Page 21 of Breaking Storm

Ryneth’s eyes found them as they moved closer, his mind already drifting. He blinked, and a silver tear slipped down his cheek, making Daven’s pulse slam against his eardrums.

“Ryneth.” Milanov’s voice softened. He leaned over the bed, filling his view. “You’re safe now. We’re happy you are here.”

Ryneth didn’t answer right away, but his shoulders tightened as if he wanted to sink into the mattress and bolt at the same time.

Daven watched the silver eyelids droop.

“You’re here because you matter,” Milanov said quietly. “And because no one will touch you here. When you’re stronger, we’ll explain the rest.”

Ryneth’s eyes snapped open at that, only to glaze immediately after. But he stared at Milanov with his mouth open. “H-home.” He looked at the Imperial and then his gaze shifted. Then it landed on Daven.

Daven felt like he’d been tased, heat flashing through his chest as his gaze locked on Ryneth’s face. He wanted him to see the gold on his jacket and know exactly whose hands had dragged him out of that place.

His incisors itched, the way they did when his blood answered something it shouldn’t, and the tension in him pulled tight, drawing him toward the bed.

“Who are you?” Ryneth whispered.

Milanov rested a hand against the bedrail. “This is Prince Daven Caelith. He’s the one who found you.”

“Prince?” The word scraped out of him, thin and disbelieving.

Daven let his mouth curve into an arrogant smirk. “That’s right.”

He waited for gratitude, fear, anything, but Ryneth looked away first.

The dismissal annoyed him. No one looked away from him. Injured or not, if the man wouldn’t offer his gratitude, Daven would take it. He just couldn’t do it with the Imperial next to him.

“He doesn’t see you anymore.” From behind them, Zimeon gave Daven’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “The sedatives have kicked in.”

Daven snorted. If that was meant to be soothing, the old man had failed.

He watched as the doctor checked the monitors one final time and hoped he and his team would get the fuck out of the room soon. He’d been trying to get into this room since the rescue, just to watch Ryneth’s lashes flutter against his cheeks, his own jaw still tight with the remnant of a pout.

He stayed where he was until the monitors settled, relief curling low when the rest of the team finally slipped out of the room.

Milanov’s cough pulled him from his thoughts. Daven jumped, having temporarily forgotten that his uncle was still there. Of course he was.

“Ryneth is fragile, Daven,” Milanov said once they were both seated. “He left home for work and ended up beaten, starved, and dragged across a planet he doesn’t understand. He most likely has no idea why he was brought to Helion, or what’s happening to him. We need to ease him into this carefully. I need someone who can house him, guide him, and keep him steady while we work out the rest.”

“I’ll do it.”

Milanov’s purple eyes flickered with an amusement that made Daven growl.

“If you think I’m not old enough⁠—”

“I think you’re perfectly capable of handling him, nephew,” Milanov said mildly. “But why the haste?”

Daven ground his teeth when his uncle cocked his head and took him in with that sparkle of curiosity.

For once he didn’t really know what to say. He just knew that Ryneth would be under his wing. That he’d take Ryneth wherever Milanov wanted him to go.

“All right,” his uncle said after a silence that felt heavy. “I’m putting him under your protection. It’s not like we have many candidates for the job anyway.”

Daven frowned. His insides tumbled at the words. That was…easy. “You are?”

Milanov smiled, then started to stand. “I am. Right now, Ryneth doesn’t understand why he was brought to Helion, or what he is. The only reason we know how he ended up here in the first place is because of the camera footage Yure retrieved. If he hadn’t caught the moment he’d tried to fry the bars of his prison on camera, Light knows what they would have done to him.”

Daven stood too. The thought of being Ryneth’s keeper made his blood boil. “As soon as he’s fit enough, I’ll bring him to my penthouse. They must have finished painting by now.”