Page 127 of Kingdom of Chaos
I give my head a light shake and hope he doesn’t notice.
“Something’s been off since I got separated from Shadow Striker,” he confesses. “My healing, it’s slowed down. Not stopped, just . . . dulled.”
His voice is steady, but I don’t miss the tension in his jaw.
“You think it’s the dagger,” I say.
He nods. “It’s a theory. I don’t know for sure. But it’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“And you didn’t think to mention this sooner?” I ask, trying not to sound hurt.
Talon gives me a small smile. “I didn’t want to add more to your plate. You’ve got enough weighing on you.”
He pushes off the counter and takes a step toward me, gaze softening. “But I’m okay. Really. It’s really no more than a nuisance.”
That’s downplaying it and we both know it.
“You shouldn’t be dealing with this alone,” I murmur.
He shrugs one shoulder. “I’m not. Not anymore.”
A moment passes. The weight between us shifts. Less tension, more understanding.
His eyes flick toward the connecting door. “You can’t sleep?”
I shake my head.
He grins faintly. “Want me to try helping with that?”
“And how do you plan to do that?” I ask.
“By staying close. Sometimes it helps to not be alone with your thoughts.”
“Staying close?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.
“Very close,” he says with a wicked glint in his eye that threatens to distract me all over again.
I order my mind not to go to places it shouldn’t. “You think getting into bed with me is going to help me fall asleep?”
He’s delusional if he thinks that will work. Lying next to him in bed might take my mind off of some of tomorrow’s trials, but that’s only because being that close to him would make it impossible to think about anything else.
“No,” he admits. “But I think being near someone who cares about you might help. Might quiet your mind.”
He offers a soft smile, one laced with just enough vulnerability to make my chest ache. He gently tucks a piece of hair behind my ear, his fingers brushing the shell and sending a shiver down my spine.
“And honestly?” he adds with a quiet smile, “I’ll take the excuse to hold you.”
A tender warmth unfurls in my chest, melting me around the edges.
All the noise in my head, everything looming ahead, fades just a little. He’s not offering promises he can’t keep, or pretty lies to soothe me. Just this moment. Just him.
I swallow hard, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Okay.” Swallowing to wet my suddenly dry throat, I point to his chest. “But you have to let me help you with that first.”
“Deal.”
I make Talon put on a shirt. I have willpower, but it seems to be stretched to its limit when it comes to him. And I was serious before. Now isn’t the time for us to dive into something headfirst. There are too many unknowns still swirling around us.
