Page 60 of Dance of the Phoenix
But now that Jada already looked as if CJ had died, and especially now that she had made her request, I was suddenly overwhelmed by everything I’d failed to pay attention to—and not just Jada either.
I hadn’t visited Tansy once since training started. I knew from Isora, who was by her side most days, that she was still in a coma, so there wasn’t anything new in that regard, but it didn’t mean I hadn’t neglected caring for someone when I was partially responsible for her state.
There was also Isora herself, who was going to be at the Hecatomb and potentially come face-to-face with Renaldi, the Lord who’d tormented her before she was bought by Atalon. I’d been sowrapped up in my own shit that I hadn’t even asked her how she was dealing with this whole situation.
I was a shit friend.
And, looking at Ragnor, I also knew I was a shit lover.
In conclusion, I was a shit person, and I felt like absolute shit about it.
Ragnor finished packing and zipped up the bag before he came over to sit next to me on the sofa, wrapping an arm around me. “You okay?” he asked, squeezing me to him.
I was tempted to succumb to his warmth, but I couldn’t. Not when I was feeling like I’d let down everyone around me.
But I was curious about one thing. Something I had wanted to ask Ragnor but never got the chance to, thanks to my self-absorption. “Do you know about the Malachi?”
Ragnor’s response was not what I’d expected.
He retracted his arm and leaned back, looking at me with eyes gone blank, his shoulders tense, his jaw locked. “The Malachi,” he repeated, as though the word were foreign.
I frowned, not understanding his stiff reaction. “Yeah,” I said quietly. “Jada told me about them. That they are a celestial species like angels. I figured you probably knew.” It would be very strange, after all, if he didn’t, considering one of his League members used to be one.
Ragnor’s eyes glowed, making me tense, but I couldn’t read him. I had no idea what emotion was riding him hard enough to make his eyes glow. His face was completely indecipherable. “I see,” he said, and offered nothing more.
I had the sudden nagging feeling that Ragnor was telling me without telling me to back off. That this subject was taboo, for whatever reason. It wasn’t just his expressionless face, but the tension drawn in his shoulders. The sudden distance he put between us, as though his latest emotional distance now showed in the physical sense.
Since I had trouble with doing what I was told, especially when it came to Ragnor Rayne, my first instinct was to push. But looking at his glowing eyes, I had the sudden feeling that pushing him right now would be a mistake.
Whatever his deal with the Malachi was, it seemed I had stepped on a landmine.
So I plastered on a fake smile and said, “Never mind. Forget it,” before rising to my feet and walking to the bathroom to take a long, calming bath.
Fighting with Ragnor the night before we headed to the Hecatomb would not be wise.
Not for him, and certainly not for me.
Chapter 31
Ragnor
That night, Ragnor lay in bed, eyes open, staring at the ceiling, while Aileen slept soundly next to him, her soft breaths filling the room.
He couldn’t sleep. Not after Aileen had dropped such a bomb on him a few hours ago. Because she shouldn’t have known about the Malachi. She shouldn’t even utter that name.
That she was his Alara Morreh was a fact he intended to hide. For eternity, if possible.
And yet she knew about the Malachi, or at least that they existed.
She said Jada had told her about them. Meaning Jada told her about Chanjomaron’s true identity. Otherwise, Aileen shouldn’t know about them.
Meaning Jada had also told her she was Chanjomaron’s Alara Morreh.
A ripple in the air above him made Ragnor grow still. As if he had been summoned by Ragnor’s thoughts, or Aileen’s earlier words, a tall man appeared, hovering over the bed with his silver wings spread out. His tousled black hair was slicked back, and his jungle-color eyes peered at Ragnor, almost glowing in the darkness like a vampire’s.
Grimacing, Ragnor got off the bed and motioned silently to the Malachi to follow him out. He obliged, and Ragnor led him outside the suite, toward his office. He did not want to risk anyone, especially Aileen, catching sight of him.
Once they were in his office, Ragnor locked the door and turned to face the Malachi. “What brings you here, Luceras?”
