Wow. Was he really that dense? Anger coursed through her, aimed at them both. Him, for obvious reasons, and herself, because she couldn’t understand why she found this man attractive.
She wasn’t an idiot—she was fairly certain he had ulterior motives, seeing as how he’d been searching through her bag earlier. He obviously wasn’t just out for a leisurely stroll deep in the woods.
“Yes,” she said curtly. Lifting her foot, she pulled her bag towards her. “You should leave.”
Flynn stared down at her, his spine straightening. “Is that so?” He crossed his arms. “What if I don’t want to leave? This cave isn’t as nice as your shack, but it looks cozy.”
Octavia’s blood boiled. “I found it first.” She was aware that she sounded slightly petulant, but she was done with this man. “I want you to go.”
It was obvious by the way that Flynn looked at her that he didn’t consider her a threat. She snarled, wishing she could shift. If she did, he wouldn’t look at her like that anymore.
The dragon within Octavia uncoiled. Watching. Waiting.
They commanded us not to shift in possession of the object, the dragon reminded Octavia.
I know. Octavia stood and backed away from the witch. She couldn’t go far, thanks to the tight quarters, but at least now he wasn’t close enough to touch her. She absolutely did not want that.
You’re angry,the dragon remarked unhelpfully.
Yes, Octavia snarled.I am. This witch followed me. He deserves to know who he’s dealing with.
A pause.If you break the council’s rules, they will never accept us back. We will be forever banished. Is that what you want?
Did Octavia want to be banished? Obviously not. She’d spent the past five decades trying to regain some semblance of a relationship with the other villagers.
But this witch just made her sofurious. Especially because now, he tilted his head and watched her through those brown eyes that she’d remember for the rest of her life.
“I could leave,” he murmured.
Octavia clutched her cane. “Then go.”
He extended his palm, a solitary blue ribbon floating above his hand. “Or…”
The dragon shifter stared at the thread of magic. Damn that curiosity that had her repeating, “Or?”
He smirked. Gods, he did that a lot. “Or I could dry you off, and we could travel together.”
Rationally, Octavia knew she shouldn’t do it. She should insist he leave. But she was tired and hurting, and her feet werefucking wet. As she’d previously established, wet feet were the worst.
It was the squishiness between her toes that had her dipping her head. “Alright, you can stay… for now.”
Flynn smiled and opened his palms. Ribbons swarmed from his hands. They flew around the dragon shifter before darting into her skin.
She gasped. Tingles spread all over her, warming her from the inside out. Steam rose from her clothes, and they dried in seconds. Dragon shifters naturally ran hot thanks to the fire in their veins—some people called them furnaces—but even they couldn’t make clothing miraculously dry.
“Thank you,” Octavia forced out, hating that she had to be kind to this man who frustrated her so thoroughly. But she had manners, and she wouldn’t let a kind act go unnoticed. She couldn’t help but add, “You know, I’m still angry with you.”
Flynn huffed a laugh. “I expected as much. You don’t seem like one to easily let go of a grudge.”
“I’m not.”
He smiled as if this was nothing but a game. Then, without so much as a “by your leave,” he slid down the other side of the cave and stretched his legs out in front of him. Placing his sword within arm’s reach, he folded his arms in front of his chest and shut his eyes.
Octavia remained standing as she stared incredulously at the witch. “What are you doing?” she asked when it became clear he had no intention of moving.
Peeking open a single eye, Flynn’s gaze crawled over the dragon shifter. “Sleeping. Or at least, I was trying to. You should do the same. The rain will stop tomorrow, and we’ll have a long few weeks of hiking before we leave the forest.”
“A few weeks?” she parroted. “No.”