Page 123 of The Last Syphon

Fuck. She couldn’t hold back the tears this time. They fell hard, hitting her cheeks, and Felix’s whole face softened. He reached out and held the side of her face, bringing his forehead to touch hers.

“Don’t cry,” he whispered. “You know it makes me want to cry too.”

She laughed, and he pulled her in tightly, burying her face into the crook of his neck. Inara welcomed the support with open fucking arms. There was nothing remotely sexual about the embrace. It was purely platonic on both sides. Just a friend comforting another friend.

Inara liked to think of him as her friend soulmate. They were born, destined to meet and become the best of friends. No one could convince her otherwise.

Another cold rush of wind smacked her hard, and the temperature suddenly dropped to an almost unbearable level.

“Holy fucking Fates. Is it me or did it just get so fucking cold out here?” Every word Felix said was accompanied by a cloud of frost.

Inara snuggled further into his body to try to get warm. “It’s not just you⁠—”

“Am I interrupting?”

They both turned around.

Prince Walder stood behind them, eyes blazing a fierce, stormy blue. He was still wearing the red-scaled armor from the ball. Inara was sure it wasn’t a different suit because it was stained and drenched in blood. There was even still blood on his face, though it had long since dried.

She quickly faced away and swiped at her face to hide her tears. “What are you doing here?”

“Am I interrupting?” he simply asked again, but there was a little more depth to it. He almost sounded angry.

“No?” Confusion dripped from her voice. “What would you be interrupting?”

“Our close, unshakeable bond, of course.” Felix winked.

Inara shoved him playfully. Another bout of unbearable cold air hit her. Teeth clattering, she glared at Prince Walder. “Are you doing that? Cut it out. If it gets any colder out here, I’ll get hypothermia.”

The cold air vanished instantly. Prince Walder’s eyes turned from blue back to his usual violet.

Okay. So it was him.

Tydus sat snugly on his shoulder, his talons clutched tightly into the prince’s armour, the blue and black dragon staring at her intently. She didn’t know what the creature was staring at. Do I have something in my teeth?

“Do you need something?” she asked. To be honest, she didn’t have much to give. If he required her to return to work, she would, even if she didn’t want to, because Inara was a woman of her word and she liked to do whatever job she had to do well. But if there was an option, she would just love to sit here and look at the stars and the cities below.

Prince Walder didn’t answer. He simply stared at her with the same eerie focus as his dragon.

Felix’s eyes flicked between them. “Uh. I think I’m going to go.”

“Go?” Inara frowned.

“Yeah,” he stretched his arms out wide over his head and yawned. For some reason, she thought it was fake. “I’m exhausted. You know, almost getting killed can really take it out of ya.”

Inara chuckled. “Yes. That’s true.”

With a bounce in his step, he jumped up. If he weren’t so light on his feet, Inara would have feared Felix would fall over the edge. A fall from this height would mean instant death. They were sitting on the roof of the tallest palace in the kingdom.

He took one step and then hesitated, concerned eyes shooting back down to her. “You sure you’re okay?” His piercing gaze sliced to the Crowned Prince and back to her quickly. “I can stay.”

Inara wasn’t sure what he was hinting at. She didn’t fear the prince. She shook her head. “No. I’m fine. Go ahead. I’ll meet you in our room later.”

He nodded and bent down to kiss her cheek goodbye.

Ice-cold wind smacked them hard.

“Cut it out! Why do you keep doing that? Jeez.” Inara chastised.