Page 55 of Shardless

Skye picked up a discarded cup on her nightstand and held it up to his nose. Wyrmwood tea—great for pain, but also averystrong sedative. “Well, that explains a few things.”

Like drug-induced desires to clean.

Dust,he thought, shaking his head. She hadn’t come to his room looking for him. She was probably trying to find a broom.

“Go to sleep, Taly.”

“Not until you say you’re not mad at me anymore,” she argued stubbornly, an almost childish whine to her voice. “I’m here now, so you’re not allowed to be mad anymore.” A large yawn interrupted her. “I wanted to tell you about the… and the… magic and harpies? I hate harpies… and wyverns… and magic…” Her words became more and more garbled the longer she babbled, and her voice trailed off as her face relaxed in sleep.

Skye stared at her for a long moment before huffing out a mirthless laugh. “Are you kidding me?” he asked her sleeping form. “I’m notallowedto be mad? Is that a joke?”

Taly mumbled something incoherent as she turned over.

“I’m not allowed to be mad,” he repeated to himself. “That’s a good one. But Princess Tink has spoken, so I have no other choice but to obey, right?”

Skye took a shaky breath. “Sorry to tell you this, but that’s not going to work this time. After what you’ve put me through this past year, after what you said to me when I found you in that bunkhouse in Ebondrift right after you left… Shards, after what you said to me this afternoon… I’mallowedto feel anything I damn well please. You don’t get to decide when I stop beingmad.”

Taly kicked in her sleep, wriggling to get comfortable.

“I thought you were going to die,” Skye whispered, reaching up to tuck the blankets back around her. “I’ve been so angry at you for so long, but the moment that harpy grabbed you, none of that mattered anymore. And after spending a week wondering if I would ever get to hear your voice again, or see you smile, or even have you smack me for saying something stupid—I was ready to move forward. I thought you might be too, but…”

Skye stopped, turning away and hanging his head. “But the first thing you did when you woke up was try to push me away.Again. I’m not going to lie—that fucking hurt. And then you know what hurt even more? After telling me to piss off, you go and talk to Aiden. You confide in Aiden.Aidenis the one that gets to know why you decided to cutmeout of your life.”

Skye wiped at his eyes. “Mad, Tink? I should befuriouswith you. I should be cursing your name. I should cut you out of my life the same way you did to me—let you see how it feels to suddenly have your closest friend run out on you with no explanation. Because let me tell you—it feels shitty. Really, really—"

Skye started when he felt a hand on his arm.Turning his head, he found Taly staring back at him sadly.

“I’m sorry,” she breathed. She still looked sleepy and dazed, but there was a little more clarity in her eyes now. “I’m so sorry, Em. I’m sorry, I… I don’t know how to fix this. You’re still mad at me, and… I don’t know how to fix it.” Her lip began to tremble, and her face crumpled. She swallowed back a sob.

“Don’t cry,” Skye said softly, wiping at the dampness that was swiftly collecting on her cheeks. “Yes—I’m still angry. I’m angry and hurt and confused and, right now,tired. But I’m not going anywhere. You are the most infuriating woman I’ve ever known, but I’ve given up trying to deny that I won’t keep running back for more.”

“Tell me how to fix this,” Taly slurred. She was struggling to keep her eyes open as the sedatives and medicine began to drag her under. “Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”

Skye shook his head. “You need to rest, Taly. We can talk about this in the morning.”

“Tell me,” she demanded mulishly.

Skye’s lips quirked to the side. Even half-asleep, she was still as stubborn as ever. “Okay,” he began, hoping to placate her. “Well, I think a good place to start would be honesty. If you don’t want to talk to me about something, that’s fine. But don’t push me away. Don’t make up some hurtful lie about how you think you’re just somemortal petor go around saying that you need to cut me out of your liferight nowbecause you're going to die in 60 to 70 years, give or take.That’s ridiculous, Tink, and you know it.”

Her face scrunched up, like she was getting ready to argue.

“No more lies,” he said hastily, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear and effectively shushing her. “Just talk to me, be as honest as you can, and tell me to shove off if I start to pry. If you can manage that, we can figure out the rest as we go along. Like I said—I’m not going anywhere.”

Reaching for his hand, she twined her fingers with his. A sleepy smile emerged. “Deal,” she sighed as her eyes fluttered closed. “No more lies. I promise. I promise I’ll...” She abruptly stopped mid-sentence, and soft, kitten-like snores took the place of words.

“And she’s asleep,” Skye grumbled tiredly, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

It wasn’t much, and they still had a long way to go to get back to where they were before, to find that level of trust—but it was a start. And in the end, he supposed it didn’t really matterwhoconvinced her to stay. Even if she wasn’t ready to tell him the truth, she clearly still wanted him around, still valued him enough to seek him out when she was delirious and in need of comfort.

For now, that was good enough.

Leaning down, Skye pressed a kiss to her brow. “Welcome home, Tink,” he said as he pushed himself to his feet. “Let’s just hope you still remember this conversation come morning.”

Chapter 11

-A relaygram from Lady Sarina Castaro of House Fairmont

The 18thday of the month Meridian, during the 251styear of the Empty Throne

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