Page 49 of Vathia
I’m not sure what’s more shocking: the long-winded speech he just gave or him touching me. But he’s right. Maybe there’s a small chance that she won’t cast me away in disgust, but I can’t trust that yet. I will try to not push her away anymore though, and if she’s still the female I remember, then maybe I can try and let her in.
He squeezes my shoulder before dropping his arm. “We should get back, it’s late and morning comes early.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
AFINGER TRACES DOWN THE side of my face, waking me from my sleep. “Are you awake yet, Mousey?” There is an edge of worry to his voice but it doesn’t quite register.
My head snaps towards the offending voice—okay, maybe not offending, but how dare they interrupt my sleep—and I narrow one open eye at Jesper who’s staring me down at me with concern. “No,” I mumble, closing my eye again.
All of a sudden the night before comes back to me and instantly I’m wide awake, jolting upright in the bed and surveying the room as my heart nearly pounds out of my chest.
“Hey, you’re okay. You’re safe and in my room,” he tells me, pulling me closer to him.
I swallow hard. “What happened? Did someone just try to kill me?”
Nero hops into my lap and nuzzles me. “I tried to save you but the fucker was wearing a mask and was invincible against my attacks,” he says sullenly.
Scooping him up, I cradle him into my chest, kissing him softly on the head. “We’re okay and that’s what matters,” I whisper to him, causing him to burrow into me.
Jesper squeezes me as he pulls me onto his lap. “Someone sent an assassin after you, and it’s apparently not the first time. We don’t know who’s behind it but Aemon has upped the guards around the castle. We won’t let anything happen to you. We’ll be taking turns staying with you each night. Unless you just want to live in my bed. I’m fine with that too.”
I open my mouth to tell him that’s not necessary but he cuts me off.
“Ravina. We have lost you once already. We willnotbe losing you again. I don’t care if I need to hunt you down and tie you to my bed each night. One of us will be in the room with you.”
My eyes widen as my thighs clench together. “I can take care of myself. I know they got the drop on me last night, but it’ll be different moving forward. Plus, if he didn’t blow that dust in my face, I could have taken him,” I mutter, seemingly annoyed with how weak I feel. I can and will protect myself. All these years, I did what I had to survive; this is just another bump in the road.
He growls and Nero chitters dangerously at him, his plumage puffing up as he glares at the male over my shoulder. “She obviously doesn’t want you in her space at night. Take the hint, male,” he hisses.
Jesper chuckles darkly, his voice sparking with mischief as he speaks to Nero. “I figured you would be the most difficult to convince, so I brought you a peace offering.” I scoot off of his lap, peering at him with worry. Who knows what would count as a peace offering to him.
He reaches over to his end table and pulls out a clear vial with something floating within it. My mouth drops open and I’m flooded with Nero’s excitement.
“I carved this out of the bastard’s face just for you, so you can add it to your collection,” he sings gleefully, passing the jarred eye to Nero who practically snatches it out of his hand with his beak.
“Tell him:You have my most heartfelt permission to hold Rav hostage every night. He’s officially my favorite. You may keep him,” he tells me with adoration and awe. He chirps his thanks and flies the vial out of the room, presumably to store it with the other.
I huff out a breath. “Traitor. You’re supposed to bemyfamiliar,” I bellow after him, although I can’t help but feel amused at their antics.
Jesper chuckles and nuzzles my neck. “How long do you think we have until he comes back?”
“To be fair, he’ll probably stay away for a bit.”
Within a breath, he has me flipped on my back as he hovers over me, peering down at me with a mix of concern and adoration. “You really gave us all a fright,” he murmurs, the softest I think I’ve ever heard him speak. “I don’t ever want to feel that kind of fear again.”
My heart softens and I trace my finger over the scar that goes through his eye. He melts into my touch. “I don’t think that will be the end of it. Not until the war is over.” I pause, my fingers resting on the puckered silver scar. “What happened here?”
He stiffens, searching my face for something. “My father’s mate did it not long after you went missing.”
My heart clenches, hurting for the male before me. “Why in the fucking fates would she do that?”
He shrugs, moving off of me, settling against the headboard. “Jealousy, I think.” His gaze seems to zone out on something that isn’t there. Somewhere far in the past. “She’s only had daughters, you know. Three of them. Ugly-hearted bitches, too. She didn’t like that my father’s whore’s bastard fledgling is the heir to the Lordship of Skyrivene. When he wasn’t taking his anger out on me for not being more like him, she was. She convinced my father that because I was a bastard heir, she wanted something from me. An eye for an eye, you could say.”
His hands fist the blankets, his hurt practically palpable. “So, after my visitation with my mother and Evander, he called me into his office. He told me that if I was truly his son, that letting her do this wouldn’t be a problem. That it would be an honor to gift his mate this, considering everything I took from her children,” he scoffs. “He could have made one of his daughters the heir, but you know how he feels about females. They must be seen and not heard, blah blah blah. Only goodif they’re on their backs. It’s fucking bullshit, but back then I wanted him to be proud of me, to respect me. I was young and a fucking idiot.”
Unable to stop myself, I take his hand in mine and squeeze, my hatred for Lord and Lady Verlice growing with every word out of his mouth.
“She laughed. Laughed as she almost carved my eye out with an iron blade.”
