Page 172 of Lady of Starfire

Briar stared at her, some of the hardness of his features having softened while she spoke.

She cleared her throat, beginning to gather her few belongings. A few extra tunics and pants. A cloak.

“I tried to get here sooner,” Briar said into the room.

“I know,” Talwyn answered, reaching for a hairbrush.

“Scarlett freed me in the Southern Islands nearly two days ago, and I could not get here. I could not get to her.”

There was so much frustration and angst in those last words that Talwyn turned back to face him once more.

“My reserves were full after not being able to use my magic for weeks. I made a portal, but— I cannot explain it. I do not know if they laced the little food they gave me with something, but it was as if each portal could only go so far.” His gaze fell to Ashtine, and he laid a palm on her belly. “All I could think was that I was finally able to come to her, and I could not get here. Scarlett had told me she was not well, and I could not get to her. I could not get to them.”

“You did not fail them, Briar,” Talwyn said, fingers flexing around the items she held. “You protected them the way any mate and father would. You sacrificed yourself. There is no greater love, and if that is failure, then I hope I am as big a failure as you at some point before I cross the Veil.”

Briar went quiet again, and Talwyn returned to gathering her few things. She moved to the door, to go where she wasn’t sure, but she wanted to give Briar and Ashtine their privacy.

“Thank you, Talwyn. For watching over them for me,” Briar called out when she reached for the door handle. She glanced back over her shoulder to find him toeing off his boots so he could settle down better beside Ashtine. She nodded, pulling the door open. “Can you come back in a few hours? I need to bathe and do not want her left alone.”

“Of course. Send a message when you want me to return,” she answered.

Talwyn crossed to the room opposite Ashtine’s, finding it empty and claiming it for her own. The Witches could move her if they didn’t want her there. Not knowing what else to do with herself, she went back down to the aerie.

Thorne was standing by a fence, and he let out another squawk of what she could swear was annoyance as she neared.

The feeling was mutual.

“Why would you pick me if you want nothing to do with me?” she grumbled, stopping a few feet away.

The griffin blinked, bright amber avian eyes studying her.

She sighed, pulling an apple from her cloak pocket that she’d grabbed on the way out here. She held it out to him, moving closer. “Here.”

He blinked again before his wings rustled, and he swiped it from her hand in a move so fast Talwyn almost missed it. She jerked her hand back, watching him devour the fruit in a few mighty crunches of his beak. He stared at her expectantly.

“I am not giving you another one,” she snapped. “Not until we figure this thing out between us. I have been trying to fix all my shit. You don’t get to ruin it.”

One of the griffin’s talons scraped against the ground, making them screech.

“Don’t be a prick,” she barked, taking another step closer so she was nearly nose to beak with him. “The High Witch says we need to bond. So what will it be, Thorne? Are we bonding over being abandoned by the same female? Over the fact that she chose others over us? Although, I guess she chose me over you, didn’t she?”

A sound that was a cross between a growl and a screech came from Thorne.

“Is that why you chose me? To see what was so great? Because I assure you, there is nothing special here,” Talwyn said, absent-mindedly reaching up and stroking a hand down his beak. He huffed, the breath hot against her palm. “What have you been waiting for?” she murmured.

His wings flared slightly, and he took a step back, tilting his head to see her better.

Crossing her arms, she rested them atop the fence rail. “Listen, I don’t have much of anything to offer you, Thorne. But we are at war.” He blinked, as if telling her to go on. “I don’t have people to call my own anymore, but I still plan to fight beside them. You are a stubborn shit. Battles need that kind of strength.”

The griffin huffed again.

“So that is what I can offer you. The freedom to be a dick to whomever you want. I know you already do that, but there would be a purpose behind it. Can we bond over that? Over being stubborn fools who are just trying to figure out their purpose after…everything?”

The two stared at each other. Beast and powerless immortal.

Thorne moved towards her, and she took a step back, wondering if he was about to peck at her yet again. Instead, he lowered his head, nudging at her cloak pocket.

She sighed, pulling out another apple. “I guess apples. I have those to offer too,” she muttered.

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