Page 12 of Power of Draken

I freeze where I am.

If Kyrian was unamused, Kai is simmering with murder. I can feel it right through his stone-like facade. Goosebumps race across my skin and, despite a deep burning across my ribs and right breast, I’m certain that I could sprint a mile just now—if that would get me out of Kai Grayson’s sight.

Before I can accomplish any of that—or make a mess of myself trying -Kyrian wraps his hand around my waist and pulls me the rest of the way to my feet. He could be moving a rag doll around with all the effort it takes him, and yet each movement is precise. Measured. Without looking at me, he pushes me slightly behind him, his body a subtle wall between me and the frozen fury that’s Kai Grayson.

No, not frozen. That’s too stable a word. The way all his muscles coil, his whole body vibrating with violence, Grayson’s fury is the kind that’s poised to explode at the slightest provocation. I don’t know what he is looking for though, what the decision point between putting down his sword and running it through another beating heart rests on.

“Grayson,” Kyrian—who most certainly does know what’s happening in Kai’s head—says quietly. “You level, mate?”

Kai tears his gaze to Kyrian, some unspoken communication passing between the two men.

“She’s fine,” Kyrian says.

Ignoring him, Kai takes a measured step closer to us, then another, until he's a mere handspan from Kyrian. And from me. Shadows writhe around him, lapping at his feet. “Let me see.”

“She is fine,” he says again, not shifting from his spot.

It slowly dawns on me that Kyrian put himself between us not to protect me from Kai’s wrath, but to protect Kai from seeing me.

"I heard you the first time," Kai says. "Move and let me see."

“Right.” Kyrian shifts out of Kai’s way, calling out orders to the room at the same time. He rolls his r’s, his song-like accent coming out stronger than before. “Everra one still here is gonna find elsewhere to be. Right bloody now.”

Everyone who can scurry, does so. Catching sight of Ellie and Trish not far from the backdoor, I desperately motion for them to get the hell out before Kai or Kyrian catch sight of them. I see no scenario where the commandant doesn’t have me strung up to the whipping post for this excursion, but they can still escape that fate. I beg the gods to ensure they do.

Ellie and Trish hesitate, but fortunately understand the truth of the situation and do as I ask, melting away with the rest of the crowd. I breathe asmall sigh of relief, but that dies quickly as Kai Grayson steps right in front of me and blocks out the world.

“How much blood have you lost?” he demands, voice hard as granite.

“Not as much as I’m going to now that you’ve caught me,” I mutter before looking down at myself to assess the current damage. The moment I do, though, I wish I hadn’t. My clothes are soaked with blood, drops of it still spilling around the broken glass embedded in my side.

Shit. There is glass in my side. Cutting into me more every time I move. Slicing through skin and flesh and… The pain I’d not been feeling until now, suddenly lances through me.

Before I can lose my grip on myself—and on staying conscious—I grasp one of the shards and yank it free.

Pain nips. The world wobbles, an all too familiar dizziness making the room tilt on its side.

“Woah, lass.” Kyrian’s arm slides around me. He tucks me tight against his side to prevent me from falling, his woodsy scent filling my lungs as he moves my hand away from messing with the wound again. “Maybe you don’t do that yourself, aye?”

Heat touches my face despite the chill nagging the rest of me.

Kyrian resets his arm for a better brace on me, clearly not trusting me on my own. He is probably not wrong. Kai meanwhile watches with no reaction whatsoever.

“Ro?” The last person I expect to see here, rushes through the open common room door and skids to a halt. Collin Chambers, sword drawn and eyes as large as ale steins, surveys the carnage as if he can do something about it now. “What are you doing here?”

“Bleeding,” Kai answers before I can.

Collin sheaths his sword and starts toward me, which sends relief mixed dread through my veins. On one hand, Collin might be my one chance to escape the azure twins, at least temporarily. On the other hand, I can already see the rebuke in his eyes. There is a reason we never invited Collin into Lifeline.

Kyrian’s hold on me doesn’t loosen at Collin’s approach, while Kai steps into my friend’s path, effectively stopping him a couple paces away.

“What are you doing here?” I ask Collin.

“Squad leader.” Collin proudly motions to a pip on the collar of his uniform. I didn’t think Mother would go that far. She would never have for me. “Grayson ordered all the leadership to take a stroll through Doverly. Just in case conscription gave people tempers at all.”

Of course he did.

Collin puts his hands on his hips, his lips pursing as he takes in every inch of my bloodied clothes and pale skin. His nose is still swollen from where Kyrian had broken it three days ago, making him resemble a jester, especially with his red enchanter uniform. “What did you get yourself into, Ro?”

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