Page 66 of Guardian of the Drowned Empire

“I’m working on it,” he said. “You want something to drink?” He was already standing, facing my kitchen.

I shook my head, noting the bags under his eyes and the way his skin was still pale, aware of how fresh the wounds under his bandages were.

“What about you?” I asked. “Rhyan, you need to sit down. Do you need anything?”

He shook his head quickly. “Not until you’re sorted out and safe.”

I was about to offer him something to eat anyway—he needed it no matter how much he denied it—but the stone began to shine with light again, returning to a bright, glowing moonstone blue in Rhyan’s hand.

“Hart,” Aemon’s voice came through clearly.

“Arkturion,” he replied coolly, returning to his seat beside me, his body stiff. “How do I proceed?”

“Her grace is not cleared for seraphim travel given the Emartis’s penchant for sky tactics. Let her know Cresthaven’s secure. No threats discovered. Fortress security has doubled and will remain so overnight.”

Rhyan looked at me carefully as Aemon’s message sank in. I’d spent so many years protecting my sisters, being the shield between them and danger, it was so weird to think that I was the target, that I was the one who needed protecting.

“We don’t have many options for her right now.” The stone glowed blue again as Aemon’s voice came through. “And I’m not risking her out in the streets.”

Rhyan frowned. “She can’t stay here.”

“Hart, I want you to take her to your apartment,” Aemon ordered. “It’s the nearest safe spot. We’ll have her place cleaned up tonight, locks changed, new wards cast. I already have an escort team surrounding her building. Half are going to give you back up. They’ll follow and stay outside your building all night. Let me know when you’re inside—her grace secured, the door locked.”

“Will do,” Rhyan said. The stone went white, and he replaced it in his belt. “I’m going to pack an overnight bag for you, so you don’t have to…go in there.”

I nodded, still shaken, watching as Rhyan got off the couch. I focused on taking deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling. I stared at the flickering flame of the candle on my coffee table, watching the smoke tendrils swirl sinuously into nothing.

“You’re all set,” Rhyan said, closing my bedroom door behind him. He had a large overnight bag slung over his shoulder. “Change of clothes, hairbrush, and…basically every item I found in your bathroom. If you need anything else, I’ll provide it.”

I stood at once, moving toward him, my arm outstretched. “I’ll carry the bag,” I said.

“I’ve got it.”

“You’re exhausted,” I said. “Let me.”

“And you’ve just been through….” He shook his head. “Absolutely not. I’ve got it. Let’s go.”

Back in Rhyan’s apartment, I paced the living room as he boiled water for tea. I hadn’t been here since I’d been lashed and spent the night two months ago. I peeked at his bedroom door—slightly ajar. In the corner was Rhyan’s single bed, the bed I’d slept in that night, my open wounds bleeding all over it.

We sat down for tea, silent as we’d been since we’d left my place. I watched Rhyan as he sipped. His color was starting to return, and after attacking a bowl of nuts, an apple, hummus with pita, and three hardboiled eggs, it looked like some of his energy was refueling. But he was still nowhere near the Rhyan I interacted with on a daily basis. He looked far weaker than he had after he’d given me his kashonim.

“You take the bed,” he said when we were finished.

“No,” I said. “You were hurt today, you’re exhausted. You need your bed. I’ll stay on the couch.”

“Lyr, I am too fucking tired to argue with you.”

“Exactly! You fainted earlier! So don’t fight me.”

“You don’t fight me. You’re taking the bed. And if you don’t, I will simply wait until you’re asleep, and when you are, I will move you there myself. So you decide. Bed now or later.”

“What if I don’t go to sleep?” I asked. “What if I wait for you to pass out?”

“You won’t. Because we had a deal. You get enough sleep to train. Tonight is no exception.”

“And how am I supposed to train with you if you’re not getting any sleep?”

“I’ll recover. Far faster than you will.”

---