Trial By Fire (Going Down in Flames #3)(26)

That was probably a good idea. She clutched the covers tighter as a wave of cold passed through her bones and then she drifted back to sleep.

Sometime later, a knock sounded on the door, and she heard voices and footsteps.

“Bryn, it’s Medic Williams. What’s wrong?”

“I have a stupid cold or something.” She rolled over and pushed herself up.

Medic William’s eyes widened. “When did this start?”

Geez, how bad did she look? “Last night after I went to bed.”

“Are you in pain?” the medic asked.

“No.” Another chill made her teeth chatter. “I must have some type of flu. I’m hot, and then I’m cold. The worst part is, everything itches.” She reached up to scratch her head and something coarse came away in her hand. “What the hell?” How had she gotten straw into her hair? This didn’t make any sense. She studied the blond stick-like strands in her hand. Wait a minute. “Is that my hair? Oh my God. What’s going on?”

“Don’t panic,” Medic Williams said. “Tell me what you did last night before bed. Maybe this is some sort of poison. Did you eat or drink anything different?”

“No.” Smoke crawled up the back of Bryn’s throat, making her cough. Sparks shot out onto the bed sheets and smoldered.

Valmont patted down the ashes. “That’s not good.”

“Focus on cold,” Medic Williams ordered. “Before you burn the dorm down.”

She concentrated until she sprayed sleet when she coughed. Not that she wanted to cough much more. “Can you give me some medicine? My throat feels raw.”

“I’m going to scan you.” She placed her hand on Bryn’s forehead. The warmth of Quintessence flowed over her skin. “I can’t detect any foreign substances. This makes no sense. Dragons rarely catch colds, unless they are ancient. Tell me exactly what happened yesterday.”

Bryn described her day, skipping over the fight with Valmont. That was too embarrassing and personal.

“That’s it. You’re not leaving anything out?”

Valmont cleared his throat and touched Bryn’s shoulder. “Tell her everything, or I will.”

She rolled her eyes, which made her kind of dizzy. “Fine. Valmont and I argued.”

“I need details.”

“Fine. Valmont,”—his name tasted sour on her tongue—“decided he wasn’t into this whole knight thing. It doesn’t make sense to him, so he doesn’t want to play anymore.”

“Bryn, that’s not fair.” Valmont sat on the bed next to her.

“Fair?” Sleet shot from her nostrils as her anger grew. “I’ll tell you what’s not fair. Trusting someone and then having them freak out and walk off when things become confusing… That’s not fair.”

“You need to calm down and listen to me,” Valmont’s placating tone upped her irritation.

“No. You need to suck it up and make a choice.”

“A choice about what?”

“About whether you want to be my knight or not.”

“Bryn, I—”

“Did you reject her?” Medic Williams asked.

“No,” Valmont said.

“Liar. Liar. Pants on fire.” She knew she was being childish, but she didn’t care. “You walked away from me. You left me standing there in the living room like an idiot.” Bryn growled, but it turned into a coughing fit that took her breath away. She forgot to focus on cold, but rather than sparks, ash shot from her mouth. That was weird.

“You did this.” Medic Williams pointed at Valmont. “Through the bond, you did this to her. You are sworn to protect her, to lay down your life to defend her, and instead you rejected her.”

Valmont’s eyes widened with panic. “No, I didn’t. It’s just that I don’t understand what’s happening between us.”

“The bond is strong. It binds your spirits together with magic. If you don’t want to be bound to her anymore, then ask to be released, but you can’t make her feel abandoned, because her spirit will wither and fade along with her body.”

“Like hell it will.” Bryn gasped and coughed.

“It’s not your conscious choice, Bryn. This is ancient magic we’re dealing with. The bond is bound with your Quintessence, your life-force.” She pointed at Valmont. “You need to decide. Now. Either you want to be Bryn’s knight or you don’t. If you don’t, then she needs to release you.”

Even though she was pissed at him for being an indecisive wuss, she realized he’d never made the choice to become her knight. The ancient magic in his blood had chosen for him when he’d stepped forward to help her that day. Just like she wasn’t asking to be sick right now. The magic kind of did what it wanted. He deserved to make the choice on his own, not be forced into it.

Sitting up tall, she spoke in as calm a tone as she could manage. “Valmont, becoming my knight wasn’t something you decided to do. It happened through the magic in your blood. You deserve to have a say in your life. And I understand if you want your old life back. So it’s up to you. Do you want to continue being my knight?”

“Of course I do.”

“Keep talking to her,” Medic Williams said, “I’m going to call for more medics.”