Page 65 of Of Bone and Ash

“You have no idea what you’re doing right now,” I grind out, trying to calm my Dragon down enough to have a rational conversation with her. She needs love and care. Understanding and a shoulder to lean on. We need to earn her trust back, and we can’t do that by rutting her into the damn kitchen counter, I remind him. Smoke billows from my flared nostrils, making Fina still, her eyes widening as she stares up into my eyes.

“Is he?” she starts to say, and I nod, closing my eyes as I try to take deep breaths. This does nothing to calm me since all I can smell is her and I swear I cum a little in my pants. “Does he need to come out? I haven't seen him in a long time,” she whispers, sounding so much sweeter than she was only moments ago.

“No!” I bellow, hands falling from her to grab the edge of the counter on either side of her thighs. I hear her huff in frustration as I try to hold back my Dragon, who is now raging at me to be set free.

“I see you’re trying to keep him from me still,” she snaps like a brat, and I laugh. She’s so mad that I didn’t let her near my Dragon that I never shifted near her for over six months before I left. But what she doesn't know is that if I had let him out, he would have taken her and had her mated to him in under an hour. Everything I have done is to keep her safe from outside threats and myself.

“Everything I do is to keep you safe,” I snap back, opening my eyes when I finally feel like I won’t jump on top of her. She snorts, actually fucking snorts, and rolls her eyes like she used to when we were kids.

“God save me from your savior complex. All it’s ever done is hurt me. All you’ve ever done is hurt me!” she screams, hands flying forward and shoving my chest. I brace for the move and don't even rock back on my heels, which only infuriates her more as she starts pounding on my chest with her tiny fists in a fit of rage.

“Stop!” She ignores me because of course she does. This is Serafina afterall. She’ll only listen when she wants to. “Stop! I don’t want you to hurt yourself!” I yell, then freeze when I feel the sharp blade of her knife against the column of my throat.

Damn, she’s faster than she used to be.

“You don’t get to tell me to stop,” she rasps, her voice straining from all the screaming and cursing she's done over the last hour. I open my mouth, then promptly shut it when she presses the knife harder against my skin. There is a small bite of pain that has me groaning and closing my eyes as my cock throbs in my pants. “No. You listen to me. We may be at the same location, but that doesn’t mean anything has changed. You left. You chose to break our friendship, not me. I’m not letting you back into my life after finally being able to live again.”

My eyes snap back open at the comment, and I frown. What is she talking about?

“I left to keep you safe. Whether you believe it or not,” I whisper, looking down at her and trying to convey the truth of my words, but she's already shaking her head.

“Safe from what?” she asks, a cold amusement filling her eyes as she glares up at me, her hand no longer trembling as she keeps her knife pressed there. “From the only friend I had? The only anchor that helped keep my magic steady?” she rasps, then releases an emotionless laugh that chills me to my very bones.

“Oh, that’s right. I needed to… what was it you said again?” she snaps her fingers as if the memory has suddenly come back to her. “I needed to find a new fix. Killing people wasn't worth you putting your life on hold,” she whispers softly, her words cutting me deep as I remember the pain in her eyes as I spoke all those lies. “Something about me being a child. That I needed to find a friend my age because we’ve been around each other for too long and my—obsession isn’t healthy.” I instantly close my eyes, the guilt that has eaten at me over the last three years coming back in full force.

“Serafina,” I rasp when she doesn't say anything else.

“Guess what, Ryland?” she whispers, her voice closer than it was only seconds ago. I open my eyes and stare into her watery gray ones, taking in the raw pain I see there. “I found a new friend. Someone who won't leave no matter how hard I try to get him to,” she admits as she scoots forward on the counter and drops to her feet, keeping her knife at my throat as she tilts her head to the side, regarding me like a stranger. “I’m not sure why you keep trying to talk to me, but whatever guilt you feel for leaving that girl is unnecessary. I should be thanking you, really,” she adds, pulling the knife away from my throat and pocketing it as she looks around her small apartment.

“Why?” I manage to croak out, fearing her answer more than seeing her fighting a damned Demon. She laughs and looks up at me once more, and I swear I will do anything to keep her attention on me. I feel like I haven't breathed in three years, and she’s my first burst of oxygen.

She smirks, but it's not a nice one. “You taught me more about who to trust than my father ever could have. Consider my obsession well and truly over. You don't have to worry about that girl anymore. She’s learned her lesson,” she clips out, turning on her heel and walking back to her room, taking my heart and battered soul with her.

THIRTY

Serafina

Iwake to a soft, warm hand sliding up and down my back, the feeling so alien yet so freaking amazing that I can't help but snuggle into the warmth under me. I can't remember a time when I didn't wake up cold, my fingers and toes numb. Not even when Ryland lived at the house. I wiggle my fingers, then ball them into the soft blanket draped over my shoulders, pressing my cheek more firmly against the chest under me.

Wait… chest?!

Gasping, I sit up, or rather, I try to, but Teos’ strong arm moves from where it's running up and down my spine and encircles my waist. He yanks me back down, his handsome face pulling into a scowl, a line forming between his thick eyebrows as he shakes his head, eyes still closed.

“Ten more minutes,” he demands, his voice rough from sleep. “So nice,” he grumbles, turning us as he shifts to his side, keeping my chest pressed firmly to his as a thick leg suddenly wraps over mine, pinning me to him. The memories from the day roll back in as I wake up. How Darius and his men had tried to take me. Ryland showing up and saving me. Teos dying on the ground. There was blood everywhere. His arm was bent at an odd angle, and my magic was swirling around him, not in an aggressive way, more sporadic, like it was just as concerned for him as I was.

Then, the memory of Ryland picking me up, forcing me away from Teos and the resounding sound of Teos’ neck snapping. His body bursting into flames until all that was left was bone and ash. Something snapped in me at that moment, tearing a scream from me that made even my ears ring, and I vowed to do whatever I needed, heal whatever I had to, as long as Teos came back to me. It took Ryland twenty minutes to calm me down when Teos hadn’t immediately come back. He had to clear the area, my magic feral and seeking revenge.

Oh shit. I hope I didn't hurt anyone.

Hot tears sting my eyes as my vision glosses over at the reminder of waiting for Teos to come back. It took over an hour, much, much longer than normal, for a Phoenix to regenerate. Then, finally after having a second meltdown, the small smoldering pile that used to be Teos slowly grew, the flames rekindling to a fire so large that they licked the branches of the trees above.

I’m pretty sure I broke Ryland's hand when he tried to keep me from the fire, but when I finally broke free, Teos was back, lying unconscious on the ground and triggering yet another freak out as I raged at him despite the fact I knew he couldn’t hear me. The last thing I remember is kicking Ryland out of my room and slamming the door before sitting on the chair next to my bed to watch over Teos. I must have fallen asleep because the sun looks to have set, and I feel like I’ve slept for a few hours.

“Oh my God! Are you okay?” I ask, wiggling against his firm hold, trying to look at the arm that was broken.

“Obviously,” he groans then shushes me as he yanks me up closer to his face and snuggles into my neck before releasing a content sigh. “If dying by a Hellhound means I get to wake up with you in my bed, then I’ll do it every day.”

“You’re ridiculous!” I snap, not finding any humor in this situation at all. The cold grip of fear that had coursed through me when I had seen Teos on the ground is still replaying in my mind, and I feel sick. Logically, I know Teos is fine. Ryland killing him only helped him heal faster, but there is that seventeen-year-old girl who is still crying on the inside, remembering how Teos’ heart had stopped. How he wasn’t eighteen, meaning there was no coming back from the death I’d just inflicted. “And you didn't die from a Hellhound. Ryland killed you.” And I’m going to roast his ass for it.

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