Chapter 168: The Day of Flames - Part 2

AARYN

Aaryn grinned. Gar had fallen asleep half an hour earlier, while Reth sat in the chair in the sunlight from the window, blinking, his eyes drooping.

He was drunk enough not to have noticed when Aaryn tipped the end of his drink out, then replaced the empty tumbler next to his hand—and when he'd asked for a refill, Aaryn showed him one empty bottle and insisted they were all out.

He'd been intending to let Reth sleep as well, but the older man kept talking about the ceremony, and how intense it would be, but that Aaryn wasn't to worry. Then he'd gone quiet.

But when he blinked himself awake again and frowned at his empty glass, Aaryn decided it was time to distract him.

"Tell me about your Flames, Reth," he asked quietly, so he wouldn't wake Gar who was snoring softly on the bench seat next to the wall. "It must have been strange, not knowing Elia before you mated."

"I did know her, as a child."