Page 26 of His Greatest Treasure

He took it and raised it to his lips. My eyes followed the chocolate compulsively, watching those lips part and the chocolate sliding between them.

He noticed my stare and asked, “Do you want some?”

The blush that warmed his cheeks as he asked made me burn up inside. He looked so beautiful, sitting there all wrapped up, offering me his chocolate bar with a bite already taken out of it.

I took the chocolate and nibbled at it before giving it back, sorry that I didn’t get to taste him on it.

“Thank you,” he said.

“What for?”

I couldn’t remember doing anything actually useful.

Blaze shifted in his chair, and I leaned across to him to tuck the blanket tighter around him when it slipped down his legs. I didn’t want him getting cold.

“For that,” he said at last.

“The blanket?”

“No, for… taking care of me. It’s sweet of you.”

“Oh. Well, that’s okay. I like doing that. I want you to be taken care of.”

I also liked being the one to do it, but that sounded weird. How I managed not to say it out loud, I don’t know. Maybe I was growing as a person and wouldn’t be so embarrassing from now on.

Somehow, Blaze made me feel as though I wasn’t messing up. He liked being taken care of and it felt special to me that I got to be the one to do it. Nobody else in my clan needed to be looked after that way and, if they did, they certainly wouldn’t askmeto be the one to do it. I was the youngest and they hadn’t seemed to notice yet that I wasn’t a baby any longer. Taking care of Blaze made something inside of me pulse with energy and my bonds shone brighter.

It was an unfamiliar feeling but it felt… right.

“You really should go back to the castle and get your arm taken care of.”

I nodded. I knew that, I did. The wound hurt a lot and I really needed to tell someone about it so they could double-check the border, but I didn’t want to go. Only the thought that the mysterious dragon would be lurking there and waiting to shoot at another of my clan made me get up.

“You’re right, I need to go and report this. Will you please stay inside here where you’ll be safe?”

Blaze nodded. I never questioned that he was telling me the truth. I knew he was. I could see his sincerity in the way our bond blazed with worry and compassion and care.

That thought kept me going as I hurried back to the castle to warn my clan not to go near the borders until Glimmer had ensured it was safe.

Chapter 12

Alfie

As soon as I stood in front of my mother, all the nice feelings I’d had of being competent and capable went straight out the window.

Somehow, she made me feel about six years old and, worse, I let her. I just didn’t know how to behave any other way.

All I knew was that I’d taken charge when Blaze had been in shock and he’d needed me to look after him and I’d liked it. He’d let me help him and he’d looked at me like… like I was a hero or something.

I knew Iwasn’ta hero. I wasn’t anything. I’d neverdoneanything. But it had been nice to feel that way for a while.

That made it doubly hard to have Mother fuss over me and tell me that I wasn’t allowed outsideagain. I barely managed to restrain myself from arguing with her about it, but long experience told me that when she was worried about me, she wouldn’t listen.

It was one of the few times I managed not to blurt out all the words in my head, when I could feel our bond vibrating with anxiety and a sort of grief that made the whole bond tight.

The bond she shared with Morgan was identical to the one she shared with me, and it went tight, too. I could tell that she was in full Mother-mode and wanted to know that Morgan and I were safe. The tightness of the bond didn’t show up in any of her other bonds, even the bright, glowing bond she shared with her own sister. One glance at my mother and anyone could tell that Aunt Silvia was the most important person to her. Except for me and Morgan, of course.

Yet it was only mine and Morgan’s bond that went tight like that.

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