She purses her lips and snorts. As if he’d actually think she’d answer.
He shrugs, then nods to the guard to take her below. “Myles too,” he mutters, before dropping his rich tone to a growl. “You’ll let me know as soon as he wakes. I have some . . . business to take care of with him.”
“Very good, Your Highness. Although I might mention Lord Myles ingested the power released by Nym. There is a chance he’ll be a danger to this whole ship.”
“The power will take time to meld with his blood.” Eogan looks at me as if to get my thought on it.
“A day at least.”
The guard nods and begins to move off with Lady Isobel but pauses when Eogan adds, “But Kenan, feel free to bind his mouth as well as his body.”
“Yes, sire.”
Eogan drops his gaze to survey me as the guard strides away. His frown returns to that half smile. “Now where were we?”
“We need to go back for Rasha and the Terrenes. Draewulf’s been weakened but—”
“So have you.” He eyes me.
I glance down at my bloody, torn dress and my ripped skin beneath. He slides an arm around my waist and presses his hand to my side, and I swear he gifts a bit of his calm into me. So much so that my injured chest tingles and turns almost numb as his face turns slightly sallow.
“Yes, but my ability is recharging. I can feel it. And I’ve—”
“We can’t go back. There aren’t enough of us and these ships have taken about all they can handle.” He peers up at the soldiers working on the balloon overhead, then out to the other four airships flying nearby in formation.
“But the people . . . The power I took on.” I hesitate before whispering, “Eogan, it helped Draewulf. It helped the wraiths. And combined with my storms, it . . .”
I can’t even bring myself to confess it.
How many innocent people I must have destroyed in that battle. Because my powers were too much, too big, and I didn’t listen to him or Rasha about the danger.
Suddenly I can’t breathe. I can’t believe what I’ve done. What I started to become.
What I’ve lent a hand to.
“We have to go back. We have to try and undo—”
“The Terrenes are stronger than you think they are.” His tone is sober. Just like his gaze that says he knows well enough. “They survived you and they will survive Draewulf for the time being—especially now that he’s taken their king’s blood, he’ll have little interest in them. The Tullan people will bore underground to mount a far better defense than either you or I can provide in the state we’re in.”
“But I killed some of them.”
“And you also saved more by damaging Draewulf and the wraiths. You can’t do anything further now unless you want to sacrifice the men on these airships. The only way we’re going to help anyone is by getting to Cashlin before Draewulf to aid Queen Laiha.”
I look away. But after a moment I nod again.
“Good. Because aside from the Cashlin queen, my priority is this ship, my men, and you.”
He tilts his head and catches my eye. And tries to hide a smirk. “Because . . . no offense, have you seen you?” He runs his gaze down my soiled clothes and unkempt white hair and raises a perfect single brow.
I snort and look away. “You’re such a bolcrane.”
He chuckles weakly and lifts his hand to run his thumb along my jawline and down my neck to that little divot between my collarbones. “A bolcrane who’s standing beside the strongest woman he’s ever met and thus wouldn’t argue with her unless he truly believed we will save Rasha and the rest of the bleeding world she’s so intent on rescuing.” His fingers move up to wind through my hair. “Just like she saved me.”
I look into those brilliant green eyes that are full of confidence.
Just like she saved me.
His words hang in the air.
“How did you separate from him?”
“Draewulf let go.”
“No, really.”
He gives that unfair lopsided grin, and the familiarity of it brings a solemn smile to my face as his fingers slip down my arm again. Pulling me in. “It’s the truth. Apparently he’d assessed for every scenario but the thing that makes you Nym and not a monster.”
“Which is . . .?”
“He didn’t count on your compassion.”
It’s my turn to raise a brow.
“When my block was warped by Isobel all those years ago, she’d eliminated the ability for me to feel. Draewulf assumed that aspect was still in place, but the more you were moved toward compassion for him, he began to experience that through me. He didn’t know what to do with it, and he couldn’t help but pull away from the source of that emotion. Me. Every time you did the one thing you do so well, his grip lessened.”
He slips his bangs out of his eyes and then rubs his neck again, then stumbles.