32. Thirty-Two

“Dammit, Ariel! I need to get the fuck out of here quickly. What am I supposed to do with these? Should I use them as Bo staffs? Do I look like someone who knows how to twirl a fucking baton?” I scolded her from the foyer as she climbed the stairs in full battle armor.

It shocked me that she still had the stuff. Considering she’d left her clan years ago.

“They are crutches. You aren’t going anywhere near that manor. You’re lucky I’m letting you tag along!” She stomped her foot when she hit the last step.

“You do look like you could twirl a baton,” Chris chuckled.

“Have I not explained the gravity of the situation? Vastian could be fucking dead!” I threw the crutches to the ground in a fit.

Ariel picked them up and tossed them at me again. “Don’t be a baby.”

I wasn”t being a baby. I was being a concerned…lover or whatever the fuck I was. Maybe that was too strong of a term considering Vastian, and I hadn”t properly fucked yet. Blowies didn”t count. Did they?

Oh, for fucksake.

“It should be me rescuing him. Me.” I puffed my chest. Ow. Mistake. Why the fuck did I do that?

She snorted, shaking her head and examining the daggers she’d sheathed to her hip. “You don’t have a good track record there,” Chris said from the sofa. ”I’m still missing a digit.” He wiggled his four fingers for emphasis.

“No one asked you,” I sneered, readjusting the stupid, janky, not-real-crutches-crutches.

The things didn”t want to cooperate. They were too short, and I had to hunch to keep them in my armpits, which made my ribs scream in protest. So much for my hero moment.

“It’s not our fault you pissed Aryn off, and now you can’t heal. But I’ll be damned if I let you go in there and end up worse. Not everyone is going to be so willing to put up with you being a broken ass man-chi—”

The door opened.

The draft of the night brushed against my neck.

Chills radiated down my spine, my heart skipped in my ribs making them ache more than they already did. A tremor ran down my back, chills bursting on my skin because I knew—I just knew who was in the doorway.

Swiveling my body in what felt like slow motion, I heard harps. Divine, elegant, swoon-worthy harps.

“Vastian,” I breathed.

No one moved a muscle as he took a few more steps inside, nostrils flaring and a wild look in his eyes.

I couldn’t stop staring at him. I didn”t care if he heard how wildly my heart beat or how my eyes instantly glossed over.

How did he look so beautiful after being with Aryn for as long as he was? Not a wound to be seen or a strand of hair misplaced. The man was utter perfection, a rose in a garden of weeds.

He looked past me at Ariel, then panned over to Chris, then back to the stairs, lingering for too long. Too long for me to stand there with those fucking crutches like an ass. I needed to touch him. To know he was actually there and not some fucked up hallucination.

When his eyes finally met mine, and he spoke, that smooth, deep voice reached inside my chest and took hold. “Atreyis.”

“Fuck.” I tossed the crutches, hobbled over to him as fast as possible, and flung my arms around him like I’d never get to again.

Not a love story. Not a fucking love story. This was a fart bubble, remember?

When he held me back, gently and so attuned to the fact I was a broken mess, I couldn’t hold it in. I couldn’t stop the word vomit. “I almost fucked her. I didn’t want to. I only agreed so I could get here and save you. I’m a busted plate. My leg is gimp. I missed you so much. I was so worried. Please forgive me. I was coming for you, I swear!”

He tensed instantly. “The elf,” his voice dropped, hitting the silent space like thunder.

“Atreyis, back off a little!” Ariel pried me off Vastian.

When I saw his face, the guilt twisted and morphed into stones in my stomach. He didn’t look at me like I wanted. His teal eyes screamed of betrayal.

We aren’t even a couple!The voice in my head screamed bloody murder while the guilt in the pit of my chest stabbed at my mummified heart.

How could I betray him when it was never exclusive?Easily, just agree to fuck an elf while he was being held captive by my arch-nemesis.

“Let me explain, I’m sorry. There is so much I need to get out.”

He headed for the stairs, ignoring me altogether.

Shit. Shit. What was he going to do? Kill the fucking woman? It was my idea! My idiotic idea.

“I sacrificed myself. I didn’t fight. But I didn”t bend to his will. I didn”t obey.” Vastian’s words had a haunting, ominous quality.

Part of me couldn”t help but wonder if he was referring to Aryn or someone else entirely. The way he climbed those steps, the vacancy in his voice like he wasn”t even here but somewhere far away, had me ready to hurl. Gods, I was an idiot.

“I’ll handle him. Go sit down before you break your other leg,” Ariel ordered.

Oh, I wanted to slap her into next week. But I did what she said even though I felt sick and wanted to drop to my knees and grovel like a disobedient child.

What is happening to me?