Page 73 of The Keeper of the Kingdoms

I was lost in my head with thoughts of home when Jaxus knocked at the door.

“Everything good?” he asked wryly, obviously knowing full well I wouldn’t have found a paper clip out of place.

I gestured to the paperwork. "It’s all perfect. There was nothing to do but sit here and marvel at all you have achieved.”

Jaxus perched on the corner of the desk. “It has been a group effort.”

“One that never would have happened without your vision,” I assured him.

He tilted his head, studying me. “Is something wrong?”

“No, why?”

“You seemed miles away when I got here.”

I shook my head. “No, just thinking. That’s all.”

“About?”

“About the research we are doing,” I said, not giving any details in case we could be overheard.

“Ah. Yes, it seems like a bit of a dead end,” he said, pulling a piece of parchment from his pants pocket. “I got this after the meeting,” he said, handing me the note.

It was a reply from the head librarian letting him know that she was unable to find anything further for us on dragon bloodlines. We had officially hit a wall.

I sighed.

“I know,” Jaxus agreed, sighing too.

That was unless I took a big step and brought Jaxus into the fold. I knew I could trust him at this point, but it just felt like itwent against everything I was conditioned to be. It felt wrong on every level, and I wasn’t sure I could do it because it could never be undone.

“Kiera?” he asked, bringing me out of my head.

“Hmmm?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Your heart rate just picked up significantly.” He warned. “So either you’re sick again, or something is worrying you.”

“I’m fine,” I tried not to let my guilt of not telling him what I was thinking add to my heart rate. Damn dragons, you couldn’t hide anything from them. I prayed he wouldn’t ask me mind to mind because then I couldn’t lie. Even by omission. He would know.

Luckily, he didn’t, which in of itself set me on edge. He knew I wasn’t telling him something. It was only a matter of time.

THIRTY-TWO

JAXUS

Ididn’t know what to do.

On the face of things, I should have been celebrating. Kiera was almost back to herself and my idea for getting help for the healers was a huge success.

But I was on edge. I spent my days making sure Kiera didn’t do something to undermine her recovery, keeping one eye on Nyx, and trying to stay on top of briefings I’d fallen behind on while I sat by Kiera’s bedside. I’d delegated my leadership tasks through the ranks to ensure everything was still working how it should. And I was still trying to find any thread that could give us some kind of lead on Kiera’s bond theory.

We were out of ideas, and what was worse was it felt like Kiera was pulling away. I was sensing her distance more and more, and I didn’t know what had caused it. I suspected there was something big she wasn’t telling me, and the idea that shedidn’t trust me hurt. But with all that I was keeping from her, I had no room to talk. I couldn’t push her to trust me when I could never be fully open with her. It was impossible. All I wanted was to bring her back to me. To how we had been over the past few weeks.

I stood in the doorway, watching her scribbling away in her notebook. The little crease between her brows was pronounced, she was frustrated with whatever she was trying to work through. I’d learned all her tells over the last few weeks.

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