A Promise of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles, #1)(46)

“In case you lose one in the warlord’s gut,” Vasili says with no expression whatsoever.

Who me? Do I look violent and prone to slaughter?

Finally alone, I get up to tuck the knife into my satchel and discover just how weak I still am. I groan, taking baby steps across the tent. My legs wobble, feeling like dough that’s been rolled out but not baked hard.

Kato, Carver, and Flynn show up just as I’m crawling back onto the cot. Instead of collapsing like I want to, I sit, greeting them with a sour expression. “Didn’t you all die?”

Flynn smiles, his brown eyes alight with humor. “Almost.”

I grimace. “Maybe next time.”

Carver looks more serious. “You didn’t let us die.”

I glance down and pluck at the sheet, uncomfortable with his gratitude. “You didn’t let me die, either.”

“That was mostly Griffin,” he says. “He rode like a bat out of the Underworld to get you here. We showed up with Kato while Selena was finishing with you.”

“Well,” I say, ignoring the warmth spreading through my middle, “Kingmakers only come around every two hundred years or so. When you’ve got one, it’s best to keep her alive.”

Kato shakes his head, giving me a look that says I’m as stubborn as a Cyclops. “It’s not just that. You gave your word. You’re part of Beta Team now. Griffin will keep you alive, or die trying.”

I roll my eyes. “This again?” Beta Sinta wouldn’t die for me. Sacrificing himself would defeat the purpose of, well, everything. He was overconfident outside of Velos, even though I told him to run. He won’t take a risk like that again.

“This always.” Flynn’s tone is reproachful. “What’s more important—”

“—than loyalty?” I finish acerbically.

All three men look at me like I’m a strange creature they have no idea what to do with.

“Griffin will change your mind,” Flynn announces.

I snort. “He could try.”

Suddenly, we’re all laughing, and it’s not at all forced, which makes some part of me feel horribly guilty.

“Thirty to five.” Carver shakes his head, smiling in disbelief. “Too bad no one was betting on those odds.”

The high, cloud-capped peak of Mount Olympus rushes to my mind’s eye. “Maybe the Gods were.”

“And that’s why they intervened?” Kato swirls around the tent, imitating me fighting the Fisans with a venomous fang in each fist. He’s a whirlwind of blond hair, blue eyes, and hard muscle. He’s fast, every movement coiled with strength and power even though I can tell his leg is still bothering him.

“Where’d you learn to swing a fang like that?” he asks, grinning.

I wave a hand in the air. “Here and there.”

“No, really.” Kato sinks into a chair, his color high for such simple exertion. “How’d you do it?”

I arch a superior brow. “Didn’t you hear? I’m amazing.”

“And modest, too.” Flynn snickers.

I grin. “I’ve been taking lessons from His O So Scary, Arrogant Highness.”

Manly laughter fills the tent. I laugh, too, hoping Beta Sinta’s ears are burning.

Sitting next to me, Carver asks, “Most people are scared enough of Griffin. Why aren’t you?”

I motion everyone forward by crooking my finger. They lean in, anticipation on their handsome faces. Performing is an art, and I’ve picked up a few tricks. I make them wait and then whisper, “Because I’m scarier.”

They burst out laughing. They think I’m kidding.

“You’re arrogant and hotheaded,” Flynn says.

“So?”

“Griffin is arrogant and levelheaded. He’ll beat you every time.”

I scowl. He’s also bigger, stronger, and faster. He’s not stupid, either, even if our knowledge backgrounds aren’t the same. Worse, magic bounces off him. I saw it in Velos even though I was too high on euphoria to care.

“Oh my Gods!” I smack my forehead with the palm of my hand. “The Chimera’s Fire wouldn’t have burned him. I am such an idiot.”

No wonder he ate my magic salamander without a twitch of doubt. Selena healed him. I healed him. But harmful magic must simply not work on him.

I frown. I’ve never heard of that.

Carver shakes his head, confirming my thoughts. “But an arrow will still put a hole in him, just like you.”

“That’s how he got into the castle and cut down the Sintan royals? Their magic couldn’t touch him, and he was just plain better than any of them with a sword?”

Carver nods, and my mouth pinches into a disgusted pucker. The realization is hard to swallow. Beta Sinta would best me in a fight, no matter what magic I had stored up.

I blow out a long breath and try to look on the bright side—he can best a lot of my enemies, too.

As if my thoughts conjured him, Beta Sinta pushes the tent flap aside and storms in, eyeing the four of us with a hard glint in his eyes. Seeing him is like a really strange punch in the gut, winding me, but not entirely unpleasant, either.

His chin dips. “I heard you were awake, Talia.”

I mutter a curse that makes Flynn blush.