Page 150 of Ashborne: Defiance

I turned to find my clean leathers, and a shadow moved in the corner of my vision.

There was a rush in my body, and my heart dipped. I knew what I would find before I turned: Grace. Standing in the doorway, her eyes so big I knew she must have been there long enough to have seen me bare-assed—probably more—and very ungracefully drying myself.

I flinched, but caught myself before the curses burst from me. I grasped the tie of the towel at my hip to make certain it wouldn’t fall and went still.

She stared at me, horrified, then her eyes widened and she turned, quickly, clapping hands to her mouth.

“Sorry! I’m so sorry—the dragons. I felt—”

“Yes, I know,” I said through my clenched teeth. Every word was a tightrope. Every breath wanted to rush out of me in a roar. “They were flirting when I arrived. I told Kham to take her out and get things done. He’ll make sure she’s back before you have any training. Don’t worry.”

Rage erupted in my chest, but I clamped down on it, remembering the humble pie I’d already had to eat in her presence yesterday. I didn’t want to do it again.

“Sorry,” Grace breathed once more, then turned on her heel, her cheeks pink.

“How do you do that?” The words burst out of me without thought and Grace froze, then turned slowly back to face me.

She stared up at me in the dark, her eyes wide like that, but burning. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips as her gaze dropped to my mouth—

She swallowed. “I was looking for Koa and—”

“No, I meant, how did you get there without me hearing you? I know I haven’t been kind about it, but it’s true that you have an enviable skill. Where did you come from?”

“I was up in my room,” she said uncertainly. “I couldn’t sleep once the dragons were teasing each other. I was being quiet because I didn’t want to wake anyone. Then I saw you…”

I inhaled slowly. If she was a brother, a normal Flameborne, I would have been thrilled by the potential in her. I tried to put myself in that place—tried to be honest with myself about what I’d say to another man who’d been able to creep up on me, and throw knives, who flew with such joy and abandon and…

And she was miserable.

It hit me like a boulder rolling down a hill as her face fell when I didn’t respond immediately.

She started to leave again. “I won’t bother you again—”

“No, Grace. Don’t go. I was just thinking.”

She stopped turning, looking at me warily.

I cleared my throat. “You have a great deal of skill. More than most Flameborne when they first arrive. You should be proud of that. You startled me. That’s all.” That was all? No one could sneak up on me, but she did so effortlessly! But I swallowed the protests. She’d heard me snarl them before. It was time to treat her like any other Flameborne. “You have every right to be here, with your dragon, and in the Keep.” I knew I sounded stiff, so I tried to soften my tone. “This is the place for you. I’m certain of it.”

My guts twisted as her eyes began to shine, but she nodded and clasped her hands at her waist. Her posture looked strange in a jacket and trousers. Her stance suited a ball gown and gilded chandelier lighting. Yet, she stood in a dank stable, in poorly sized leathers, with a smudge on her forehead.

She blew out a breath, then said something in a hushed voice, but the very moment she started to speak, I got the prickle.

Every sense on alert, I stared past her to the aisle beyond.

My senses were never wrong.

Someone was coming. Coming for me. And she hadn’t realized.

Without thought, I strode forward, thankful that my bare feet kept the steps silent. Grace babbled something, then squawked when I reached her and grasped her wrist, pulling her into the stable, putting myself between her and the door as I flattened myself against the wall, then turned slowly, inching out with one eye to scan the aisle…

52. The Steel Man

~ GRACE ~

Voski’s eyes glazed the moment I started to speak. I rushed on, desperate to show him that I appreciated his skill and wanted to learn. That I wasn’t trying to frustrate him. But his expression blanked, then turned dark.

He moved incredibly quickly, slipping across the stable to close the gap between us in a blink—I instinctively jerked back, but his hand shot out to grasp my wrist, circling it entirely, and yanking me into the stable.