Page 87 of A Song of Air
She found Ev at camp. He looked surprised at her approach, though she didn’t blame him for the expression that currently painted his face.
She’d been aloof for days. She’d avoided him ever since that night. Ever since she’d scrambled off his body in tears and left him in that little tree house alone. Confused, and alone. Now, she had to face him in the aftermath of that betrayal.
“Ev,” she whispered, already feeling her insides break, shatter like glass into millions and millions of pieces. She had no right to feel what she was feeling. No right to those roiling emotions.
But when she looked at him, all she could see was someone else. Someone else clawing at her back, sinking canines into her neck. A flash of golden eyes, demanding her pleasure that she was all too eager to give and would do so again, because her treacherous body craved him like she craved air, even when she knew it was wrong.
“Bryson.” Ev stood, dusting his hands against his pants. “What’s wrong?”
That lump in her throat only hardened. “We need to talk.”
He nodded at her grave expression.
They didn’t go very far. Only a few feet...
...before everything went to shit.
Fuck, she wanted to curse as Weylyn blocked their path.
Bryson’s face heated. She wanted to flip him the finger. Pull Everette away from Weylyn’s special brand of danger and mischief. Fear, sudden and bursting, appeared inside her. What did he want? She’d avoided him too, but now that he saw her and Ev together, would he flaunt what they’d done in Ev’s face before she got the chance to tell him herself?
Ev bristled next to her, that concerned look turning into an angry stare as he took Weylyn in. “What do you want?” he demanded.
Weylyn ignored Everette as though he were nothing more than a piece of furniture and stepped closer to Bryson. “You’ll come with us, won’t you?”
Her heart bottomed out to her stomach. Her throat closed up, pushing the words she’d wanted to say behind a tightly locked closed door with no escape. Her breathing grew into shallow pants and her already blurry vision tunneled. She saw nothing at the end of it except Weylyn. His intent gaze on her and maybe, that thing she felt down the unwanted bond that tethered them together? Hope. Desire. Lust.
It all coalesced into a maelstrom of sensations and she couldn’t pick apart her own feelings from his. The voices in her head from his. It was all too much. Too overwhelming. Her magic pulsed in response to her distress, begging to be unleashed.
Above, her hawk cried out.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Ev demanded. His hand slipped into hers, tight, possessive.
Bryson pulled away, ignoring the look of hurt he flashed her way.
Again, Weylyn ignored him. “You will, won’t you?” He stepped closer. So close, she could taste the spicy sweet mix of his scent against her tongue. It made her throat open, her mouth water with sensations that she wasn’t sure were his or hers.
“Bryson, what the fuck is he talking about?” Ev demanded, his voice rising.
She felt Ev draw in a crowd. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment as several pairs of eyes trained on them. She’d known that the camp was tuned into the drama. Into the animosity between Weylyn, Ev, and Bryson. They hadn’t all known why, but it was a palpable thing. Like looking onto a graying-black sky and waiting for the storm to hit.
“Ev...” She choked, eyes burning. “The Resistance asked me to leave with them. Tonight.”
There was a single beat of silence. A single one before Ev was grasping her hands, holding them tightly enough that she would have bruised, had she been human.
“No,” he said firmly. “No. Forget it. She’s not fucking going with you people.”
Bryson tried to pull away, but Ev’s grip only tightened.
“That is not for you to decide, human,” Weylyn spat, the word human like a curse on the tongue.
“She’s not going with you. She’s staying here with us. With me.”
Bryson’s heart thundered in her chest.
Her familiar squawked, tuned into her emotions and swooped low.
“Bryson, tell him you’re staying with us,” Everette urged, yanking her roughly towards him. His tone had taken on a desperate edge, one he couldn’t hide. Up close, she could read the frantic gleam in his eyes, the way his nostrils flared. “Bryson,tell him.”
