Page 127 of Deadwood
“Auria.” He gulped down air. “I heard about the attack. Are you alright?” He approached rather quickly, and Glacies’s growl reverberated through me.
At my side, Bowen shot her a warning glare.
My brows knitted together in confusion. “You heard about it? How?”
Lander stopped a foot in front of me, his eyes landing on my split lip before they trailed to the bruises around my neck. He glanced nervously at Bowen and the dragons, doing a double take on the latter before speaking. “They’re talking all about it in the saloon. Guess someone saw the scuffle. You got ‘em good.”
“Yousawthem? They’re there, right now?”
He nodded, and a wisp of smoke ran up the inside of my wrist, hidden from sight as it caressed my skin. “Got a good punch in when Crass started talking, too. Came looking for you and saw you walking out here.”
“You’ve been hiding in the bushes?” I asked, my voice rising in pitch. He’d seen my argument with Bowen, then. Saw me thank adragon. Fuck, he was seeing the dragons right now. I wasn’t sure if that’d be a problem, but it couldn’t be good, right?
His forehead creased, as if he couldn’t figure out why that’d bother me. “I wanted to make sure you were okay?—”
That tendril of smoke weaved through my fingers as my frustration rose, almost like it was trying to comfort me. My head was still foggy from the hit, and I was beyond exhausted, making my temper shorter than ever before. Gods, what was wrong with me? “Clearly, I’m fine. You didn’t have to follow me out here?—”
Vulcan’s nostrils flared as his eyes narrowed on the tree line. “The air reeks of human stench.”
Bowen nodded his head in the direction of Lander, as if to say,And here’s your reason.
Lander tugged a hand through his disheveled hair, his knuckles red. “Dragons, Auria? They’ll kill you just as easily as Crass or Nemin could have.” He shook his head. “Easier, even.” He craned his neck back, looking up at Glacies with fear in his expression. Fear he failed to cover up. He focused on me again. “What are you doing out here?”
His assumption that the dragons would hurt me only fueled my rage, causing me to step forward, but Bowen cut me off, getting in between the two of us. “Best to not make assumptions you can’t hold yourself up against, Prince,” he said, ignoring Lander’s question.
The two of them shared a look, a threat warring in their gazes.
“It’s been a long day for Auria,” Bowen continued, cooling his expression. He reached behind himself to set a gentle hand on my waist. “We’ll be going inside now. I suggest you turn in for the night yourself.” Though it was aimed at Lander, Glacies and Vulcan took off, beating wings blowing cool night air across my heated neck as they disappeared into the sky.
Lander looked around Bowen’s shoulder at me. “You’re sleeping at his house?”
Gods, this was all wrong. I wanted to scream. My stomach churned, causing me to flatten a hand against my abdomen. Something didn’t feel right.
“I’m walking her to where she’s staying,” Bowen clarified.
My head swam as Lander said something in response, but I couldn’t make it out over the fog. I stood there, blinking into space. Had they hit my head that hard? Did I have internal bleeding? Surely, there wasn’t any lasting damage. This felt different than in the street, like a tingling in my mind.
“Auria.” Bowen’s voice filled my head, and I shook it, clearing the haze to find him standing directly in front of me.
I searched the clearing. “Where’s Lander?”
Bowen’s brows pulled together. “He left.” A step closer, and he set both hands on my upper arms. “Are you feeling okay?”
He’d blame himself if I told him something felt off. Despite what he might think, this wasn’t his fault. “I’m fine. Just tired.”
He hesitated, not fooled by my words, but didn’t push. Already, my stomach was feeling better, but I didn’t understand the wave of dizziness or why it seemed to pass so quickly.
“Let’s get you home,” he said. Any trace of his gray tendrils was gone.
We headed through the dense brush, branches catching on our clothes as we walked. A few steps ahead, Bowen did his best to hold the spindly twigs away so they wouldn’t fling back and hit me.
“Why did they leave?” I asked.
He knew I meant Glacies and Vulcan. “They don’t like petty drama.”
“Is that what Lander and I are to everyone?” The thought that others might view us that way wouldn’t surprise me. What Lander and I were forced to do together seemed so…minuscule compared to the world around us.
Holding a particularly thorny branch to the side so I could step into the clearing that led to Deadwood, he said, “To some. It’s no secret your marriage was arranged for a reason.” Marriage slid off his tongue like one might spit out bad tasting food.
