“And if I was?”
“I would pick you up and put you on Odin myself.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
Nyktos faced me, and his expression told me he was willing to do just that.
“Whatever.” I pushed to my feet and sidestepped him, trudging toward Odin. I halted when the horse whipped his head in my direction. He pawed at the ground once more.
“He’s not that happy with you.”
“What did I do to him?”
Nyktos came up behind me, dipping his head as he said, “You held a dagger to my throat, and you hit me with eather.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t do those things—” I cut myself off. Primal magic. “He’s an extension of you. Got it.” I sighed, eyeing the horse. “I’m sorry.”
Odin huffed, turning his head from me.
“He’ll get over it.” Nyktos gripped my hips and lifted me into the air before I even had a chance to react. I grasped the pommel, seating myself before I was flung over the other side. Nyktos swung into the saddle behind me. “Eventually.”
Odin shook his mane.
I wasn’t sure about that.
Nyktos reached around me and picked up the reins. “The next time you put a dagger to anyone’s throat,” he said, his breath coasting over my cheek as he guided Odin toward the palace, “you’d better mean it.”
I stiffened. “Even if it’s yours?”
Nyktos’s arm folded over my waist, tugging me against his chest. “Especially if it’s mine.”
Orphine was waiting just inside the stable-facing doors, in the narrow entryway that led to the hall opposite Nyktos’s office. She wasn’t the only one. Ector leaned against the wall as she stepped forward, lowering herself onto one knee. “It was my duty to watch over her,” she said. “I failed. I’m sorry.”
Guilt rose. “It’s not your fault.”
“For once, Sera’s right,” Nyktos replied, and I shot him a narrow-eyed glare. “You don’t need to apologize for her recklessness—”
“Recklessness?” I hissed. He made it sound as if I’d been out for a jaunty stroll through the Dying Woods.
“Or her bravery,” he continued, returning my glare. I snapped my mouth shut, surprised that he’d even thought that,let alone said it. “Foolish bravery,” he tacked on.
I was starting to regret feeling bad for hurting him.
Ector pushed off the wall as Orphine rose, his curly hair even paler in the lamplight. “Bravery?”
“She was attempting to make her way to Dalos.” Nyktos took hold of my arm. “To kill Kolis.”
“Damn,” Orphine muttered, stepping back from us.
The blood drained rapidly from Ector’s face. “You can’t be serious.”
“I wish I wasn’t.” Nyktos steered me around them, starting for the back set of stairs.
Ector followed. “Why would you do something like that? Even think about doing that?”
I stopped. “Because—”
Nyktos was having none of it. He let go of my arm, pointing up the stairs. “Go—”