Page 43

Chapter 43

I STORM INTO MY ROOM, glaring at everything in the mating suite like it’s personally offended me.

What a fucking asshole.

They think I’m untrustworthy? I’m not the one that shifts from playful and flirty into a distrustful douchebag in the blink of a fucking eye.

Restless and beyond frustrated, I pace back and forth in my room. I can’t tell if I want to rage or cry, which just pisses me off even more because the king just secured a meeting with the Matron. The fucking Matron. The Syphons and I have been searching for her forever, and now it’s somehow happening, and instead of being happy about that, I’m reeling over Aeson Noctis’s mood swings.

I rub at my temples, suddenly so fucking tired. I want to sleep for a week, but I have a meeting with the leader of the Relacour Blood Crafters, and I need to get my head on straight and focus on what’s important.

Something on the long coffee table in the sitting area catches my eye. Several somethings, I realize as I move closer and find a few stacks of wrapped boxes.

Did Nixy send me something? Usually her deliveries go straight to the closet, but maybe these are the pajamas I requested to cover for wanting to get a message to Enslee. I pick up a box from one of the stacks and examine it. When it doesn’t look, sound, or smell like anything dangerous, I sit on the couch and begin to open it.

I get the paper off and cautiously lift the lid. I stare down at the contents, my mind slow to catch up with my eyes because I’m staring down at a case that’s marked with the magical brand of the weaponsmiths from the Bone Isles.

My lungs fill, but my breaths stall as I reverently open the case and find two exquisite bone blades nestled within the safety of emerald green velvet. The handles have the swooping clouds, jeweled stars, and crescent moons found on the crest of the Renders. I run a worshipful finger gently across the ivory blade, and I can’t stop the smile that slips across my face.

I take in the boxes in front of me, and excitement has me reaching for a second package, which contains two stunning lock sheaths for the bone blades, the kind that you can attach to any surface and know they’re not going anywhere. A stunned breath whooshes out of me, and I start frantically opening every wrapped box in front of me.

I discover a pulse bow and harness, two fourth generation XD pistols and the thigh holsters that go with them, a belt of PHaSR grenades and a case of refills, six batiirien spikes, and a grappling gauntlet.

There’s a disc attached to the last box in the first pile, and I press down on the button and a recording starts, zooming in on all the smiling faces of Aeson’s Wing.

“Happy Naming Day, Frills!” everyone enthusiastically offers—well, everyone except Tove, she rolls her eyes and looks the exact opposite of enthusiastic, but she’s there, so I guess that’s something.

“This is everything on your list, and one extra special present we hope makes you think of all of us every time you look at them,” Chastain excitedly explains. “Happy Naming Day, from your favorite Wing,” he adds, batting his lashes coquettishly at the cam before he starts making kissy faces at it.

Everyone groans at his antics, and someone shoves him out of frame before Ogdan steps up front and center.

“We’re glad we found you, lass,” he declares warmly. “We know you’re more than capable of guarding your front, especially with your new arsenal, but know we’ll always be here to help guard your back. Happy Naming Day.”

The recording cuts off, and I blink back the swell of emotion Ogdan’s words have stirred within me. Reverently, I open the last present in the stack and then throw my head back and laugh when I see what’s inside.

My cackle rings off the wall of the room, and laugh-tears quickly start to stream down my face. I reach inside the box and pull out a glass case housing two viciously sharp daggers almost the length of my forearm. The silver metal of the blades gleams in the light, but it’s the hilt and the cross guard on the daggers that has my stomach hurting from laughter and my cheeks sore from the grin stretched wide across my face.

The face of a lizard looks as though it’s biting down on the base of the dagger’s blade. Just behind the lizard’s head is a frilled neck that serves as the dagger’s cross guard. The body of the fabricated reptile makes up the handle, and its tail spirals around the body to create a surprisingly comfortable grip.

These fuckers gave me frilled lizard daggers.

I shake my head, my body still vibrating with amusement as I expertly twirl the lizard blades in my hand and test the weight and balance. Aside from being hilarious, the daggers are expertly crafted and perfectly balanced. They’re light but solid, and there’s a button at the base of the handle that makes the frilled neck of the cross guard lie flat, so the daggers are easily wearable, and I find two more lock sheaths nestled underneath the glass case.

There are three boxes left, and I quickly open them. One is from Nixy and contains a gorgeous armored bodysuit that will fit perfectly under the holsters, sheaths, straps, and belts of all of my new weapons. It’s dark gray with lines and vortexes that resemble the dragon marks that Syphons often have. It’s like she was trying to give me my own version of scale armor, and I’m touched by her effort and thoughtfulness.

Lorn gave me fang breakers, along with a vid message declaring it was the best of both worlds: a weapon that looked like jewelry. I study the jewelry that’s designed to hook around your neck like a necklace and then sit across the top of your shoulders where it fastens under your armpits. I press a button at the back, and sharp spikes shoot out all across the glimmering defensive device.

A small squeal slips out of me, and I do a little happy dance like a kid in a candy store as I look around at my trove. I spot one last box under scraps of wrapping paper, but inside I only find a message telling me to “Look behind me.”

I stare at the blank wall at my back for a second, confused, and then it dawns on me what it could be. I rise from the couch and approach the innocuous-looking stone. Sure enough, as I get closer, the wall in front of me disappears and reveals a glass cabinet filled with empty shelves and a large rack to house all of my new weapons and then some.

I gasp and press a hand to my mouth when my eyes catch on something sitting in the center of the cabinet meant to house the greatest treasures of my trove—it’s Aeson’s constellation lily. I approach the stunning one-of-a-kind flower cautiously as though I’m afraid it will disappear at any moment. There’s a note tucked under the petals of the precious lily, and I tug the paper free and read what’s written in a masculine but surprisingly neat script.

Ever,

My grandmother was right. Every dragon deserves to fill their life with treasures that they’ll cherish, revere, and protect. This flower was the most breathtaking thing I’d ever laid eyes on, until I saw you. It feels fitting that you should have it now. A great treasure for the greatest treasure of all.

Yours,

Aeson

I read the note for a second, third, and fourth time, and then realize I’m crying as a tear falls and wets the paper. I have no idea how to reconcile the male who wrote this note with the one I was just raging over when I walked into this room. Our bond has barely even formed and it’s already in shambles. Maybe it’s better this way. Things were always going to be complicated between us, maybe it’s for the best that things came to a screeching halt before they could get even messier than they already are.

As much as it hurts, I needed to see the reality of what I’ve gotten myself into. Now I can treat my arrangement with Aeson like exactly what it is, a deal, a means to an end, and nothing more. It doesn’t matter if we’re Bonded or Tied if neither of us will ever trust the other, and it’s clear that’s off the table.

My dragon rumbles a disagreement, but I’m obviously more pragmatic. Indifference keeps us safe. I try to cling to that fact, even though it’s proving harder this time than it should.

A hard knock on my door jolts me from my thoughts.

“Fifteen minutes,” Farrow calls out, and I realize I need to clean up and pack.

Quickly, I put away the pulse bow, the extra grenades, and half the batiirien spikes on the rack designed to house the weapons. I set Aeson’s note next to the constellation lily and move back from the cabinet until it re-arms itself and once again returns to looking like nothing more than a stone wall.

I race for the shower, needing desperately to clean the night off of me, and wonder offhandedly if the tech these cabinets use to camouflage themselves can be used on people. Is that how the king kept himself hidden in his office?

My mind is a mess of anticipation for what’s coming and a tumult of emotions I don’t know how to make sense of. The wasps are back in my stomach, dancing around with the butterflies because I can’t figure out how I feel about anything.

I dress quickly in the bodysuit Nixy gifted me and hurry to pack. I start strapping on my new weapons, my heart calming with the familiar movement and muscle memory of gearing up for a mission, although I’ve never been armed with this caliber of weaponry.

My thoughts wander to my sister, my Flight, and the other Syphons. I give myself a moment to miss them, to hope that this meeting will be the thing that turns the tide for us, and then I push all thoughts of everyone out of my mind. I can’t be worrying about them and stay focused on everything I need to do now.

I scan the room one last time when I’m ready to go. My eyes drift over to the hidden cabinet, and in a hasty, last-minute decision I decide not to question, I march over to it and pluck Aeson’s note from the safety of its confines. I tuck the slip of paper into a hidden pocket in my armored bodysuit where it should be safe, and turn my back on the room and leave.

A forlorn feeling grows with every step I take away from the room, but I refuse to examine it. I’ve gambled with the king to save my people; now it’s time to see if that gamble pays off.