Page 24 of Great Falls Protector
“It’s a little late to ask now, don’t you think?” says Arisha.
I push Tye into a wooden chair and climb onto his lap before he can protest, looping my arms around his neck. Feeling his heart pound beneath me, I press my forehead to his. Absorb his delicious heat, the silver flecks in his eyes. “We’ll just give it time, okay?” I say.
He smiles with just a hint of the old Tye and angles his mouth toward mine.
“I like your ears,” a small voice says from the corner. Tye stiffens against my lips as Rabbit’s words register. “Is it true that they can hear everything?”
Pulling out of Tye’s embrace, I share a concerned gaze with the male before turning my head to Gavriel, whose frown mirrors the dread starting in the pit of my own belly. Coal’s memory returned without destroying his disguise, but things are changing. “You can see Tye’s ears, Rabbit?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I can’t.” Gavriel shakes his head. “Tyelor looks no different to me than he always has. Though I’m more used to seeing the young man fully clothed.”
Rabbit shrugs, as if the bit of news is utterly unimportant to him. “I’ve always seen them. But it seemed not so smart to say so. Since no one else seemed to see. Not even Master Shade and he, youknow…woof.” Rabbit makes his hands into claws.
Tye squeezes my shoulders, then walks over to crouch beside the skinny boy, Minion following in his wake like a little furry honor guard. “What would have happened if you said something, do you think?” Tye asks the boy, his gentle voice at utter odds with his great size.
Rabbit’s chin lowers. “I’d be thrown out, and I have nowhere to go.”
Tye shakes his head, and I suddenly see the little boy he used to be, both in the veil-spun memories and his own past. The damn veil amulets didn’t just spin disguises—they exploited every pain to their advantage.
“Headmaster Sage was going to put me out,” Rabbit whispers. “Before you came and everyone thought Commander River was the deputy headmaster. But then River said I could stay. And everyone listened to him. Please don’t tell River who he is.”
My chest tightens.
Tye shakes his head. “Won’t happen, Rabbit. I won’t let it, all right?”
“Rabbit.” I crouch beside the boy as well, my knee brushing Tye’s. “Can you see Han’s ears?”
“Sure,” says Rabbit. “But he looks human.”
“That’s because he is.” Walking into the library, Coal surveys us with a grim face, his blond bun uncharacteristically mussed, the streaks of blood on his hands clearly not his. “I’d say I’m sorry to break up this feelings fest, but I’m not in the least.”
“A pleasure to have you join us as always,” Arisha mutters.
Coal gives her a dark look, then surveys us all, his blue eyes heralding back reality even before he speaks. “Master Zakeproved to be rather cooperative once we started a conversation. Han is a shifter, with human as his animal form. The long and short of it is that the Night Guard and their minions—which includes many of the new serving staff—have us surrounded. The attack will happen during the closing ceremonies to the Prowess Trials, when everyone is in the arena for the awards ceremony.”
“You were right all along, Lilac Girl,” says Tye. “I—”
“You need to get back out to the exams like a good little athlete,” I say, disbelieving my own words. Ignoring Tye’s vigorously shaking head, pull his golden uniform shirt off my back, stuffing it into his hands. “I’m off the team now, maybe even out of the Academy if I can’t find a way around it, so you will be the only one able to stay close to the royals. Looks like you’ll be getting your glory days spinning around a bar after all.”
“Lera—” Tye says.
“She is right.” Coal hands me his own blood-crusted shirt to replace Tye’s, his suddenly bare, rippling torso making Arisha look away with an eye roll. “Go, Tye. Plus, I think the mortal wants to yell at me just now, and you are in our way.”
Sliding the uniform over his muscular body, Tye pats Rabbit’s shoulder and leaves, his green gaze holding mine until the door finally shuts behind him.
With Tye gone, Coal leans his shoulder against a bookcase and cocks one brow. “Yes, I stood idly by and watched while that human stain tried to make mincemeat out of you—and vice versa, ” the male says evenly. “And no, you won’t be getting an apology. But if you’d like to take a swing at me over it, now would be the most opportune time for it.”
Brilliant.
I snort. “On the contrary, Coal. Given how wonderfully it all worked out, I think I’ll simply keep it in reserve to use in your own nightmares.” My brow rises to match his, heat flooding my sex in spite of myself. “But not now. I just want to make sure I’ve the time to enjoy it.”
“You’ve an evil streak to match Minion’s.” With a shake of his blond head, Coal snatches me into his arms, his lips hovering a breath away from mine. His teeth flash, the blue in his eyes blazing. “You scared the hell out of me, mortal, so don’t mind me if I take a moment to account for all the pieces of you.”
An exaggerated barfing noise sounds at the other end of the room, quickly followed by Arisha and Gavriel herding Rabbit from the library.
Coal runs his hands down my sides with more pressure than necessary and up my back, under his shirt, hesitating on the raised welts left by Zake’s belt. I suppress a flinch, looking him clear in the eyes, daring him to say something.
