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"It's from her," I said, smiling at how perfect the inscription was. "What does yours say?" I asked him.
Wraythe had his lips pressed together and he shook his head. Instead of reading it, he passed over his watch. When I looked back at him, the giant's eyes were just a bit too glossy, and I had a feeling it wasn't because he was sad.
Shelter me from everything except your heart. I need that to survive. ~N.
"That was written just for you," I assured him, passing back both watches to prove the point. "Sounds to me like you're still her guardian."
"Don't mind sharing?" Wraythe asked, trying to make it a joke, but failing.
"No," I promised. "And if there's ever a time when you have to choose between me and her? Just promise me that you'll choose her, ok?"
"Ela..."
"I mean it," I said. "We both know she can handle herself, but Zeal's made her a target. Her, Wraythe, not me. So far as I care, I'll be right there beside you, because I'm her guardian too." I shrugged. "Besides, I get off on a little pain."
His head snapped up. "I promise, Ela. Only because I think that's why Zeal chose us for her. You know he put us in her path. You know it as well as I do, and I think that's why. Because that darkness inside you? It's a fucking weapon. We need to figure out how to hone it."
"Yeah," I breathed, realizing he had a point. "Dinner with Shalsa and Irila. Here, so we don't have to explain to Jamik and Amerlee. Deal?"
"Good plan," he agreed. "And hopefully you'll be ready for food by then."
I groaned in agreement, because right now, I just wanted another drink of water, a hot bath, and a few more hours to get the rest of this bourbon out of my system. Still, she'd asked me to have fun, and I had. The kind I needed, evidently.
Chapter 50
Nariana
The tension between Talin and Tath simmered all through dinner and only got worse after, until we made our excuses and vanished into his room as early as possible. Then Talin and I stayed up for our own celebration, and slept in late. The entire house would be moving slow today after the parade of balls and galas yesterday, so when someone knocked on Talin's door the next morning, I ignored it. Talin grumbled and rolled into me, wrapping his arms around my back, but he clearly had no interest in answering it.
Until the inner door clicked, announcing someone - who clearly had a key - slipping inside. "Talin?"
The voice belonged to his youngest sister, Yamina, and was enough to make him pull away, tucking the blankets around my chest before he sat up. Beneath the covers, we were both completely naked, and there was no way to hide that.
"You are too old to walk into a man's room without invitation," Talin told her.
She moved toward the fireplace. "You're my brother. That means it doesn't count."
"Yeah? And you walk into Tath's room uninvited?" he snapped back.
I rolled onto my back in time to see the teenager grin. "He doesn't usually have a woman in his bed, and his wife sleeps in the next room. Morning, Nariana."
I thrust my arm to the side and flapped my hand. "At least give me a robe if you're staying?"
She followed the direction of my arm to where my dressing robe lay on the back of a chair. Picking that up, she made her way closer, but her eyes were scanning my clavicle - and the lace scrawled across it.
"I have never heard of a priestess like you," she said, the question clearly implied.
So I took the robe and slipped out from the covers, exposing more lines of black. Yamina sucked in a breath, surprised that I was so brazen about showing myself and the pattern marked on my skin. Just to prove my point, I turned, letting her see the marks across my back. Only then did I slip on the robe, tying it loosely at my waist as I headed for Talin's wardrobe. In there, I found a pair of pants for him and a drawer that held underwear. Claiming both, I made my way back to the bed and passed them over.
"Thank you," he breathed.
"Now," I said, steering Yamina back to the fireplace, "you can add a log and get that going while you tell me what couldn't wait until we were up."
She obeyed about the log, but ignored the rest. "I thought guardians couldn't... you know."
"I promise that things are never as simple as the rules make them seem. What did you want, Yamina?"
"Maela and I want to go ice skating. Tath said we're not allowed unless we can find a man willing to accompany us. And since Maela said that Talin and Tath were fighting again, I kinda hoped that my brother would agree to chaperone us. I mean, you're invited too, Nari."
