Page 22 of ColdIron
“Let me help you,” he said, his green eyes smiling at me, a dimple denting his cheek. He tilted the cup carefully, watching me drink as if I fascinated him.
And why did it even fucking matter who held the damn cup? These men were insane, competing over everything like it was a blood sport. I grabbed his wrist, holding him firmly in place so he couldn’t move the cup away again before I’d had my fill.
He let out a low chuckle that rumbled from his chest, and somehow that sound did something to me. Heat bloomed low in my belly. My skin flushed.
“Easy there, little lion,” he purred. “No one’s taking it away.”
“I’m not a cub.” My hands dropped from his wrist. I pulled back from the cup, just enough to glare at him. I wished he’d drop the purring while I still felt like I was dying of thirst. It was distracting in ways I didn’t want to examine—made me feel things I had no time or energy for. “And I’m not little. I’m taller than you.”
Nikolai chuckled.
Ignoring the vampire prince, Caspian kept smiling at me. “Feisty. I like it.”
“Our guest clearly doesn’t appreciate being harassed,” Nikolai snapped. “And what are you doing here, Caspian? Shouldn’t you be checking the wards? Doing literally anything useful?”
“I’m here to make sure you don’t overstep, Nikolai.” Caspian didn’t back down an inch.
“I was ensuring our guest receives the best care.” Nikolai’s tone dripped with false innocence. “Leave, wolf. The patient needs rest, not a crowd.”
“Why don’t you leave, vamp?” Caspian’s smile turned sharp. “I’m sure there’s a blood bag somewhere with your name on it.”
The two kept bickering, their argument escalating over nothing at all. I’d never heard anyone waste so much breath on trivial matters. We miners didn’t have the luxury of squabbling like this. Who had the time or energy to argue over who held a cup when hunger was your constant companion and you worked yourself to exhaustion every single day just to stay alive?
“The two have been like that since they were boys,” Ann said, somehow blocking out their arguing entirely. “What’s your name, child?”
I let her take the cup away without protest this time. She was right about pacing myself. I could already feel the water sitting heavy in my shrunken stomach. Clean water was precious, a gift, and I wouldn’t waste it by being greedy.
“Max Morning.” I forced my voice lower, stronger, more masculine.
Both princes quit their squabbling immediately and turned to me with expectation.
“I need to know if you found my friends.”
Please let Desta and Kaid be alive.
“You’re the only one we rescued, Max.” Nikolai’s voice held no cruelty, only honesty—and something that looked almost like sympathy in those red eyes.
“Please.” The word came out sharp, desperate, as grief clawed up my throat. “There were four of us when we started out. Two of them might still be…”
Before I could finish my desperate plea, heavy footsteps rushed toward the room. A moment later, Aelindor and the dragon prince strode through the doorway like they owned the place.
Their gazes shifted from Caspian and Nikolai to me, assessing. Aelindor’s expression was cool as ice, but the dragon’s stare held open distrust. Something darker lurked there too.
Every muscle in my body went rigid. It wasn’t just that the dragon man could shift into a massive beast capable of tearing me apart. I couldsensehis hatred rolling off him in waves. If I stood too close, I wouldn’t just get hurt. I’d be destroyed.
Ann bowed deeply to Aelindor. “Your Highness.” Then she nodded at the dragon with less warmth. “Prince Drakken.”
“Great.” Nikolai threw his hands up. “It’s a party.”
“Didn’t your dragon fly off to bathe in that spring of yours?” Caspian narrowed his green eyes on Drakken. “How did you possibly get back so fast? That’s at least a ten-minute flight.”
“It was a ruse.” Drakken looked smug. “I sensed your lies. You’ve never hurried like your tail was on fire before—not even in the middle of a pitched battle. So I persuaded my dragon to delay his bath and tracked you here.”
Caspian shook his head in disgust. “Unbelievable.”
Aelindor offered no explanation for why he’d also rushed here. The Fae prince clearly didn’t need to justify himself to anyone, and no one questioned him despite their supposed equality. I filed that information away. He didn’t join their banter either, staying above the fray. He simply observed everything with those winter-blue eyes that seemed to see straight through flesh to bone.
I hadn’t gotten a proper look at either man while being carried in during the chaos of the attack. Now I had a chance to study them, assessing potential threats or allies, using the CliffsNotes the demon had generously provided.
