36. CHAPTER 36 #2
Footsteps sounded, and she hoped Adelle wasn't here to take her distraction from her by doing the dishes herself.
But it was definitely not Adelle.
Zayne stepped beside her. He unfastened the buttons at his wrist and folded his sleeves back until they were rolled above his elbows, uncovering the scars twisting along his wrists. Her eyes followed a thick vein running from the back of his hand, up along the Phaedra's shadowy tower like a vine.
Warmth tickled the pit of her stomach.
“Go for a walk.” He submerged his hands in the soapy water, picking up a plate. “You'll feel better outside.”
“Stop telling me what to do.”
He raised a brow, scrubbing at the dish. “What's wrong with you today?”
“You. Go away.”
“I didn't do anything yet.”
“It's you in general.” Venom laced her words. “Who you are as a person.” Kira scrunched her nose at him. “So, take your slutty little shirt and go.”
He dropped the plate into the sink and twisted her way, a short, deep laugh leaving his lips. She'd never heard him laugh before, and it sounded nice even though she wanted to hit him right now. “What did you just say?”
“I said.” Kira lowered her voice, waving her finger with each word. “Take your slutty little shirt and go.”
“What could possibly be slutty about a button-up?”
“It's all, completely,” Kira glanced at his shoulders and shook her head. “Way too tight.”
“It isn't that tight. It's normal. What, you want me to change?”
“Yes, I do, actually.”
“Then you change too.”
“Your fiancée made me wear this,” she said. “You know how she is. She won't let me.”
“You think she'll let me? She dressed me too.”
Oh, Kira knew someone not very innocent was behind this shirt. That explained it all.
“You'll just have to control yourself,” Zayne said. “I can't say I changed because my cousin can't stop staring.”
“I did not stare!”
The look on his face told her that he definitely saw her looking. Heat spiked in her chest. Couldn't he be oblivious for once?
“Listen, you arrogant jerk. I just don't want to see all this.” She waved her hand over his torso. “Because you're so stupid and ridiculous.”
“That doesn't even make sense.”
“And I'm offended by sluttiness.”
“Obviously, you're not.”
Kira gasped. “Did you just call me a slut?”
“No, but you called me one.”
“You did too. What else could that mean?”
“Fine. Your skirt is slutty and short. Happy?”
Kira moved closer, brows twisting. “Take it back. It's cute.”
“And slutty.”
They both frowned at each other, standing closer than she first realized.
Kira focused so intently on his face to keep from looking at his shirt, and her heart beat out of control, wondering if he did the same thing to her skirt.
Hoping he did and yet hoping he didn't. Wanting his admiration but being too scared of the pain of not having it.
“Yeah,” Zayne said, voice gravelly. He turned away, ripping the towel off the counter. “I take it all back. It's not true.” Quickly drying his hands, he practically vanished from the room.
What just happened?
Kira leaned against the counter and groaned before picking up a dish to pummel it with the sponge.
Ten minutes of cleaning the dishes alone didn't alleviate her stress.
And everyone else went outside. So, she begrudgingly followed even though Zayne first suggested it, and she didn't want to do anything he told her to do.
Luxurious padding covered the stone pathway, littered with plush pillows that ranged from tiny to bigger than Kira. Small tables were built into the padding, and two telescopes were positioned at the edge of the courtyard.
“What do you think?” Mellie lifted her hands.
She'd decorated the perimeter around the padding with strings of flowers hanging from creamy lights. Kira couldn't believe all this work went into one night of looking at the stars.
“Zayne told me he needed to work, but I said if he didn't come we had to spend the whole weekend at my parents' cabin in the mountains.” Mellie giggled. “He'd do anything to get out of that.”
“It's very luxurious.”
She leaned into Kira, eyes on Brock. “I know he's not the man you had the one perfect night with, but he's very sweet, and you should think about it.”
A rush of blood thrummed in her temples. When she told Mellie about that night, neither of them knew it was actually Zayne. She noticed him talking with his mom in the darkness.
Now Kira realized it was the other woman's fiancé, while she had no idea. What a mess.
Mellie hugged Kira's arm. “Oh, and you were right. I shouldn't worry about Zayne. He made me breakfast this morning just like he used to. I need to give him time is all.”
Swallowing hard, she nodded. “That's really good, Mellie.” Then she walked toward Brock, if for nothing else than to escape hearing about them waking up in the morning together to have breakfast. Sharing a bed and life.
“Mellie wants us to talk,” she said to Brock.
“Do you miss when your biggest problem was being captured by the Phaedra?”
She chuckled. “I didn't get to thank you.”
“You did thank me.”
“Not the way I want. I really mean it. Thank you for bringing the drone to me before and for risking your life for me. I have no idea how to repay you.”
Brock held her eyes with no problem, completely at ease, unlike Zayne. “Just make it out of here and be happy.”
“You too.”
“Trust me, I will be. For the most part. I don't want to leave Zayne behind.”
That knocked the ground out from under her. He was losing his best friend for her. Tears gathered in her eyes and lodged a knot in her throat. Brock would never stop worrying about him, just like Kira wouldn't.
But that wasn't what made her want to sink onto the ground. Kira hadn't thought through never seeing Zayne again after finally being reunited with her stranger.
“It's okay,” Brock said. “This is best for everyone.”
Not for Zayne. It was best for him to come with them and forget about the people he protected and the war he fought from within.
When Brock and Kira left, they might take some of Zayne's warmth with them. How much could he lose before he turned into his father? Before he lost himself in the Phaedra's schemes and eventually protected the very regime he wanted to destroy?
“Put it from your mind for now,” Brock said.
Nodding, she wiped her eyes and looked at him. “I'll never stop being thankful for all you're doing.”
“Same for you. I know there's much more you'll do once you're free.”
Happiness found its way into her grief, and Kira leaned in to hug him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “This will be over soon.”
Kira squeezed him back, smiling.
While pulling away, a figure blurred in the corner of her eye, and she jumped back with a gasp, seeing Zayne standing directly behind them. Brock flinched too.
“You scared me.” Kira touched her chest. “I didn't hear you coming.” Hadn't he just been out with his mother?
“Apparently not.” Zayne's eyes were drilling into Brock's, but they cut to Kira. “I came to tell you I was out of line earlier. Your clothes aren't slutty.”
Brock shifted his head back like someone smacked him, and then he ran his hand over his face.
“Don't worry.” Kira held up her hand. “I'm the one who started this. He was using my words against me like a child. Thank you, Zayne. I accept your apology.”
A nod. “And?” he asked.
“And I accept it. That's all. Thank you.”
His eyes narrowed after she didn't return the apology. “Well, then. Continue with your embrace. Sorry for interrupting.”
She wanted to tell him to have fun getting felt up by his fiancée again in his slutty shirt, but it felt petty now.
Brock rolled his shoulders, practically squirming. “How about instead of saying thanks, just make sure I'm never here for that again.”
“Sorry. I suppose I should apologize for calling him a slut, but I don't feel like it.”
He chuckled and sighed. “You're not in an easy position. But you're important to him.” His voice quieted. “Much more important than Mellie.”
Now her cheeks really burned. “I don't need to be.”
“We both know he doesn't love her. Don't let her get to you.”
“She's not trying to get to me.”
“People know even when they don't know what it is they know. I think she knows to be jealous of you. She just doesn't know why. So like I said, don't let her get to you.”
“Thanks,” she said softly.
Kira settled against a large, plush pillow, smoothing her skirt down. Mellie took Zayne's hand and reclined on the ground beside Kira. Adelle stood by herself, and Kira wondered what she and Zayne had talked about.
Brock sat last, on Kira's side, but not too close. Just enough for Mellie to grin.
The lights turned off, and within minutes the sky darkened. Creamy sprays of stars clustered into pictures waiting to be painted, shining through the darkness. The city had shut down, letting them see all the light normally hidden from them.
Joy crackled through the turmoil and pulled her back into who she knew herself to be. Smiling, she sank into the pillow, searching the kind of night sky she usually only saw in pictures.
Did everyone else find it as marvelous as she did? Brock looked peaceful, staring up at the sky, but Adelle was too far to make out. Beside her, Mellie smiled widely. And Zayne… She'd never seen that look on his face before. Not peace like Brock, but something else. Rest.
He liked the stars, didn't he?
A white streak raced through the sky, and Kira covered her mouth. She'd never seen a shooting star before.
Two more followed. She couldn't look away, or she'd miss one.
Every few minutes came a handful of white streaks.
Soon, when the atmosphere ate up countless meteors, each one wouldn't draw their eye.
Instead, they'd marvel at the sight of so many shooting stars taking over the sky.
But right now, Kira wanted to capture every single white line.
A blink, and they were gone.