Page 15 of Great Falls Protector
A corner of River’s mouth twitches. “I think I’ve worked it out, by the way.”
“Something in particular, or the world in general? Because I’m not sure I can recall much about the world in general just now.”
“I know why you joined the Prowess team.” River’s smile fades. “Why you won’t take the offer to leave the Academy for the summer.”
My hands close around the water cup, the chill suddenly desperately necessary to focus my heavy mind. Not fair of River to bring it up now, but I can’t make him unsay the words. Can’t undo the reality pressing in on me on all sides either. Shimmying to sit upright, I meet his penetrating gray eyes and wait for him to continue as the pattering of the rain against the glass intensifies.
“You’ve inserted yourself into the middle of any and all danger to befall this Academy ever since you set foot here, Leralynn. A habit that I’ve tried to talk, work, and punish out of you with no success to date. In that light, imagining that you’ve suddenly reformed and decided to leave the worrying of the Prowess Trials to me was utter folly all along.” River swallows, his dear face so tight, I wish I could smooth it with my fingers.
“River—”
He shakes his head. “I promised to accept you as you are, Lera. And for that, it seems I must acknowledge what you are.”
My chest tightens. “What am I?”
“A protector.” River draws a deep breath, his glistening chest and shoulders expanding with it. “You won’t stand aside and let other people defend the Academy because, deep down, you can’t. It goes against your nature. You aren’t inserting yourself into the middle of the Prowess competition because you’ve developed a sudden interest in showmanship, and you aren’t refusing to repeat the year because you worry about the consequences of the delay. No. Everything you do, it’s designed to get you to the hottest center of whatever inferno you believe most likely to happen.”
My breath catches, each of River’s words striking its target.Protector.The irony of the word choice isn’t lost on me, but neither is River’s own nature.
Now that the male understands what I’m doing, what will he do about it?
My fingers tighten around the water glass, which I drain quickly, my mind racing for footing. I’m swallowing the last mouthful, still settling on a response, when I hear nimble footsteps climbing the stairway outside River’s study.
My eyes widen. River’s do too.
Scrambling into the shirt that River hastily hands me, I discard the now-buttonless coat and wage war on my chest wrap while River kicks the writing supplies he swept onto the floor into the space behind his desk. Inks that survived the previous fall now open in protest at the new insult, spreading in dark puddles across the floor.
On the heels of River’s too-keen words, the sight of him cursing as he simultaneously tries to lace his fly closed and dance away from the spreading ink puddles is almost enough to make me dissolve into giggles.
“Leralynn,” River hisses my name in quiet warning.
I blink at him. Mark his fierce gray gaze. And double over in spasming deranged laughter that refuses to get itself under control no matter how hard I clap my hands over my mouth.
13
Lera
“Tyelor.” River’s control of his voice is a skill to envy. “What can I do for you?”
“Master Han sent me to track down Leralynn, sir.” Tye slides his hands into his pockets, carefully avoiding my gaze. “Shall I tell him that Lera is unavailable?”
My mind sobers to the twin blows of Han’s name and Tye’s cool gaze, harsh reminders of the world beyond this office—beyond River. Despite our hasty cleanup efforts, the smell of our coupling hangs too thick for a fae to miss—especially Tye. I weigh the merits of saying something about it outright, but end up just straightening my tunic instead. Giving River the formal bow of a cadet taking leave from the deputy headmaster’s office, I’m half-relieved and half-disappointed when the male nods his dismissal and starts toward his desk without a backward glance at either of us.
Tye holds the door open for me, my stomach clenching as I step out onto the landing and face the downward stairs. My limbs still feel like partially boiled noodles, and the thought of the climb is as appealing as dealing with Tye just now. Or Han.
“You look well ridden,” Tye drawls.
With my foot halfway down a step, I jerk so violently that my balance falters, and I hop about like a dimwit to find my balance. My gaze locks on Tye, but the hard lines of his beautiful face give away nothing. My hand closes on the railing in a bone-white grip, my nostrils flaring. “Was that a statement of fact or a threat?”
“Could it not be both?” Tye cocks his head, looking eerily like a tiger examining his prey. “I could report you.”
Heat rises through me, my blood quickening. I open my mouth to curse the bastard, but force myself to take the high road before I make a bad situation worse. Tye does have every reason in the world to hate me just now—every reason in his version of the world, at least. “If your mission was to show me how threatening a place on the team feels, I assure you that you’ve accomplished it several times over in the past sun cycle.”
Tye’s hands shift in his pockets, and he continues down the stairs at a pace that makes me jog just to keep up, avoiding looking at his smoothly sculpted muscles. With his back to me, the resemblance to my old laughing, feline quint mate is too painful to bear. “The difference is that Prowess has defined every step of my life, past and future. For you, it’s another cord to twist to your liking.”
I grab the top of Tye’s arm as we clear the next landing, the feel of his coiled muscles beneath my fingers excruciatingly familiar. His white sleeveless shirt is damp, the pine-and-citrus scent mixing with the rain, which also hangs in fine beads from his hair. For once, he’s left his red uniform jacket somewhere, and this close, even for a moment, the warmth of his body brushes against my skin. “If by mylikingyou mean keeping the Academy safe, then yes.”
Tye snorts, turning on me with a flatness to his emerald eyes that chills my blood. “I feel safer already.”
