25. Callum
CALLUM
“Don’t smoke in my apartment. It’s not attractive.”
I took another slow draw as I stared at the female across from me, her cheeks darkening under my gaze. “I didn’t realize you cared whether I was attractive or not.”
I let out a long exhale as she paused. “I don’t—I didn’t,” she stammered as she picked at her fingernails nervously. “Just don’t smoke, okay.”
I could have ignored her comment, but something about the way her cheeks flushed nervously as she demanded I stop had me pausing.
Pressing the tip against the dark hue of combat pants I’d worn today, I confirmed the embers were out before I glanced up to find her watching me, a look of surprise across her features.
“Satisfied?” I prompted as I settled down on the couch in her apartment.
“No,” she bit back. “You lied to me.” The first real words she’d said since she’d brought us back to her apartment after we escaped from the Tilted Tavern.
My eyes narrowed at the accusation. “Once again, how?” I questioned, the word coming across harsher than I’d intended.
“For the past few weeks, you let me believe that you both were guards for Lucanus,” she stated.
“We did,” I confirmed as I met her gaze, watching the fire blaze in her eyes. “But I didn’t lie to you.”
“You just admitted you did,” she answered.
“No,” I said. “I admitted that we let you believe that we were members of the RSG.”
“Same thing.”
“Perhaps,” I replied. “But I will make one thing clear, Raelyna.” Her sea-glass hazel eyes widened the slightest fraction at my use of her actual name. “I didn’t lie to you. Not once did I specify that I was a guard—that I worked for Lucanus. Or anything of the sort.”
She laughed, a cruel laugh of disbelief, and I felt the hit. “You were wearing RSG uniforms. You were inside the court. You may not have directly lied to me, Callum, but you let me believe that you were something you weren’t, without ever once changing the narrative.”
“You’re right,” I said, guilt nagging at me, even though it had to be done.
She scoffed. “I know I’m right. The other day, you asked me to trust you.”
I nodded, remembering the moment.
“Well, Cal, there’s always a reason not to trust someone. And you . . . you just gave me yours.”
Her words hit me like a punch to the gut, and I physically pulled back at her words. I had always known keeping my true identity a secret could hurt her, but I didn’t have any other option.
“I’m sorry, Rae.” The words came out in a pained voice. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice,” she whispered.
“If you no longer have any reason to trust us . . .” Axel interrupted as he pinned his gaze on her. “Why are we sitting here, in your living room, while RSG members search the Tilted Tavern for the two Aurelian Guild spies?”
Her breath caught as she looked between the two of us, the question having clearly caught her off guard.
My fingers drummed against the worn material of the faded purple couch.
Waiting for a reply, I took in the surroundings of her living room, including the stack of books on an end table and the family photos that decorated the space.
Her living room was lived-in, with faded hues and worn materials that spoke of a place frequented by close friends and family.
“My markings,” she said eventually. “You were right to tell me to look into them.” Raelyna hesitated before she continued. “My friends and I went searching the Solis Library—”
“You what?” The word was a snarl of outrage as I stared at her incredulously.
“You aren’t the boss of me, Blackwood. So thank you for the concern regarding my actions, but I can look for information wherever I choose.”
Axel laughed from beside me, and I gestured for her to continue on.
“Back to my point,” she stated with a side-eyed glance my way.
“You were right. In the library, we found pieces of our history that didn’t add up, timelines and stories that didn’t make sense.
Sage even found an entire book that mentions a different story of how The Rift appeared.
It had mentions of a different god—one we’ve heard about many times but who we’ve been told since childhood not to believe. Aeternus.”
I nodded at her words, surprised she’d managed to uncover so much in such a short amount of time.
“The information we found is enough to lead me to believe that something far bigger than any of us is occurring in Solis Quarter. And whether I trust you entirely or not, you seem to know more than I do. It’s why you’re here after all, isn’t it?
” she prompted. “Something is happening—something big that you’re not telling me about. ”
I nodded at her words. “Yes,” I replied, giving her no reason not to trust the words coming from my mouth. “We were sent here to scout out the Quarter—to see what was happening behind The Wall that Lucanus is hiding behind.”
“And?” she asked.
“And we haven’t found anything good,” I answered honestly. “The entire Quarter is shrouded in darkness and corruption—from your ‘gods’ to your marking,” I stated, gesturing toward her markings, the onyx ink stark against her skin.
A soft yip sounded in the room, and my gaze shifted as two pointed ears perked up from behind a faded green throw pillow on the chaise Raelyna was currently curled up on.
I narrowed my eyes in assessment as the creature appeared, its silver eyes scanning the living room, tracking between Pierce and me, before slowly shifting its gaze toward Rae.
“Is that a—” Axel didn’t finish the sentence before the fennex fox lunged from behind the pillow, dusty-sand-colored fur flying across the space as it bared its fangs, and a high-pitched scream rang out.
“Shit,” was all Axel could say before the fox landed on him, tiny fangs embedding into his leg.
“Oh,” Raelyna said with a smile as she stood up. My eyes drifted to the bare expanse of skin on display as her cropped green T-shirt rose higher, showing off her bronzed skin. “That’s just how Loxl greets guests.”
She wrangled the fox away from Axel, tsking as she tucked him under her arm and walked him back to the chaise lounge as though this were an everyday occurrence.
Which it wasn’t. Seeing as fennex foxes weren’t known to be pets. “He’s a fennex fox,” I stated.
Her eyes cut to mine, starlight flecks of amusement dancing through them as her nose crinkled. “I’m aware,” she replied with a grin as she settled the fox against the throw pillow, and it keened.
“Loxl,” she sternly scolded. “We have guests. Behave.”
I nearly laughed, only the name threw me off.
“Loxl?” I asked in disbelief, staring at the female sitting across from me on the chaise, positive I’d heard her wrong because there was no way she’d named her pet fox Loxl.
“Yes,” she replied confidently, a soft smirk tugging on her lips, her eyes blazing with a dare to contradict the name as the fennex fox jumped into my lap, nuzzling against me.
“What type of name is Loxl?” I asked as the starlit creature gave a warning growl, its small fangs nipping at my finger as it shifted on my thighs.
“The perfect name,” she replied with a grin as her gaze drifted toward my lap, where the fox shifted around.
“And how, for the love of Aeternus, did you come up with a name like that?”
“Loxl?” she questioned teasingly. “You know, like loxl the foxl.”
And I just stared in disbelief as she continued.
“It rhymed,” she answered with a grin. “What can I say? I was young at the time. It was cute.”
“A foxl isn’t even a thing,” I retorted, raising an eyebrow at her. “He’s a fennex fox, and not even typically a pet.”
“Okay, okay.” A soft blush spread across her cheeks as she spoke and in that moment, I wanted to learn every way possible to make that blush appear again.
“So maybe I was drunk on ambrosia at the time of naming, but it just kinda stuck. And he seems to like it,” she argued in defense of the creature.
The fox in question was currently curled up into a ball on my lap, purring contentedly as I reached out and stroked behind its ears. “Well then,” I mumbled after another moment of disbelief. “It’s nice to meet you, Loxl the Foxl.”
The bastard sighed with delight, nestling further into me as I reluctantly sat there, petting its coat. I still didn’t know how in Aurelia she’d managed to get a fennex fox as a stars-damned pet of all things.
Fennex foxes were among the rarest magical creatures in the world, known for their uncanny ability to stay hidden, despite leaving trails of stardust in their wake.
It was ancient lore that the foxes were dropped from the heavens by Aeternus, which is why their footsteps trailed in heavenly stardust. However, like many stories of lore our great-grandmothers passed along, this one held no truth.
I was nearly one hundred percent positive.
My phone vibrated from my front pocket, and I shifted back into the couch, carefully grabbing the device to skim the message. A disgruntled noise came from the bundle of fur on my lap, and I glanced down, giving Loxl a few extra pets as an apology for inconveniencing his chosen napping location.
Staring at the device in my hand, my eyes scanned the text from Eleana. I rubbed at my jaw, annoyance over her message washing over me. But it was nothing I couldn’t handle.
I caught Axel watching me from across the living room, even as he chatted with Rae. His eyebrow arched in question, but I gave a quick shake of my head as my gaze shifted back to the stunning female on the other side of the room.
I hadn’t been able to get her out of my mind since the night we’d run into each other in Solis Court.
The small crease in her forehead was crinkled at whatever Axel was saying, her manicured nails tapping rhythmically against the worn edge of the lavender-colored sofa in her living room.
Her hair, usually tamed, was hardly contained by the singular clip holding back her waves.
She was breathtakingly stunning.
And she was mine . . . if we fully acknowledged the starbound bond.