Page 23

Chapter 23

Cyrus

K aya wakes me again with some incredibly cute mumbling in her sleep. She throws an arm into the air and kicks a leg, sending her quilt to the floor. I get up and lay it back on top of her. She turns onto her side, still muttering and frowning viciously like her nightmare is back. Nightmares are the worst. I know exactly how it feels to be under their sway. Maybe I can comfort her for a minute without her knowing.

I crawl into the slender cot with her and ease her gently against me, setting one arm loosely over her stomach. She stops grumbling and thrashing, but my quaking heart will likely wake her. This is foolish. Regardless, I can’t seem to help myself. Her eyes are firmly shut and her breathing indicates she’s asleep. I allow myself to bend a wing around her and satisfaction curls up in my soul like a sleeping cat. She’s so soft and smells absolutely divine. A goddess in my arms. What I would give to smooth the fine hairs at the nape of her neck away and nibble the fair skin there.

I fill my lungs with her scent, and my dragon magic crackles inside me, wanting to wall us in flame and claim her as my mate. I can’t let it get away from me. I need to move away from her physically, but the pull to remain at her back is a hook latched firmly in my chest. I can’t make myself move.

The sun’s first light sneaks into the room. I have to leave her and return to the floor. I grit my teeth, pull back my wing, and slide out of the little bed. I’m back in my quilt before I hear her roll over. Hopefully, she will never know I held her like that.

She may think I’m trustworthy, but I’m not good enough for her. Likely, no one is, but definitely not me. I’d mess things up. I’d ruin our friendship just to have a temporary affair that would hurt us both. I have never been able to hold onto a relationship. I get itchy and back off every time a partner tries to get serious.

Although things feel vastly different with Kaya, I’m a huge risk for her and her sweet heart. I won’t experiment with my personal growth at her expense. She’s worth so much more than that. She can’t be my test case.

Maybe I’ll help her find someone so she can look at them in the way she looks at me. Pain spears me and I grit my teeth again, fisting my hands in the quilt and turning so I’m facing the door. I’ll go against every feeling I have and help her find her true mate. Because it can’t be me. I refuse to drag her down the bumpy road of my life.

A yowling erupts outside the door, and I roll to trade a surprised look with Kaya, who is now fully awake. I hop up and open the door to find Sio.

“Finally,” he mutters.

Kaya pats the bed beside her, where I just was. “I am so glad you’re here. I was wondering what you might be getting into.”

Sio purrs loudly, jumps onto the cot, and curls up.

“Guess he’s not telling his secrets,” I say.

Kaya’s eyes dance in the dawn’s first gray light. “How about we sleep for another hour. For Sio.”

“Right. For Sio.”

The fire somehow brought itself back to life and it crackles quietly as we doze. I can’t remember ever being this at ease. I could live in this very room for eternity. I almost laugh at myself, but I’m too drowsy. Never in my life have I wanted to remain in the same place. But now, I definitely do.

The trip back is full of conversations about Kaya’s new whisks, the fire eaters who performed in the city’s main square on our way out, and Sio’s grudge against shrub gryphons.

“It’s a question of respect,” Sio says sharply.

“How exactly was he being rude to you?” I ask.

Kaya grimaces, like maybe I shouldn’t have queried for details.

Sio’s tail whips back and forth, hitting me in the cheek because I’m sitting behind the bench in the empty back section of the cart again.

“He should have bowed upon my arrival,” Sio says.

I frown at the cat. “And these creatures are taught to do that by…”

“By their elders. It is the way of things in the world of smaller mammals.”

“Maybe the shrub gryphons are more bird than mammal and that’s why they behave differently.”

Sio glares and curls up on the bench. His eyes close, and I guess that subject is shut as well.

“So you think Rychell can find you some of that purple turmeric?” I ask.

Kaya nods and lightly lifts the reins so they touch Tamar. The horse speeds up. “I wasn’t about to buy spice from another merchant. I have faith in her.”

“It tasted amazing.”

“Agreed. Those buns would have been rather plain without it. The texture wasn’t quite right. Too stodgy.”

I nod even though I didn’t notice anything. She’s the expert.

“They would go well with a creamed wishberry jam filling,” she says.

“Now, you’re talking.”

Her grin makes my stomach flip in a good way, a very good way. I have to stay on track.

We drive into town. Every surface glitters with the remains of a magical storm they must have had while we were gone. Lord Mayor Rustion, his staff, Grumlin the tavern keep, and even Rickon DeFleurtis and his group are sweeping and putting things to rights. DeFleurtis stops and looks my way and I give him a nod.

The map in my pocket feels hot and my fingers itch to take it out and retrace the area my ghost kin showed me.

Betilda helps Widow Warton gather scrolls that appear to have been flung from a tourist’s leather satchel. Betilda wiggles her eyebrows at us as we pass through the market square.

The stones around the fountain lift into the air, and a cloud of misty stone magic swirls around them. They drop and arrange themselves, now free of magical storm sparkles. I look up to see Rom giving us a wave. His stone magic is impressive.

Thankfully, the weather is perfect now. Tree blossoms float through the air, a few getting caught in Kaya’s hair. I pluck one out of the knot on top of her head and she laughs. I feel like I’m dreaming. If this is all she can give me, I’ll take it and be happy. She is a spring goddess, her skin glowing like she holds her own kind of fire magic. Sio leaps from her lap to the ground to trot beside us, and soon the trip is over. It will forever be a highlight of my life.