Page 30 of The Lost Art of Finding Where You Belong (Lost Arts #2)

Chapter Thirteen

B rannal let him get all wet and settled against him, and then he gently picked up his left arm and ran his hands up and down it until he found the stitches. Perian sighed and bent his arm, letting Brannal peer at it.

Brannal’s voice went cold and hard. “What happened?”

Perian took Brannal’s arms and wrapped them around his chest. There was a moment of stillness, and then Brannal held on properly, cocooning Perian in a warmth that rivaled the hot water of the bath.

Perian pressed back against him even harder, trying to sink into that connection.

He clasped Brannal’s arms with his good one.

And then, a bit quietly, he explained about Fomadin, the heckling, and his decision to teach Perian a lesson.

He was very glad he’d got them together in the bath like this, because there was a very charged moment, and then the water in the bath sloshed around them, the lamps flared up, wind buffeted them from all sides, and Perian heard an ominous cracking sound he worried was one or more essential pieces of stone the castle was made from.

Perian just kept clinging to the other man. “I’m all right. Brannal, I’m all right.”

“I’m going to kill him,” Brannal said through gritted teeth .

He made to move, like he was going to actually climb out of the bath, right now, and probably storm off naked. Perian let all his weight rest against the other man, and after a moment, the ruffled elements settled, though Perian could still feel the tension thrumming through him—not the good kind.

“This is why you wanted to tell me in the bath,” Brannal said, voice sharp.

“I wanted to make sure you listened to the whole story,” Perian confirmed, and proceeded to tell him how Onadal had had Fomadin thrown out, and how the Queen had agreed to extend the ban to the castle and the city.

“He’s been banished, and he’s not going to hurt me again. It’s all right, Brannal.”

Perian felt the other man’s chest rise, hold like that for one long moment, and then breath blew past the side of Perian’s face, and the worst of the tension faded.

“Start with that next time,” Brannal suggested.

“What?” Perian said, faintly amused. “I’m going to tell you what happened to me, but don’t worry, the person who did it has been banished? Do you really think that would have gone over better?”

Brannal huffed a breath. “Yes. No. I don’t know. No part of that was anything I wanted to hear.”

“I know,” Perian said. “And honestly, if I thought no one else would tell you, I might have tried to pass it off as a regular training injury.”

There was a sudden slosh, and then they were both sitting up and Brannal had twisted Perian so they could actually see one another.

“Don’t lie to me,” he said, eyes serious. “You don’t need to lie. Not ever. I’m sorry if I overreacted.”

Oh. Huh. Perian hadn’t expected a reaction as fervent as that, and it made his heart squeeze. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to Brannal’s lips.

“I won’t, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make it worse. I expected a bit of a reaction, to be honest. Molun wasn’t much better when he heard the details.”

Brannal relaxed a little again, and Perian was able to go back to lying against him.

“Oh?” he said, tone almost right.

So Perian told him all about Molun’s little spill-over of elements, and Brannal finally chuckled a little.

“So you got me in the middle of a bath and hoped for the best? ”

“Pretty much,” Perian said contentedly, delighted that the tension had diminished so much.

“That was actually pretty smart,” Brannal conceded. “I swear I don’t lose my temper as often as it probably seems like I do with you, but the idea of someone hurting you is, uh, not one I can tolerate.”

Perian clasped Brannal’s hand, pulled it up to his lips, and pressed a kiss to it.

“You don’t have to apologize for that. I mean, it wouldn’t have been good if you’d rushed off stark naked to smite someone down… Wait a second, what am I saying, why would I want to stop you from storming through the castle naked?”

Brannal laughed, making Perian jiggle against his chest, and he smiled to himself.

“What about you?” Perian asked. “I got a little weird a few times, convinced something was going to go wrong and you weren’t going to come back. But here you are, and it doesn’t look like anything happened to you. But I know looks can be misleading. Are you all right?”

“Perfectly fine,” Brannal assured him. “Not a scratch on me. In the spirit of honesty—and not wanting Delana or Cormal to rat me out—there was a nest of wraiths I helped the fourth district watch station take care of. And two lesser demons. Not at the same time. But like I said, not a scratch on me.”

Perian was silent for a moment. “I can’t decide whether I should be more or less panicked now.”

Brannal huffed a laugh and wrapped his arms tighter around Perian. “You do not need to be at all panicked. I’m here, and I’m fine.”

“But is this a demonstration that you can handle anything that’s thrown at you, so I don’t need to worry, or is it an indication that the world is a terrible, dangerous place, and you were only gone for a week and were attacked twice?”

“The former,” Brannal said promptly.

Perian huffed a laugh. “Are you sure?”

“You were attacked, and you didn’t even leave the castle.”

Perian reached behind him and pinched the other man’s side.

“That’s me and not you, and I wasn’t looking for trouble. That other is actually your job.”

There was a long moment of silence and then a very careful, “It’s not going to stop being my job. ”

Perian twisted around, sloshing water and not caring, so he could climb over Brannal’s legs and settled in his lap where he was facing the other man, because he didn’t ever want to hear him sound like that again thanks to something Perian had said.

Perian cupped his face with his hands. “I know it’s your job. And I’m so proud of what you do.” He leaned in and kissed him softly, and Brannal returned the pressure, his arms coming up to clasp Perian’s hips, thank goodness.

“I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. It’s just… I can’t blow up the room to express how much you being in danger upsets me.”

Brannal smiled faintly, more of the tension fading off his face.

Perian continued, “I wouldn’t ever ask you to stop being you, I promise.

I just get worried, that’s all. But I learned this past week that I have some really good friends who will help me when that happens.

I don’t think I can ever promise not to worry when it’s possible you could get hurt.

But I’ll try really hard not to let it get in our way. ”

Brannal wrapped his arms around him and pulled him in so they were embracing.

“You make a fair point. I hate the idea of upsetting you, so part of me wants you to be perfectly all right with what I do. But the idea of you being in danger drives me to distraction, so I understand why it’s the same in reverse.

And you’re right, my job can be dangerous.

But I swear to you, I’m as careful as I can be, and I always remember that I have someone to come home to, all right? ”

Perian nodded against his chest, his heart feeling like it was growing bigger with every beat. He might not know where this was going, and he might not be quite brave enough to put words to what he was feeling, but someone to come home to was significant.

“So your trip was really all right?” Perian asked, buoyed by the thought. “I want to hear all about it. No other demons?”

“None,” Brannal confirmed. “No sightings of nightmares at all. There was rumor of a carnalion in a small town, but it proved to be entirely unfounded when we investigated further. A young man accused the woman who was now partnered with his ex of being a carnalion and seducing the woman away from him, since it apparently couldn’t have been anything but demonic wiles that could have made her leave him.

” Brannal rolled his eyes. “His ex was spectacularly unimpressed when she found out, and his parents were furious when they discovered the rumors he’d spread.

You could probably have heard the yelling from here. ”

Perian couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, dear. Does that happen often? ”

“Fortunately, not usually. Carnalions are quite rare. And it’s a serious allegation; most people understand the severity of it.

He will be fined by the Council, and if they’re feeling severe, imprisoned for up to a month.

The woman in question grew up there and could be vouched for by dozens of people.

There was no evidence of anyone being harmed or any unnatural lust or abnormal behavior.

Making false accusations undermines the entire system that keeps the country safe.

” Brannal sighed. “People can be genuinely mistaken, of course. We do prefer to investigate and come up with nothing than have an incident not reported. But deliberate falsehoods are different.”

“What else did you have to deal with?” Perian asked curiously.

“It was pretty standard, actually,” Brannal assured him.

“We patrolled, got reports in person, made sure the watch station was clean and in good repair, saw the new Warriors and Mage Warriors relieve the ones who were returning to the castle, and that was about it. Truly, it was fine, apart from the fact it was out there and you were back here. Cormal, Delana, and the others thought I was ridiculous.”

“Oh, good, they’ll be able to trade stories with everyone here who thought I was being absurd.”

Brannal laughed, and Perian grinned.

He could handle this. He still wouldn’t like the going away part, but he definitely enjoyed the reunion. Speaking of reunions…

Perian rocked into the other man, where he could feel his rising enjoyment of their close proximity. Brannal’s eyes fluttered closed, and Perian said, “I want to ride you.”

Brannal’s eyes snapped open, spitting fire.

“Yes, please.”