was mine. He was mine first. And I loved him. All I knew was him. All I wanted was him. And…and now I don’t know what I want anymore.

I feel like things are slipping from my fingers like quicksand.

And I don’t know how to stop it. I am so sorry I kept it from you.

It wasn’t because I don’t trust you. A secret like this would destroy the trust the rest of the Arterians have in us, and we had to get to Vitalis first. And I know—I know —you wouldn’t let it slip.

But I didn’t want to add pressure to everything else you’re carrying.

I’ve never had a friendship outside of Cole before you. So I?—”

My vision gets blurry as I shake my head. “You don’t deserve my dishonesty.” My voice wobbles. “I’m the worst friend.”

The silence stretches between us. His eyes are narrowed, his jaw set.

Finally, he mutters, “Best. The worst best friend.”

He pulls me into his arms, and I sob. And just when I think he can’t hug me tighter, he does.

“I’ll forge a blood pact with you. I’ll swear to never keep secrets from you again.” I sniffle into his shirt, now damp with my tears.

He pulls me back to look me in the eyes. The small smile on his face warms my chest. “No, Kat. You don’t need to do that.”

“I’ll never be secretive again. I want you to know it’s true when I say that.”

“Then I suppose you’ll need to make it up to me.” He squeezes his hands on my shoulders.

“Whatever you want. Name it.”

He glances over his shoulder at Daeja, who’s watching us in silence.

“Why is he looking at me like that? Whatever it is, tell him no.”

Archie continues, “Melaina has always wanted to ride a dragon…A’nala is far too big…”

Daeja snorts. “Excuse me? I don’t like where this is going.”

“...and Sethan wouldn’t allow her to ride anyway.”

I raise an eyebrow. “And so, to the wind with Sethan’s reservations?”

“As you said…it’s a good thing I’m not in love with him, right?” Archie smiles.