Page 11 of Purple Protector (Eiloren Clan #3)

Marlin arched a brow but didn’t say anything. He clearly wasn’t wrong when he’d mentioned Aaron’s scrambled brain. “What happened?” Marlin asked.

“I don’t know. I was working when I heard a noise behind me.”

“You managed to escape.”

“It was a close thing, but the chair helped me.”

Marlin shook his head. “I don’t even want to know. Are you well enough to walk? Or I can carry you to see Palmer.”

“I can walk,” Aaron said as he pushed away from the wall.

The room tilted around him, and he reached out, but the wall wasn’t where it was supposed to be. Luckily for him, Marlin caught his hand, and before he knew it, Aaron was cradled in the dragon’s arms.

“You can walk, my ass,” Marlin grumbled.

“I thought I could.”

“You were wrong.”

Marlin struggled to take something out of the pouch he wore around his neck.

Taylor had explained to Aaron that most dragons wore a pouch like Marlin’s to hold things like their cell phones since they didn’t wear clothes and, therefore, didn’t have pockets.

Aaron had felt stupid after getting his answer because he should have realized, but Taylor hadn’t judged him.

If he’d been thinking more clearly, he would’ve known who Marlin was calling and would’ve tried to stop him. He didn’t want anyone to worry about him, but especially not Birch.

“Birch?” Marlin said when the person he’d called answered. “Aaron was attacked. You need to tell Killian and come to the infirmary.”

Aaron groaned when Birch shouted something. He was getting a headache.

Marlin hung up without waiting for Birch’s questions and winked at Aaron. “He’ll join us in the infirmary.”

This was going to be a mess, wasn’t it?

* * * *

B IRCH STARTED MOVING as soon as Marlin hung up on him. He was halfway to the door when Killian cleared his throat, reminding him that he couldn’t just run to the infirmary because his—what was Aaron to him anyway—because Aaron had been attacked.

“What happened?” Killian asked.

Birch sucked in a breath. He shouldn’t be this desperate to reach Aaron. He and Aaron were nothing to each other. Birch wanted them to be something , though, and he was frantic. He suspected that he would only relax once he got his eyes on Aaron and could ensure that he was fine.

But Birch wasn’t allowed to do that. His job was to stay with Killian.

It was a good thing that Killian would want to know how Aaron was and what had happened.

“Aaron was attacked in his rooms,” he said.

“ Attacked? How is he?”

“I don’t know. Marlin said to tell you and go to the infirmary.

” Birch was going to strangle his friend when he got his hands on him.

Couldn’t he at least have hinted at how Aaron was?

Couldn’t he have told Birch that Aaron was okay or wounded?

Maybe it meant that Aaron wasn’t, but Marlin was taking him to the infirmary.

Aaron had been attacked by a dragon. How could a human get out of that fight without getting hurt?

“Go,” Killian ordered.

Birch wanted to, but he knew what his duty was. “I should stay with you.”

“I’m calling more guards, and Tito is outside. Don’t worry about me. Worry about Aaron. I’ll be fine until Marlin can come back.”

“I’ll be back soon, too.”

“No. I want you to stay with Aaron. We need to find out what happened and why he was attacked. While we do that, he has to be protected until we do and stop whoever did this.”

Birch should insist. Killian was supposed to be his priority.

Instead of staying until he was sure Killian would be protected, he turned and rushed out the door.

He ignored Tito when he called for him and made his way out into the hallway.

He wanted to punch something, but he tried to keep his focus until he reached the infirmary.

Killian would be fine. Even though he was the king, he could protect himself if something happened, but nothing would.

Once there, he hesitated. He was afraid to find out what had happened. He and Aaron weren’t together—hell, they’d barely spoken—but there was something there. There was something in the way they watched each other, and Birch hoped he’d have the opportunity to find out what it was.

He pushed open the infirmary door. He stepped in, not knowing what to expect, and his gaze immediately found Aaron.

He was sitting on a bed with Palmer standing in front of him.

Palmer was shining a light in Aaron’s eyes, and Aaron was muttering something about it being too bright.

The fact that he was sitting up and talking was a good sign, so instead of rushing to his side like Birch wanted, he walked toward Marlin, who was hovering next to the bed.

“You could’ve told me he was okay,” he snapped. Both Palmer and Aaron turned to look at him.

“To be fair, I didn’t know if he was,” Marlin said. “He hit his head pretty bad.”

“He did,” Palmer confirmed. “But luckily for him, he’s not concussed. It’s going to bruise and hurt for a few days, but he’ll be fine.”

Aaron gave Birch a small smile. Birch had to remind himself that the two of them weren’t together and that it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to take Aaron’s hand and hover by his side.

“Killian told me to stay with him until we find out what happened,” Birch told Marlin. “Do you know anything?”

“I just know that I heard screaming and kicked the door in. Aaron was in the bedroom fighting a dragon. When I got there, the dragon pushed him against the wall and jumped out the window.”

“You didn’t go after them?”

“I wanted to make sure that Aaron was okay.”

Birch was glad that Marlin had, but he wished they knew more about the dragon who’d attacked Aaron.

“They were a burnt orange,” Aaron murmured while Palmer gently touched his forehead. “They didn’t say anything. I don’t even know how they got in. I just heard a noise behind me, and when I turned, I was attacked.”

That wasn’t much to go on. Even knowing the color of the attacker wouldn’t help much. The clan wasn’t as big as the Ogorth clan, but it was big enough that Birch could think of several burnt orange dragons who’d have nothing to do with this off the top of his head.

“Since you’re staying with him, I’ll go update Killian,” Marlin said. “He’ll want to know what happened and to start working on it.”

“You’re leaving?” Aaron asked.

“I am, but Birch will stay with you.”

Birch tried his best to ignore the way his stomach churned.

He was glad that Killian had asked him to stay with Aaron, but it wasn’t going to be easy.

Birch wanted to grab Aaron and drag him into his nest, to growl at Palmer for hurting him even though he was doing what was necessary.

He wanted to protect Aaron in a way he’d never wanted to protect anyone but Killian, and it was surprising to realize.

Killian was his best friend and his king. Aaron was a human Birch barely knew.

“You can take him back to his room,” Palmer said eventually. “He’ll be fine.”

Aaron grimaced. “I don’t know if I want to go back. What if someone attacks me again?” He glanced at Birch. “Not that I don’t trust you to protect me, but I don’t know if I can sleep in that room. I think I’d keep expecting someone to come in.”

“You could stay with me,” Birch blurted out. He didn’t think about it. He didn’t even know what he was about to ask until he asked it.

Aaron blinked at him. “With you?”

“Killian asked me to protect you until we know more about what happened. You don’t want to go back to your room, which I would agree with. It’s clearly not a safe place for you. We could move you to another room, but since I have to stay with you anyway, you might as well move in with me.”

Aaron was still staring. Birch couldn’t tell what he was thinking, and he desperately wanted to know.

Was Aaron about to say no? Birch was unsure what had possessed him to ask, but now that he had, he thought it was a good solution.

He knew his rooms like the back of his hand.

He would be able to tell if someone snuck in. They wouldn’t be getting past him.

Having Aaron stay with him would make it easier to protect him, but it wouldn’t protect Birch’s heart.

Birch wasn’t sure what state it would be in by the time this was over, and while he was hopeful, he couldn’t deny that this attack might have changed things.

Aaron had told Killian and Hedley that he wanted to stay, but would he change his mind now?

Would he want to go home, where he wasn’t in danger of being attacked by unknown dragons?

Birch wouldn’t blame him if he did.

* * * *

A ARON DIDN’T KNOW WHAT to say. Had Birch really asked him to move in with him? That was what Birch had said, but Aaron wanted to be sure.

“You want me to move in with you?” he asked.

Birch rubbed the back of his neck. “At least until we find your attacker. You’ll be safer there.”

Aaron didn’t want to go back to his room—he wasn’t sure if he ever would after what had happened—but he couldn’t think of a reason that he would be better protected if he stayed with Birch.

Birch still had to work and be with Killian, right?

What was Aaron supposed to do while he did that?

Wouldn’t someone be able to enter Birch’s room if Birch wasn’t there?

Aaron didn’t ask any of those questions. He didn’t actually want to know the answers to them. He didn’t want to go back to his room, and Birch was offering him an alternative. He wanted to spend more time with Birch, and Birch was giving him just that. He would be an idiot to say no.

“All right.”

Birch stared at him. “All right?”

“I’ll stay with you for now. Thank you for offering.”

“It’s my job.”

Something told Aaron that even though Killian had told Birch to keep an eye on him, he hadn’t suggested that Birch asked him to move in with him. He didn’t ask. He didn’t want to risk Birch changing his mind.

“I just hope I won’t mess up your life and your job,” Aaron said. “I mean, I don’t want to be a bother.”

“You’re not. I want to keep you safe as much as Killian does. You’re a guest here, and you shouldn’t have been attacked.”

“Am I a guest? I mean, Killian and Hedley offered me to stay with the clan permanently.”

“You’re right. You’re not a guest, but that doesn’t mean you should be attacked.”

Aaron’s cheeks flushed. “That’s not what I was saying.”

“I know.” Birch hesitated. “Will you be staying permanently even after what happened?”

Aaron couldn’t imagine going back to his old life now that he had a taste of a new one. Was he scared? Of course he was. He’d never thought he would be attacked, and he understood how lucky he was to have made it out in one piece with nothing more than a headache and a couple of bruises.

That wouldn’t stop him from staying. As soon as Killian had found out that he’d been attacked, he’d acted to protect him and had assigned Birch to him. Why would Aaron want to leave that?

He wouldn’t be a problem for anyone in the clan if he went back to the city, so they probably wouldn’t attack him a second time, but it wasn’t enough to send him running. For once, he would stand his ground and pray for the best.

“I will,” he told Birch. “I won’t let anyone ruin this for me, no matter how scared I am.”

Birch nodded and reached over to quickly squeeze Aaron’s shoulder. “I’ll protect you with my life. As long as I’m alive, you’ll be safe.”

Aaron felt safe. He knew that Birch was telling the truth and that he’d do everything in his power to protect him. That would help him sleep better at night.

Thinking of sleeping made him wonder how many nest rooms Birch had. Would they have to share? His cheeks heated at the thought of it. His crush wouldn’t help him deal with whatever happened next. If anything, it would make a complicated situation even more complicated.

The next few days were going to be a mess, weren’t they?