Page 21 of Wings of Cruelty and Flame

“It is now,” I replied. I scrambled out of bed when he neared, wanting to be on my feet for whatever he planned to do. Perhaps my father would get his way and Varidian would kill me after all.

I shrieked when Varidian bent and knocked my legs from under me, throwing me over his shoulder like a sack of flour.

“Put me down, or I swear I’ll find a way to kill you,” I snarled.

He just snorted. “By all means, menace, try to kill me. It won’t change the fact you’re sleeping inourbed tonight.”

I grumbled under my breath, a string of sounds without meaning. Why he wanted me beside him was a mystery, but I didn’t see any way out of it. My head bounced off his back as he carried me across the hall into his room. Ours. Whatever he wanted to call it.

“I’m sorry I upset you,” he said, surprisingly heartfelt for a man who held me upside down over his shoulder. “I had no idea, Ameirah, or I wouldn’t have brought up such a sore subject.”

I snorted, bitterness wrapping around my heart like armour. “Of course you didn’t know. No man in his right mind would marry a gentry without a wyvern.”

“Do you think I married you for a wyvern? I doubt any creature would have your dangerous wit. Or a tongue quite as cutting as yours.”

“Maybe if fire breathing counts as cutting,” I muttered, screwing my eyes shut as the whirling hallway made my head throb.

“Ilikeyou Ameirah, genuinely, and I don’t remember the last time I liked someone. I don’t want you across the hall in a separate room after I just watched you come so beautifully for me.”

Fuck.

He needed to stop talking like that.

My ears tingled, heating.

“You’re going to sleep beside me, and if you’re especially angry with me you can murder me in my sleep like a normal couple.”

“Your definition of normal needs examination,” I drawled, inhaling sharply when air rushed past me and my back met the soft give of a mattress. “But if you’d like me to kill you, that can be arranged.”

“See, this is why I like you.” He was smiling; I could hear it in his voice.

I cracked an eye open, watching him snuff out the torches until he was lit only by moonlight. “You seem completely unchanged. Still as mad as before you found out I’m defective.”

He was on top of me in a heartbeat, his eyes blazing. “You arenotdefective. It’s not your fault your family are monsters.”

“Varidian,” I sighed, unable to finish my thought.I’m the monster.

A kiss landed between my eyes, and my heart twisted into a painful knot. “Your new family will treat you better, I promise you.”

“If you don’t think everyone will take one look at me and know something is wrong, you’re delusional. It’s been this way all my life.”

“Ah, but you didn’t have me beside you then. One single pointed comment, and they’ll gravely regret any looks they give you.”

I opened my eyes fully, my brow pinched. “You can’t hurt your family for speaking their minds about me.”

“Who said anything about hurting them? I can be far more creative than that, and the spare baths arelongoverdue a deep clean. I’m sure I have a brush they can use around here. It’s no bigger than my finger.”

I rolled my eyes, but the bastard had me smiling again. “That’s cruel, Varidian.”

He kissed my forehead again, making a confusing mess of my emotions. “In case it wasn’t clear, Ameirah Saber, I want you with or without a wyvern. But if you decide you want to bond, I’ll scour Ithanys for the deadliest and cleverest wyverns and bring them to you for your choosing.”

I glanced down, a tight hurt in my stomach. No matter what he said, I knew deep down my power was too dark, too twisted, for a wyvern to bond with me. But I forced myself to nod. “I won’t change my mind, though.”

He kissed my temple this time and rolled off me, crawling under the covers. He pulled me back against him, ignoring the scowl I threw his way, mostly to cover up how vulnerable I felt.

“You’re always welcome on Makrukh’s back with me,” he said against my neck, brushing my hair aside to kiss me there. My body broke out in goosebumps. I was caught between brittle anger and relief. He still wanted me. It shouldn’t have mattered—I’d only just met him, and I hardly had feelings for him so soon. It wasn’t like Varidian wanting rid of me was going to break my heart. But his acceptance felt like warmth on a plantlong deprived of the sun. I forced a deep breath and settled into the bed, my side tingling when his arm draped over me.

Because it was dark, I felt brave enough to admit, “Today was my first flight.”

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