Page 43 of The Goblin in the Sink Drain
Before I could call out a warning that the archer was still in play, a dark-gray dragon with pebbled skin about half the size of Rían swooped over the diner. It landed on the flat roof, throwing its head back with a roar. Between its toes, a human arm stuck up at an odd angle. I could only imagine the rest of the body was stuck to the bottom of his foot like chewing gum on a sneaker.Crimson oozed and dripped down the front of the building, eliciting growls and hisses from the gathered cougars.
The archer. Had to be. No wonder Liam—and who else could it be?—had homed in on the greatest threat. The angle was perfect for the hit I had taken.
“There are two of them,” a terrified shifter screamed over the din. “This is real. This is happening.”
Duh.
Relief coasted through me at having backup with teeth, and it carried me down until I sat on the blacktop with a grunt. I knew better than to rip out the arrow, so I left it in while Rían finished making his point. He cracked his tail like a whip, and chunks of asphalt sprayed the air.
“Call him off,” Nelson snarled at me. “He’s destroying our town.”
What? Did he think I had a rolled-up newspaper tucked in my sleeve? That a few firm whacks to the snout would deter Rían from violence? While anarrowwas jutting out of me?
“Give us your word.” I leaned against Rían’s front leg, and I could have been leaning against a marble pillar for all the give in it. “Stay out of this, and we’ll have no conflict with you.”
“Fine. You have my word. We’ll break ties with Sartori.” He ushered his people back. “Just leave.”
“Nice doing business with you,” I rasped, blood wetting my lips. “Rían?”
Gently, he lifted me in a claw, careful not to touch the arrow shaft, and held me to his chest. The same magic as last time wrapped around me, securing me, but then it flared wider. I found myself inside a bubble of his power, safe from any more attempts on my life.
With a final earth-rattling snarl, he leapt into the sky, and I sagged with relief.
The bubble hadn’t been meant as a shield against attacks, I realized, but to prevent the air currents from ripping the arrow out or shoving it in deeper. I blamed any tears on the wind, but I couldn’t feel so much as a breeze.
A low rumble brought my head swinging to our left where Liam soared next to Rían.
Steady vibrations convinced me they were speaking to one another, perhaps subvocal communication, but I couldn’t parse out their conversation. And then, as my head swam from blood loss, it didn’t seem quite so important.
thirteen
“This is gettingto be a bad habit.”
Warmth encased me, and I turned into the heat to chase away the chill. “Hmph?”
“Almost dying on my watch.” Long fingers slid through my hair. “I thought I would be better at this.”
Sleep-thick haze parted as my mind latched on to the voice and identified the speaker. “Rían.”
Details of the room swam into focus, and I found myself in the urgent care center once again. Same bed, same room, as far as I could tell. But this time Rían was sitting cross-legged on the mattress while holding me on his lap.
“Yeah.” His lazy strokes continued across my scalp. “How are you feeling?”
“Good.” I cracked open my eyes and swept my gaze across his features. “You’re okay?”
“I’m not the one who got shot.” He shifted under me like he wanted to set me aside, like he couldn’t bring himself to touch me now that I was awake. “I’m only vulnerable for seconds during the change, and that was all it took.”
“Ah.” I pushed off his thigh, which might as well have been a freaking railroad crosstie, and slid off him onto the cold sheets. “I see.”
One measly arrow, and I was getting benchedfor my own good.
“Ana.” He reached for me but pulled his hand back at the last second. “I’m not blaming you.”
“That’s not how it sounds.”
“I’ve spent my whole life preparing for you, convincing myself when I found you, I could keep you safe. I built myself up with the goal of protecting you. I thought my size was an advantage, but I couldn’t have shifted in the diner without squashing you and everyone else. Even after, I was limited in my range of motion with you beside me, but I couldn’t leave you unprotected with so many enemies swarming us. I underestimated Nelson and overestimated myself. The combination could have gotten you killed.”
Whether Fayne had planted the notion of his being my defender in his head or he put it there himself after his parents were killed, the details of which I had yet to learn, he was too wrapped up in this idea I was the key to—I don’t know—his happiness? His revenge? His atonement? He had let the idea of me take up so much room in his head, in his life, he was struggling to align the concept of me with the reality.
