Page 72 of A Court of Bones & Sorrow

I walked away from the table. If Ary had anything else to say, I couldn’t hear it thanks to the silencing spell still surrounding the table. After a few conversations with the locals to assure them that everything was fine, I made my way upstairs and slipped into the room where Vail was sleeping. I made it two feet from the door before I froze at the form sitting in the chair in the corner.

“Figured you’d sleep in the other room,” I said to Draven before continuing to the bed to check on Vail. He was still fast asleep and barely stirred when I lifted the sheet to peek at his chest. An angry, pink scar snaked its way down his body, but considering he’d been holding in his intestines a couple of hours ago, this was nothing. He probably wouldn’t even have a scar in the morning.

I brushed some loose strands of hair away from his face before tracing the jagged scar that ran across his right eyebrowdown his cheek. He’d gotten it protecting me from the wraiths the night our parents had been killed. I’d been too panicked to heal it properly, and by the time we’d been rescued days later, it had been too late to do anything about the scar.

I could bury the emotions from that night deep inside myself, but Vail was reminded every time he looked in a mirror.

“I knew you’d come here,” Draven said. “You’re rather protective of those you love.”

My fingers went still over Vail’s skin. “I don’t love him.”

“Whatever you need to tell yourself,tros.”

“I’m not a queen,” I snapped. “We going to talk about that wraith calling you a traitor?”

Draven sighed. “Nothing has changed. There is still so much I can’t tell you, and you still shouldn’t trust me even though I can swear to you that I’m doing everything I can to keep you and Kieran safe.”

“I believe you . . . but I don’t know what to do with that,” I said honestly.

“Two years ago, you came to the Sovereign House.” Draven paused like he was remembering it. “After a rather stuffy dinner, Demetri fucked off with some of the courtiers, and you and I went up to the rooftop to stargaze.”

“I remember.” We hadn’t done anything except stretch out on a blanket and talk, but it’d been nice. By that point, my marriage had become so rigid, it hadn’t even felt strange to me that Demetri had decided to spend the night catching up with some courtiers rather than with me. I hadn’t seen Kieran in over a year, and the only chats I’d had with Rynn and Cali were via shadow magic.

Lonely. I’d been so fucking lonely.

“What if, for the rest of the night, we just pretend we’re back on that rooftop?” Draven asked. “I think we’ve both earned a few hours of peace.”

“And you won’t tell me anything else, right?” When he didn’t answer, I sighed. Fuck it. I was tired, and I had already intended to stay in this room.

I stalked around the bed to where Draven was lounging in the oversized cushioned chair and eyed it. There was plenty of space for two people if he’d just move over.

When I opened my mouth to tell him that, his hand snapped out and grabbed my arm, pulling me forward. I yelped as I tumbled into the chair, but he smoothly maneuvered my body until I was lying snuggly across his lap.

I should have jumped off and shoved him aside to make room. That was definitely what Ishouldhave done. Instead, I instantly relaxed against his body like he was home and I’d been away for too long.

Then the asshole ruined it by tugging the corner of my shirt down off my shoulder so he could inspect where the wraith had bitten me. “For the tenth time, it’s fine,” I hissed as I slapped his hand away and pulled my shirt back up. He’d been fussy about it all night, even after I’d cleaned up the blood and changed into a clean shirt. “Puncture wounds always heal fast.”

Draven just nodded numbly, still staring at my shoulder. The wraith that had attacked me had gotten away, no doubt to report back to Erendriel. I had no idea if that meant Velika would be informed as well. She and Erendriel were clearly allies, but that didn’t mean they shared knowledge freely. Draven probably knew more specifics about how their relationship worked, but it was clear he wasn’t going to tell me, or maybecouldn’ttell me was more accurate.

I thought back to that peaceful night we’d shared under the stars and let my eyes drift closed. My body was tapped out thanks to the amount of blood I’d let Vail drink. Ary had offered to let me drink from him, but Draven’s growl hadpractically made the walls vibrate, so I’d turned him down to keep a fight from breaking out.

“Do you need to drink?” Draven asked quietly.

My eyes flew open, and I blinked up at him. “Are you reading my mind? Is that a thing you do?”

He chuckled darkly. “You just snuggled your face into my neck and inhaled deeply. Pretty sure you licked me.”

“I absolutely did not.” I thought about it and the fact that I was tucked in against his neck. “Okay, I did smell you, but there was no licking.” I grinned at him. “Trust me, you would know if I licked you.”

He groaned, and I felt something very hard pressing into my backside. Then Draven’s light purple eyes fell on Vail, sleeping only a few feet from us, before he squinted down at me. “How quiet can you be?”

“According to Kieran, I’m a bit of a screamer.”

“Not helping, Sam.” He leaned his head back against the chair and took a deep breath.

So I leaned forward and gently kissed the side of his neck before slipping off his lap. Instantly, he shot forward and grabbed my wrist. “Where are you going?”

“Bed.” I gestured to the large mattress Vail was sprawled on. “It’s not like I haven’t shared a bed with him before, and I’m not going to be able to sleep in that chair.”

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