Treno releases a deep sigh in my mind, and I wish I could reach out and hug him right now.
“I forgot that my flower was smart, beautiful, understanding, and...wise,” he tells me, and I’m relieved to hear the playful smile in his tone.
I gasp, shocked. “How could you forget that the gate chose so wisely for you?” I tease in mock horror.
“I truly have no excuses for such a derelict mind.”
“Well, great, you get wise, smart, beautiful, and understanding for your mate, and I get derelict and forgetful,” I taunt.
Treno laughs.
“Forgetful, but stunningly handsome, don’t forget that part.”
“True!” I concede. “...and that cock,” I add salaciously.
“Mmmm, and that,” he agrees on a purr.
“I’d fuck the derelict out of you right now if I wasn’t, you know, trapped inside my body.”
Treno sighs longingly. “By the stars, how long do you think they’ll go for?”
I shrug and shake my head, tilting it to the side as I take in what’s happening. “I mean, I thought their beaks were too sharp for what they’re doing right now, so what the hell do I know about anything?”
I mentally conjure a big fluffy recliner and plop my ass down, lifting the footrest. “I think it’s going to be a while,” I admit as I settle in. “But hey, plenty of time to hear all about your most embarrassing moments,” I encourage, and then I get as excited as a kid waiting for an epic bedtime story.
“What? Why would I ever tell you that?” Treno argues.
“You already said you would, you can’t take it back now.”
“When did I say that?”
I tsk, disappointed. “There’s that forgetfulness again,” I tease.
Treno barks out an incredulous laugh. “Oh, you think you’re sneaky?”
“The sneakiest,” I volley. “Feel free to add that to your list of my incredible qualities,” I advise, biting back a chuckle. “Don’t forget,” I add, cracking up.
“You’re going to get it, flower. Just as soon as they’re done...”
“Promise?” I ask with a bawdy wag of my eyebrows. “Until then though...tell me all your secrets,” I demand on a faux evil laugh, with steepled fingers and happiness in my heart.
20
“Hey, I brought you...uhhh, what are you doing?” Ryn asks as he bursts unannounced into Wekun’s tent.
I jump in surprise from his sudden appearance and back away from the mirror I was just making faces into because...I’m weird. I adopt a casual what are you talking about mien and shoot him my best innocent eyes.
“What do you mean?” I ask smoothly, not at all sounding like I just got caught doing something bizarre.
He steps further into the tent, the entrance flaps dropping closed behind him, and his eyes glitter with amusement.
Shit, he’s onto me.
He walks closer, a smile twitching at the corners of his lips. “I mean, why are you looking into the glass and making that face?” he doubles down, clearly not getting the hint to just let it go.
I clear my throat and shrug nonchalantly. “What face? I was just looking in the mirror.”
“Uhh, no, you were looking in the glass and doing a creepy smile while you made your eyes bigger and then smaller and then bigger again. Are you well?”
“If someone smiled at you like that right before they killed you, would it make your blood run cold?” I ask, abandoning my efforts to pretend I’m not a freak in hopes for some honest feedback.
“No, my blood is always warm,” he counters.
“No, not literally, I mean, in the sense of would you be scared? Like, if I was about to kill you and I smiled at you like that, would it terrify you, make you wet yourself, and then accept that you’re going to perish in a state of soul crushing terror?” I elaborate.
“Why are you killing me?” he asks, moving to sit on the bed.
I roll my eyes. “Ryn, you’re making this way more difficult than it needs to be.”
“I am?” he defends. “I walk in on you staring into the glass with a look on your face that makes you look addled, and instead of just telling me what you’re doing, you threaten to kill me and hope I die in a puddle of my own piss.”
I pause. “Well, when you put it that way…but addled as in scary crazy or just…”
Ryn groans and throws himself back on the bed. I chuckle and move to put the mirror back where it normally sits in the corner.
“What did you bring me?” I ask, eyeing the package resting against his thigh.
“Oh no, you’ll get nothing out of me until you confess whatever it was that you were doing,” he taunts, grabbing the package and holding it out of reach when I make a dive for it anyway.
“Stupid fast ass gryphon reflexes,” I grumble as I eye the mystery prize now being held high over my head.
I know I have no chance of getting it, because these fuckers are the size of a skyscraper, which is just completely unfair. I groan and take my turn flinging myself back on the bed in exasperation. Ryn chuckles and pulls me into him. I sigh contentedly and then side-eye myself and then Pigeon. She just looks at me like what?
“Well, I was trying to visualize breaking the Vow. I can’t exactly practice on anyone here, and it’s probably going to be a clutch deal, so I was attempting to prepare as much as possible,” I start. “But then I began to think about Lazza and the battle that’s about to go down in a couple of days. Which made me think of Loa and all the things I’m going to do to her when I see her. That made me wonder what I’d say to her just before I ripped her throat out, and then I suddenly needed to know what my face would look like as I said those words. Which is what you
