Regret (Lady of Toryn Trilogy) (16 page)

Suddenly Restlyn was leaning
forward, arms going round Ashlyn as she pulled the younger ninja into a hug.
“I’m so happy for you,” she said simply, sniffling into Ashlyn’s shoulder. It
was surprising. There was no condemnation in Restlyn’s tone, no judgment or
reprimand. She was offering congratulations, with no strings attached.

It certainly wasn’t what Ashlyn
had expected from the first person to find out about her relationship with
Drake.

Despite her own excitement and
happiness, Ashlyn felt her heart break a little for the other girl. How long
had Restlyn been desperately in love with Skye? It had been obvious in the
first few days they’d traveled together, more than three years ago. How long
would it last? Would Skye ever return the feelings?

She hugged Restlyn back fiercely,
wishing with all her might that her best friend would someday find happiness,
with or without Skye.

After a long embrace, Restlyn
drew back, and her face was wet with tears. “Goodness, I’m sorry,” she said,
dabbing at her eyes with the corner of her sleeve in an uncharacteristic move.
“I’ve been so over-emotional lately. I think it’s just being back in Toryn. I
really never thought I’d see the island again, so being here is...unexpected.”
She suddenly looked a little wistful. “It’s a shame that everyone we knew as
kids has moved on. I don’t think any of my friends stayed in Toryn.”

“Nobody wants to stick around in
a dying city,” Ashlyn said slowly, remembering Endro’s abandoned streets. She
had no desire to be Lady of Toryn, but she couldn’t stand by and let the city
of her ancestors crumble to the ground. She sighed and rubbed a hand across her
eyes. “We’re leaving soon to go visit my father in North Camp. I wanted to stop
by and make sure you were handling everything okay- but it looks like you’ve
got it all under control.”

“Just until you’re ready to take
over,” the half-Toryn girl said, offering an easy smile.
 
“Have a safe trip. I’m so glad that your
father is going to be okay.”

Ashlyn stood and turned to leave,
then hesitated. “You know, Restlyn, I’m going to talk to him about you being
Scorned,” she said, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. “Obviously it doesn’t
stand now, but we both know what he did was wrong and hurtful. He needs to
apologize.”

“I know, and I’d like that,”
Restlyn answered, and Ashlyn glanced over her shoulder, surprised at the reply.
Restlyn grinned ruefully. “I’m not saying I’ll move back to Toryn. But I’d like
to know that I could if I wanted to, and not have to suffer any of the elders
condemning me. I always felt like this was my home- not Cosmea, and definitely
not Storim.”

Ashlyn smiled. “I’ll see what I
can do.”

Chapter 8

Monsters and
Royals

Ashlyn made her way towards the
healing lodge, carrying her book with her and wondering for the first time if
perhaps Restlyn was a better option to select as her successor than Skye. Was
there any way that a half-Toryn could become Lady? Restlyn had been brought to
Toryn and adopted into the Li family following her mother’s death in Cosmea, so
that did give Restlyn some status within the Toryn community.

Ashlyn took off her shoes before
entering the lodge. Although she had noticed that most of the old traditions
were overlooked in Toryn now, it didn’t feel right to enter a place of magic
wearing grubby old sneakers.

“Come in,” Vargo snapped when she
knocked on the doorframe. When she slid the door open and stepped inside, he had
his pillow over his face, his face hidden but his bandaged wrists and arms
showing. There was a book on the sheet next to him.

“I didn’t know you could read,”
Ashlyn said teasingly, and he nudged the pillow out of the way, immediately
brightening when he saw her.

“It’s this new thing I’m trying.”
He tried to sit up, but fell back, grimacing with the effort. “Apparently…girls
dig…ugh…learned men.”

“Depends on the girl, I guess.”
Ashlyn eased herself down into a sitting position beside his mat, put the book
on the floor and reached over to help him, propping the pillow behind him to
keep him upright. The bandages swathed his arms from wrist to elbow. He was
shirtless, with his abdomen wrapped in gauze. Ashlyn found herself noting the
solidness of his heavily muscled upper arms and well-defined, scarred chest before
she averted her eyes, blushing, and tried to sound light-hearted. “You look
pretty awesome right now. No joke. I’d never guess you almost died last night.”

“Almost died? Yeah, right. I’d
never kick it without a sweeping exit.”

He was parroting the same words
back to her that she had said that night in Storim, when she first found out
about Devlyn and his war on FLD. The humor was lost on Ashlyn, though, as she
was hit rather suddenly with the realization that her entire world had
completely changed in the few short weeks since she had walked into Restlyn
Place.

That night she had still regarded
the Spartans as enemies, but today she was sitting next to a Spartan who had wormed
his way into her heart and- more importantly- saved her life. That night she
had called Drake a two-faced liar, but now they were- they were
something.
Courting? In a relationship?
It was difficult to label, whatever
it
was.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” she said,
turning her attention back to Vargo. “And I mean ‘okay’ as in not dead after
saving my butt yesterday.”

His eyes were fixed on hers, and
he somehow managed to look nonchalant by quirking one corner of his mouth
briefly. “It’s not often I get the chance to play hero in front of you, Ash.
Even less often that I get to show you how I feel without you knocking me out
or running.”

“I don’t run,” she protested.

“I seem to remember two specific
occasions where you fled after I kissed you, princess,” he said.

“Those were…special situations.”
She cringed at the silliness of her own wording.

Vargo grinned. “They were pretty
special.”

She shifted uncomfortably, and
stared down at her hands. There really wasn’t any way out of this. “Vargo,
I’m…”
Totally at a loss for words. How do
I explain this to you?

“Speechless? Head over heels for
me? Completely turned on by my heroics?”

He was so adorably annoying that
she had to smile. “You’re not in any condition to be flirting.”

“Babe, I’m in condition for more
than flirting,” he said, and his gaze was so direct that Ashlyn started
blushing again.

“I’m…not going to deny that
there’s something between us, Vargo,” she said. “I’m not going to lie and say
I’m not attracted to you, or that I don’t care about you, or that I’m not…
incredibly
grateful for what you did
yesterday.” She paused.

His eyes had shifted as she
spoke, his expression more guarded. “Go on,” he prompted flatly.

“I...love Drake,” she said.

Vargo was silent for a moment,
clearly unsurprised.

“Does he love you?” he asked at
last.

Another pause.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t
know?
”

“That’s right, I don’t know,”
Ashlyn said testily. “That’s not really so unusual, Vargo. I don’t know his
every thought and this- this relationship is so new that it’s not like we’ve
discussed all of it in detail.”

“Did you tell him you loved him?”
Vargo demanded. His hands were clenching and unclenching the bedcovers, his
mouth set in a grim line.

“Of course.”

“If you told him you loved him,
then he
should have responded
accordingly,”
Vargo said, his voice low and growling. “When your girl tells
you she loves you, you don’t leave her hanging like a bratty little kid with a
crush. You
tell her how you feel.”

“Some people are more open with
their feelings. Drake’s not like that.”

“Damn straight, Drake’s not like
that. He’s just like Skye, hung up on some dead girl. He’s also a
vampire,
Ash. Do you have any idea what
that means?”

“I know that!” Ashlyn snarled.
“I’m not blind! The
resist
stane
controls his vampirism. He’s still got a soul and he’s still capable of loving,
just as much as you or me.”

“You can train a dog to heel, but
it’ll still turn on you when it’s hungry.
Resist
is only hiding the monster, not making it disappear!” Vargo was nearly
yelling by his last word.

“Calm down!”Ashlyn exclaimed. “I
don’t even know why I’m telling you this. It’s none of your business!”

“We’ve been keeping tabs on that
vampire for the last three years,” Vargo said. “Every year, like clockwork.
Meeting up with him to make sure that he hasn’t gone insane and started killing
again. And now you’re saying you love him? Are you…” He stopped, breath hissing
through his teeth as he fought to control his temper. “Someday he’s going to
snap. It’s inevitable and that’s the whole damn reason the Spartans keep an eye
on him. If you’re with him, who the hell do you think he’s going to kill first
when that time comes? That
resist
stane
is a pretty pathetic insurance policy!”

Ashlyn snatched up her book and stood,
tears in her eyes. “I don’t have to listen to this,” she said unsteadily. “Drake
doesn’t want to kill, any more than he wants to be a vampire. I know he
asked
the Spartans to hold onto the
second
resist
stane. That’s only
because he didn’t have anyone else to help him.”

“And there’s a good reason for
that! People steer clear of vampires, Ash. People who value their own lives.
People who care about those who love them.” He glared at her, and his eyes were
bright. Too bright. He was close to crying too.

Frustrated, Ashlyn turned and
braced one hand against a wooden beam in the wall, trying to keep a handle on
her temper. “Don’t do this, Vargo,” she said quietly. “I care about you. I
don’t want to hurt you.”

He laughed hoarsely behind her,
his voice thick with tears as he spoke. “That’s working out great, princess.
Just great. Nice strategy. Make a guy fall in love with you and then tell him
you’re ditching him for a monster. It’s
phenomenal
for the ego. I’m not even kidding. I feel awesome right now.”

“Stop it,” she pleaded, turning
back. “You’re my friend. I’m not ditching you for anybody.”

“I don’t want to be your
friend,”
he snapped. “Any more than I’m
sure Lockhart does. That guy-” Vargo shook his head, swallowing hard. “What did
he do to deserve you?”

She wasn’t sure how to respond.
Vargo wasn’t looking at her. He was staring hard at the wall on the opposite
side of the room like his life depended on it.

“Vargo,” she said gently. “I-”

“Don’t.” He still didn’t look at
her. “Just leave.”

“I’m not-”

“
I don’t want you here,”
he seethed, and exasperated beyond reason,
Ashlyn threw up her hands.

“Fine,” she said. “Have it your
way.” She almost yanked the door to his room off its tracks, not bothering to
close it behind her as she nodded to an embarrassed surgeon who had clearly
heard the entire thing through the thin walls of the lodge. Ashlyn stomped out
the main door, carrying her shoes with her.

She had barely taken two steps
outside before she smacked into Drake’s chest.

“Damn it! Ow,” she muttered,
rubbing her nose. “What the hell, Drake? Can’t you use your super senses to
move out of the way or something when I’m being klutzy?” She sniffled and bent
to pick up her dropped book. Drake offered her a handkerchief- red, of course-
and she accepted it gratefully. “Thank you. I just don’t get it. Why do you
always have to show up just in time to see me at my worst?”

He didn’t say anything, and after
a moment, she glanced up at him. His eyes were shadowed, his lips pressed into
a thin line. Ashlyn recognized that look.

“Oh, no. What? What’s wrong?” She
put a hand on his arm, and slowly, Drake turned his head to look at her hand,
then turned back to meet her eyes.

“I was listening,” he said, his
voice morose and deadened, in a way that Ashlyn was very familiar with.

Completely unbidden, a single giggle
rose up and forced its way out from her throat, then another, until Ashlyn
clapped her hand over her mouth, horrified by her completely inappropriate reaction.
She held up one finger to Drake as she turned away, trying to quell her
hysterics.

“I’m sorry,” she finally managed
to gasp out. “You’re just so…so
serious…
and
I think…I’m sorry…I just can’t be
serious
anymore.” She laughed again, remembering that just a few weeks ago she’d
been as light-hearted and fun-loving as ever, and nothing had changed, nothing
should change, even with the addition of all these new responsibilities and
developments. Except that being hysterical over Drake’s angst was a far cry
from being light-hearted.

She smiled wanly at Drake as she
turned back to him a moment later. “Whatever you’ve got to say, Lockhart, it
ain’t gonna ruin my mood.”