Summary: A little reimagining of the scene in Book 3, Chapter 15, after Kenna rescues Eda, in which Diavolos doesn’t hurry off immediately.
Kenna can see how much it pains Diavolos to leave one of his soldiers beyond the castle walls. He’s not the type to leave anyone behind; she’d figured that out about him almost immediately. She can tell he wants to launch himself over the wall, his brow furrowed and his knuckles white as he grips the rough stone. His words say they need to prepare, that he can’t ask her to go beyond safety to rescue one person, but his body language screams that he needs to go fight alongside his soldier.
Part of her knows he and Jackson are right, that logically and strategically it doesn’t make sense to risk so much for one life. But part of her can’t fathom letting someone from another kingdom die fighting for Stormholt without doing something. So she grabs a rope and launches herself over the wall, vaguely registering Jackson and Diavolos shouting at her to wait.
The adrenaline kicks in as she and Eda work together to tend off Azura’s troops, and it’s still flowing through her when they get back through the gate. She can feel her heart pounding, and laughs as Eda says she owes her a drink and Abanthus soldiers surround them. Kenna can feel Diavolos’ eyes on her, his expression awestruck and admiring as cheers and applause from the Abanthus soldiers fill her ears.
Diavolos shakes his head at her in almost disbelief as he dismisses his troops.
“You’re insane, you know that?” he says, striding over to her.
Kenna leans against the wall, willing her still-racing heart to slow, to prepare for what’s still to come. It’s increasingly difficult to keep her heart from pounding harder as Diavolos stands in front of her. She can feel the heat radiating off of him, his dark eyes burning into hers as he steps closer.
“Why in three hells did you go out there?” he asks.
He steps closer, a trace of smugness on his face when she grips his armor. She smiles, though, when his hands immediately come up to her hips and slip around her back.
“We’re all on the same side,” Kenna says. “Your soldiers are our soldiers.”
Diavolos makes a noise of agreement, tightening his arms around her just slightly. The timing and the place couldn’t be worse, but Kenna feels the sudden urge to kiss him. It’s partly the adrenaline, partly sheer attraction, and partly remembering the commanding, upfront way he’d told her he wanted her last night, and what had come after.
There’s more, too, something deeper than just physical desire, but that…that’s something Kenna decides she’ll delve into if they both manage to survive this. If she thinks about it now, she knows how distracted she’ll be.
“And I hope if the roles were reversed, you and your men would do the same for one of mine,” Kenna continues, her voice dipping into a murmur as her gaze flickers to his lips.
“After that little display, I don’t think I could stop them,” Diavolos says with a low chuckle.
Kenna sees Jackson approaching from the corner of her eye and knows he can see them. Her time with Diavolos is up (for now, she finds herself hoping in a brief moment of indulgence). They need to prepare for the next phase of the battle. She needs to figure out a plan, and Diavolos needs to prepare his troops. He goes to step away as Jackson gets closer, a barely perceptible shift in his expression as he loosens his hold on her. It’s almost as if he’s reluctant to let her go.
So Kenna keeps her grip on him, her fingers fisting in the material of his armor, her lips quirking up as he raises his eyebrows and smirks at her. He tilts his head down as she tugs him closer, her eyes drifting closed as they kiss. It’s a hard, insistent meeting of lips, a little desperate as his teeth graze over her lower lip and she lets herself brush her tongue against his, and over far too quickly. Jackson’s footsteps and the metallic clank of his armor fall on her ears as Diavolos lets go. He gives her a flash of a smile before he hurries away.
“Are you finished giving me a heart attack?” Jackson asks as Diavolos disappears from her view.
He looks slightly panicked and slightly irritated. Kenna isn’t sure if he’s referring to her launching herself over the wall directly in the path of Azura’s troops, or her impulsively kissing Diavolos in the midst of a battle; she thinks both are equally likely.
Her adrenaline is still pumping, from the rescue and from kissing Diavolos, when she shrugs and tries to hide a smile as she answers, “For now.”