Page 21 of Purple Protector

Marlin shook his head. “I don’t even want to know. Are you well enough to walk? Or I can carry you to see Palmer.”

“I can walk,” Aaron said as he pushed away from the wall.

The room tilted around him, and he reached out, but the wall wasn’t where it was supposed to be. Luckily for him, Marlin caught his hand, and before he knew it, Aaron was cradled in the dragon’s arms.

“You can walk, my ass,” Marlin grumbled.

“I thought I could.”

“You were wrong.”

Marlin struggled to take something out of the pouch he wore around his neck. Taylor had explained to Aaron that most dragons wore a pouch like Marlin’s to hold things like their cell phones since they didn’t wear clothes and, therefore, didn’t have pockets. Aaron had felt stupid after getting his answer because he should have realized, but Taylor hadn’t judged him.

If he’d been thinking more clearly, he would’ve known who Marlin was calling and would’ve tried to stop him. He didn’t want anyone to worry about him, but especially not Birch.

“Birch?” Marlin said when the person he’d called answered. “Aaron was attacked. You need to tell Killian and come to the infirmary.”

Aaron groaned when Birch shouted something. He was getting a headache.

Marlin hung up without waiting for Birch’s questions and winked at Aaron. “He’ll join us in the infirmary.”

This was going to be a mess, wasn’t it?

BIRCH STARTED MOVING as soon as Marlin hung up on him. He was halfway to the door when Killian cleared his throat, reminding him that he couldn’t just run to the infirmary because his—what was Aaron to him anyway—because Aaron had been attacked.

“What happened?” Killian asked.

Birch sucked in a breath. He shouldn’t be this desperate to reach Aaron. He and Aaron were nothing to each other. Birch wanted them to be something, though, and he was frantic. He suspected that he would only relax once he got his eyes on Aaron and could ensure that he was fine.

But Birch wasn’t allowed to do that. His job was to stay with Killian.

It was a good thing that Killian would want to know how Aaron was and what had happened.

“Aaron was attacked in his rooms,” he said.

“Attacked? How is he?”

“I don’t know. Marlin said to tell you and go to the infirmary.” Birch was going to strangle his friend when he got his hands on him. Couldn’t he at least have hinted at how Aaron was? Couldn’t he have told Birch that Aaron was okay or wounded? Maybe it meant that Aaron wasn’t, but Marlin was taking him to the infirmary. Aaron had been attacked by a dragon. How could a human get out of that fight without getting hurt?

“Go,” Killian ordered.

Birch wanted to, but he knew what his duty was. “I should stay with you.”

“I’m calling more guards, and Tito is outside. Don’t worry about me. Worry about Aaron. I’ll be fine until Marlin can come back.”

“I’ll be back soon, too.”

“No. I want you to stay with Aaron. We need to find out what happened and why he was attacked. While we do that, he has to be protected until we do and stop whoever did this.”

Birch should insist. Killian was supposed to be his priority. Instead of staying until he was sure Killian would be protected, he turned and rushed out the door. He ignored Tito when he called for him and made his way out into the hallway. He wanted to punch something, but he tried to keep his focus until he reached the infirmary. Killian would be fine. Even though he was the king, he could protect himself if something happened, but nothing would.

Once there, he hesitated. He was afraid to find out what had happened. He and Aaron weren’t together—hell, they’d barely spoken—but there was something there. There was something in the way they watched each other, and Birch hoped he’d have the opportunity to find out what it was.

He pushed open the infirmary door. He stepped in, not knowing what to expect, and his gaze immediately found Aaron. He was sitting on a bed with Palmer standing in front of him. Palmer was shining a light in Aaron’s eyes, and Aaron was muttering something about it being too bright. The fact that he was sitting up and talking was a good sign, so instead of rushing to his side like Birch wanted, he walked toward Marlin, who was hovering next to the bed.

“You could’ve told me he was okay,” he snapped. Both Palmer and Aaron turned to look at him.

“To be fair, I didn’t know if he was,” Marlin said. “He hit his head pretty bad.”

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