Shadow Wings (The Darkest Drae Book 2)(66)

Right. I scowled at the old man, who was now massaging his stump. “You’ve got it all figured out, haven’t you?”

He stopped, the ropey scar on his slack face darkening, and said, “Come now, my girl. You have it figured out, too. That’s why you’re running so hard.”

“I’m crouching,” I corrected.

“Don’t be immature.”

I rolled my eyes, but my heart was pounding. I had known there was something. I wasn’t an idiot, but I was scared of what having that connection with another meant. Terrified really.

I snatched up the water skin and uncorked it. Tipping my head back, I gulped half of the water.

“You see the color of your scales in his,” Dyter said.

I choked on the water in my mouth, backwashing a little into the flagon. Hmm. Served Tyrrik right for throwing up on me.

Putting my finger in the remaining water, I thought of Tyrrik and how I needed the water to be nectar so I could heal him. Conjuring up that desire was all too easy. Right now, that only made me grit my teeth. I didn’t like that in only a couple of weeks, my barriers had fallen so much. My heart knew I wanted Tyrrik alive, and making nectar for him was effortless. It shouldn’t be so easy already.

I held the container to his lips, and a mixture of relief and sick satisfaction swept through me when he drank the remainder of the water. I glanced up at Dyter and asked, “You’re really going to press the issue?”

“Denial never did anyone any good,” he said with a frown.

As if that was enough to convince me. “Seems to be working pretty well, so far.”

Dyter shook his head. “You’re better than that, Ryn. I’m not saying life has been easy for you the last few months; I know it hasn’t. But you chose to come on this journey. You’ve chosen to join the war against the emperor—”

Picked up on that, did he? “I had to after making such a big deal of Phaetyn sticking their heads in the dirt and ignoring the realm. They were being stupid.”

Dyter shifted on the rocky ground, reclining against the wall of the cave. He exhaled slowly, as if bracing himself, and then whispered, “You’re doing the same thing with Tyrrik.”

Ouch. How could he say that?

“It’s a little different, Dyter,” I said sarcastically. At least, I meant my tone to be sarcastic. What came out seemed more along the lines of bitterness. “No one is dying because of my choice.”

“Drae have one mate, Rynnie. Only one. Ever.”

I tossed the empty container to the side and exploded to my feet. “What are you saying? I should forget everything that’s happened to me? That because he might be my mate I just decide, ‘oh what the hay, I guess we better get together for life?’”

Dyter frowned, but I was just warming up.

“All that abuse? No worries. We’re mates. It’s fine. Oh, and you don’t tell me what’s happening? That’s al’right; we’re mates, so I don’t need to know.” My chest heaved as I screamed my frustration at the pathetic reality Dyter was proposing I accept. “And don’t worry about telling me anything, ever, not even about myself; I totally trust you because we’re mates!”

Dyter’s eyes were wide, and he stared at me wordlessly.

I took several breaths, forcing myself to calm down. But the emotion hadn’t disappeared; I was just barely controlling it when I spoke. “I’m eighteen years old. I’m not meant to make decisions about mates and permanent promises. Not yet.” Whirling away, I crossed to the edge of the cave and stood looking out over the hillside before I spoke the truth of my heart. “I don’t want to make fake choices that are already chosen for me. I want a real choice.”

Dyter cleared his throat and said, “You had a choice with Kamoi.”

I stiffened, my arms locking where I’d folded them across my chest.

“Why didn’t you pick Kamoi?” Dyter asked.

Dyter had never been cruel or malicious, but his words were an arrow that pierced my heart.





26





Ice coiled in my stomach, its freezing tendrils spreading into my chest. I bit my tongue to prevent the painful truth or vitriolic anger from spewing out. I didn’t want either to escape. Instead of replying to Dyter, I stared out over the treetops, watching as the overcast sky leaked and drizzled its moisture. Fat drops began to form and drip from the rocky overhang we camped beneath.

“I want you to be happy,” Dyter said. “When I’m gone, I want you to be protected.”

“I just squished the Phaetyn queen and tore her guards to bits.” I sniffed in disdain, but my stomach churned with the acknowledgement of what I’d done. I’d feel terrible later. Their deaths might even give me nightmares. But in this moment, I wasn’t the least bit sorry. “Pretty sure I can protect myself.”

He chuckled, and my shoulders relaxed as the tension between us dissipated.

“I can’t believe you left me dragging Lord Tyrrik away on a blanket while you fought off the Phaetyn army,” Dyter said, his laughter swelling. “There you were, stomping around, and I’m hobbling off afraid you were going to breathe fire on the lot of us. Drak, I almost wet myself.”

I snickered as I turned to Dyter. Seeing his red face and hearing his guffaws made me laugh, and as he chortled on, I laughed harder. Soon, tears were streaming down our faces.