Page 61 of Ashborne Forged

I love you, Grace.

I love you.

20. Don’t Think

~ VOSKI ~

I had never despised anything the way I despised the following morning, when I was forced to stand and watch her mount Koa and fly away. My veins ran with pure, unadulterated, hate for that moment.

It was only an hour until we could follow. I knew that. But after kissing her until Koa screamed her impatience, I stood at Kham’s leg, watching them grow small, then dim, then disappear into the clouds, and my body jangled with unease.

I made it twenty minutes until I went for Kham’s harness.

My dragon laughed at me for my agitation.

‘Koa assures me, she will not fly into the arms of another.’

I shot him a glare, but kept buckling straps and checking that our bags were secured.

At forty minutes after they’d launched, I mounted.

To hell with it. ‘Just keep your pace slow,’ I told Kham. ‘So it looks like I was forced to leave later.’

‘Or you could simply tell the truth and—’

‘Please don’t make this harder than it has to be.’

Kham tossed his head in the equivalent of a human’s eye-roll.

‘I suppose I can’t fault you for your devotion to remaining close to your mate. I look forward to watching you wiggle out of patrols, and other responsibilities that keep you separated.’

‘I will fulfill my responsibilities,’ I growled. ‘I’m not abandoning my squad.’

‘No, only lying to them.’

‘Barely.’

‘You cited false orders, Voski. That’s a serious breach.’

‘Only because it was necessary. It’s a Shadowfang tenet—tell the truth, until you can’t.’

Kham huffed, but didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. I chastised myself for the misuse of a spy’s honor.

We didn’t talk for a good hour after that. And even though I remained tense about being apart from Grace, I was able to breathe easier. Flying was always good for my head. It helped me balance, and recenter. And this day was no different. I replayed some memories from our time at the hut, and schemed for how to return her there before too many months had passed.

But alone, without my mate, I also reconnected with Kham. And was forced to recognize how much I’d put him through in these weeks as well.

‘I’m sorry,’ I sent, after letting him see my thoughts. ‘I haven’t been good to you in this.’

‘You are forgiven.’

I sighed, and some of the tension left me. ‘How do you put up with my shit? That’s a serious question. You’ve done it since the very first day. I thought I’d done better in recent years, but clearly all it took was this. I feel like I’ve returned to the child I was when you Chose me.’

‘You were no child.’

‘No. Just a young piece of shit.’

Kham growled. ‘I have told you since that day, I know your heart. You are not shit, Voski. You are wounded. You react from your wounds. And yes, the arrival of our mates has brought you back to that place of uncertainty in yourself, and protection against the world.’