Chapter 9 #2
“How very Moroi of you to barter for something so trivial,” Bastian said wryly. When I turned my head to look at him, he grinned and propped himself up on a bent elbow so he could look down at me.
For a second, I saw ice-blue eyes instead of emerald green, and a grin that was slightly quirked up on one side.
“Do you want a story or not?” I rasped, shoving Ryker out of my mind.
Bastian looked at me for a long moment, the amused expression fading as a more contemplative look replaced it. “What’s your happiest memory? Before meeting me, I mean?”
I turned a little on my side so I could see him easier and gave him an innocent look. “Before seeing your below-average face for the first time, you mean?”
“Your cruelty knows no bounds.” He reached over and nudged my shoulder. “Entertain me.”
Suspicion took root in my mind. Bastian had never expressed any interest in getting to know me before, but then we’d never traveled together like this.
At least one of the other Alphas had always been present, and they would talk amongst themselves, only occasionally involving me in the conversation.
I supposed he was only talking to me now because he had no other options.
Although . . . he did have options. The two Velesians I’d mentioned earlier would have been happy to entertain him all evening. Did he have some ulterior motive for being friendly? I didn’t know what he hoped to get out of it since he clearly wasn’t interested in sleeping with me.
A sudden tap on my nose had me jerking my head back.
“Did you just flick me?” I stared at him incredulously. “What are you? Five?”
“I’m bored is what I am, so start talking.” His eyes took on a dreamy state. “Maybe about how you, Samara, and Cali had a three-way in the library or something.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course that’s where your mind would go.”
“Don’t be so judgy, my little voyeur.”
Heat flushed across my cheeks. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about what happened last night while in bed with a naked Bastian.
“Sorry to disappoint, but we’ve never done that. But my seventeenth birthday . . .” I said quickly before he could say something else to make me blush harder. If that was even possible. “It’s one of my happiest memories.”
“Go on,” Bastian drawled.
I chewed my bottom lip for a moment. This was the memory that popped into my head, but now it felt weirdly personal to share. I’d just have to choose my words carefully.
“It was my second year at Drudonia, and by that point, Samara, Cali, and I were inseparable.” A faint smile played across my lips.
“Samara figured out it was my birthday and convinced Cali to steal some chocolate from one of the elder scholar’s rooms—it didn’t take much convincing—and Samara traded some gems with another student to get my favorite type of wine.
They had this whole plan of a secret party in one of the less used study rooms.”
I chuckled, shaking my head. “Cali blindfolded me and brought me down to the room. Samara had dragged Roth and Nyx into it as well. Roth was grumpy about the whole thing and Nyx was just super shy back then.” My mood dimmed a little bit thinking about Nyx.
Drudonia hadn’t been a good fit for them, but being a ranger had been, and now their entire life had been turned upside down as they walked the fine line of being a Moroi or a Strigoi.
“How’d their plan work out?” Bastian asked, his tone almost gentle, as if he’d guessed where my thoughts had gone.
“Not well,” I said. “They hadn’t realized the room was being used by two scholars who were having a secret tryst—one of whom was Samara’s archnemesis.
” The memory of Samara’s shocked face at seeing the prim and proper scholar barge into the room with his hands firmly grasping the breasts of the pretty but shy woman who mostly tended to the books in the library flashed in front of me, and I grinned widely.
“The couple were . . . very caught up in each other, so it took them a moment to realize they weren’t alone. ”
Bastian laughed.
“Samara panicked. She was constantly getting in trouble that first year for back talking and had just gotten off cleanup duty for the washrooms.” At this point, I started laughing with Bastian.
“Samara practically threw Cali in front of her to prevent the scholar from seeing her, but Cali had started celebrating early and had already polished off a bottle of wine by herself. She collided into the couple, and all three went down. The rest of us ran out of the room like we were on fire, leaving Cali to fend for herself, which she was really pissed about later. Although Nyx had enough sense to grab the chocolate and wine.”
“So your favorite memory”—Bastian’s chest was shaking with laughter now—“is a failed birthday party?”
“The scholar tried to chase after us, but he must have unbuttoned his pants prior to opening the door because he tripped over them after only a few steps. Several other scholars berated us for running, but I don’t think anything could have gotten Samara to slow down at that point.
We raced back to our living quarters and jammed ourselves into my tiny bedroom,” I said between gulps of laughter.
“Samara was convinced the scholar had seen her and was wailing hysterically about having to clean more toilets. I’m pretty sure Cali slapped her at one point because Samara’s voice can be kind of high-pitched when she’s spiraling. ”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Samara spiral.” Bastian’s eyes were almost comically wide. “She’s either in her I’m a sexy minx persona or her I’m going to smile as I slit your throat while you sleep persona. I’ve never seen her lose it.”
“We were all young back then with a lot of pressure on us. Samara was easily the most dramatic and prone to spiraling.” I wiped a few tears from my eyes.
“Once Samara calmed down, the party continued. If you get enough wine into Roth, they actually have a really good voice and know a lot of hilarious tavern songs. We stayed up all night, sending Cali and Nyx out to steal us more wine, and it was just . . . nice.” After a few more chuckles, I got myself under control.
“So, that was better than the birthday parties your pack threw you, I take it?” Bastian grinned.
My good humor died.
After it was announced I would be joining the Alpha pack, I’d spent every birthday alone until I’d gone to Drudonia and become friends with Samara and Cali.
“Yeah,” I said simply. “It was better.”
The light, happy mood in the room faded.
I felt Bastian’s attention on me, but I stared at a spot midway between us.
I didn’t know what game he was playing, but I wasn’t about to pour my heart out to him.
Although, given that we’d be around my family in a couple of days, he’d probably be able to piece it together.
Damn it. I shouldn’t have told him this story.
“You and Cade were friends,” I stated the well-known fact.
“But how did the two of you meet Warrick?” As curious as I was about Bastian’s scars, that felt too personal to ask.
I assumed Warrick was just a childhood friend of Cade and Bastian and nobody talked about it because Warrick was fucking terrifying.
“That is a good story.” Bastian’s lips curved up. “For another time.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What happened to our deal?”
“I never agreed.” He smirked. “Merely gave comment on the idea.”
“Now who’s acting like a Moroi?” I said tightly after replaying his words in my head and being annoyed I hadn’t caught it, but I had never been particularly good at wordplay.
“Oh, don’t be mad. The daemon’s in the details, as the Fae used to say.” He frowned. “Have we figured out what daemons are yet?”
“No.” I moved so I was on my back again and put a few more inches of space between us. Why was I always such a gullible fool around the Alphas? I had to stop lowering my guard and start being smarter around them. “Good night, Bastian.”
There was a little silence, then the bed creaked as Bastian moved and the Fae lanterns went out a second later. “Good night, Rynn.”
I stared up at the ceiling, running through my plan over and over again until sleep claimed me.
“Are you alright?” Bastian asked, and if I hadn’t known better, I’d think he was genuinely concerned.
But I did know better.
After letting him trick me into telling a story about myself and then not reciprocating, I’d put all my mental walls back up and reinforced them. Bastian was playing a game, and the only way to win against him was to not play.
We’d stayed at another inn last night. Again, he’d chosen one slightly off the beaten path.
Despite the cozy and inviting atmosphere, I’d grabbed my food from the bar and taken it straight upstairs to our room.
Bastian had followed me up, but I’d shut down every attempt at conversation.
He’d eventually sighed and gone back downstairs, coming back a few hours later and going straight to sleep on his side of the bed.
The only time I’d willingly interacted with him was when he’d woken me up halfway through the night with his tossing and turning. I’d gently shaken his shoulder and he’d jerked awake, scaring the absolute shit out of me. After that, he’d gotten up with no explanation and hadn’t returned.
I hadn’t brought up the nightmare this morning, nor had he mentioned it.
“Rynn,” he pushed, “you good?”
“I’m fine.” I stared at the open door of the small outbuilding we’d stopped in to grab some clothes before entering the Narchis stronghold.
Well, technically, I’d decided to come here first. They had plenty of extra clothes inside, even ones that actually belonged to me and would fit me better, but I’d wanted to stall a little longer.
Put off seeing my father and uncle for a few more minutes.
“Really?” He snorted and then pinched my chin, forcing me to look at him. “Because you didn’t try to slap my hands away once.”
I looked down and saw he had buttoned my shirt. I barely remembered putting it on.