...and there was Garret, at the end of the hallway.
My stomach lurched. Garret straightened, as if he hadn’t expected to find me there. For a moment, we stared at each other, the silence settling around us like brittle glass. He had changed out of the soldier’s uniform; jeans and a white T-shirt had replaced the boots and combat vest, though he still wore a pistol strapped to his waist. I could see a bandage poking out from the sleeve of his left arm, and felt a flicker of guilt. I hadn’t handled last night well. I should’ve explained what was going on, talked to him more. He had seen Cobalt and me, lying together on the floor of the truck, and would have assumed...
I faltered. He would have assumed Riley and I were together now. Of course he would, there was no reason to think otherwise. And...wasn’t that the truth? Hadn’t Riley said he wanted to be with me? And I... I wanted him, too. Or at least, my dragon side was very certain.
But if I was so sure, why did the mere presence of the soldier cause my heart to pound wildly? Why had he been on my mind, hovering in my subconscious, since the night he’d walked away? With Cobalt, my dragon felt complete, like he was my other half. As if, through fate or instinct or destiny, we were supposed to be together. But my emotions wouldn’t let Garret go.
“Ember.” His voice was soft, making my skin flush. Something raw glimmered in his eyes, before he blinked and they turned cold. The mask of the Perfect Soldier.
“Are you all right?” he asked, but it was a polite question. Routine. A soldier wondering whether or not a teammate was battle ready. “How are your injuries?”
I shrugged. “I’ll live. I’ve survived worse.” He didn’t answer, didn’t even smile, and I rubbed my arm self-consciously. “What about you?
“Surface injuries. Just a graze, as I said before.” The words were flat. Not harsh or rude, just impassive. It made my insides hurt, hearing him talk like that. Like we were strangers again. “I should go,” he went on, before I could ask the million questions floating around my brain. “If you’re looking for Riley,” he added, pointing behind me, “he and Wes are in the room down the hall. I’ll talk to you later this evening.”
“Why did you come back?” He stiffened, and I changed tactics before he could shut down completely. “You mentioned something happened. That you found something in England, something big. What’s going on?”
“I’ll explain everything tonight, when everyone has had a chance to rest. It’s something everyone should hear together.” He stepped back, eyes shadowed, and gave me a polite nod. “I have things I need to check on,” he stated, though he wasn’t looking at me anymore. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“Garret.”
He stopped with his back to me, and didn’t turn around. Biting my lip, I took a few steps toward him, gazing at the line of his broad shoulders. “Is this how it’s going to be with us?” I asked. “Like we never knew each other at all?”
“I don’t know.” Now his voice sounded flat. He turned, metallic-gray eyes accusing and sorrowful, making my insides curl. “I didn’t think I’d see you again. For a while, I wondered if I’d made the right choice, but it looks like I have my answer. It didn’t take long for you to make your decision.”
“You’re the one who left,” I reminded him hotly. “You didn’t have to go.”
“You didn’t ask me to stay.”
We stared at each other, a thousand emotions simmering below the surface. My thoughts and feelings were a tangled mess, woven around each other until it was impossible to separate them. Garret stood there, wounded and beautiful, the shadow of the boy staring out through the soldier’s mask, and guilt settled in my stomach like a lead ball.
The squeak of a door opening interrupted us. My heart sank, even as a rush of heat across my skin told me who had stepped into the corridor. For a second, Riley paused, observing Garret and me in the hall, before striding forward.
“Hey.” His voice was perfectly civil; there was no echo of a growl in his tone or evil glint in his eye as he stepped up. But I could feel the tension lining his shoulders, the subtle heat radiating from his skin. As if Cobalt lurked just below the surface and was a breath away from coming out and snarling in Garret’s face. He flicked a glance at the soldier, his gaze cool and unruffled and somehow still a threat, before turning to me. “I didn’t know you were awake, Firebrand,” he said, and one hand rose to brush my cheek, light and caressing. Warmth flooded my skin, as Riley gave me a tentative, crooked smile. “Everything okay?”