Page 57 of Damned and Broken Gods
“Good.” He lifted his chin, looking down his nose at me. “Now let’s bind your hair tightly to keep it out of your eyes on the flight.”
I’d washed my hair this morning and left it loose to dry naturally. It was now a mass of waves tumbling down my back.
I reached up to gather it at my nape, pulling the tie off my wrist, ready to capture my locks into a ponytail, but Araz gently gripped my wrist to stop me.
“What?” I frowned up at him.
“Let me braid it for you.”
I blinked up at him. “You want to braid my hair?”
His throat bobbed. “Yes.”
Yes. Just yes. Nothing more. But thatyesmade my stomach tremble. “Okay…”
He led me to the chair by the dresser. “Sit.”
I sat, nursing the tremble in my belly as he moved behind me to gather my hair into one hand, the other reaching for the hairbrush. He pulled it through my hair in long, even strokes. The motion soothed the ache in my chest, and when his fingers replaced the brush to thread through my locks, a sigh swelled in my throat, and my eyes drifted closed. He braided my hair from the crown to the tip, his touch gentle but firm, callused fingers grazing my nape here and there, leaving spots of warmth on my skin that radiated outward.
I leaned back into his touch, a sigh breaking free from the cage of my lips. His hands settled on my shoulders and squeezed gently, massaging away the last of the tension in my body.
Fuck, he had perfect hands. The perfect pressure.
I tipped my head back, a soft moan slipping from my lips, and he stilled. I opened my eyes to find his fiery gaze fixed on me with the kind of intensity that could melt even the most iron-clad panties.
I sat up at the same time as he released me. He cleared his throat and crossed the room to rummage in his wardrobe, even though we’d been told not to pack anything. “We should go,” he said. “If we get to the gate with enough time, you can meet Ilara.”
“Ilara?” I stifled the sudden spike of jealousy that lit up my chest.
“My thunderbird,” he said, struggling to hold back his smile.
Great. “Um, sure. I’d like that. I hope she likes me.”
“I have no doubt she will,” he said, pulling open the door. “Now come. Let’s get this done.”
I stepped forward and pressed my palm to the door to stop him opening it. He frowned, his gaze dropping to my mouth. My pulse jumped, but I schooled it to chill the fuck out. This wasn’t that kind of moment. “Araz, I need you to promise me something.”
“No,” he said.
“No? You don’t even know what I’m going to ask.”
“Yes, I do. You’re going to ask me to save Vick if he falls.”
Shit. Hedidknow. “Will you? Please? Look, I’m not an idiot, I don’t want to die, but I couldn’t live with myself if something happens to Vick and we could have saved him.”
“I’ve already agreed to keep an eye on him, like Chaya and Mahira have.”
“Yeah, but keeping an eye isn’t the same as saving him, is it?”
His jaw ticked, telling me that I’d hit the nail on the head. “If he falls, promise me you’ll catch him.”
He looks over my head at the window, and I can practically hear his mind working. When he speaks, his tone is firm, brooking no argument. “I will save him, as long as there is no risk to your life.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I believe that the Authority wants you dead.”
“You think the Vayujaari are working for the Authority?”
