CHAPTER SIXTEEN #3
Back at the garrison, I found Khalida waiting near the stables, tapping her foot impatiently. Her jaw went slack when she saw me. I had to look wild. Like some primitive, mad savage. I was covered in mud. It matted my hair, stained my clothes, clung to my skin, and was buried under my fingernails.
Talon caught her eye, gestured at the bathhouse, and then indicated at me.
Khalida gave a sharp nod. “I’ll stay with her while she bathes. I’m not taking any chances with her.”
He emitted a satisfied grunt, took one last look at me, and then prowled away.
She eyed me closely. “How’re you doing?”
“Never been better,” I replied, my voice bone dry.
She twisted her mouth. “I heard what happened earlier. Quillen said you were … not yourself.”
I stiffened. “Did he also say that I falsely accused Atticus of purposely letting me fall?”
She snorted, derisive. “No. Quillen believes you.”
I double-blinked. “Really?”
“Yes. Talon must do as well, or he wouldn’t have requested that I stick to your side. Ajax probably believes you, too. But what they believe isn’t what counts when it comes to stuff like this. The Sovereigns aren’t good with people killing godkin without a solid reason. That means having proof.”
My posture softening, I sighed. “And all they have is my word on it.”
“Exactly. It isn’t even simply a case of your word against that of Atticus. Bevan backed him up, and others also witnessed Atticus ‘appear’ to do his best to save you.”
All of which tied the hands of any in the Order who might believe me, I got it. “Do you think I’ll be disciplined for almost attacking him?”
Her brows dipped. “No. You’d be able to claim that your power popping up to say hello fueled your anger and messed with your mind.
It happens, so no one could argue it’s a poor excuse.
” She squinted. “Speaking of your power manifesting itself … Quillen told me it looks like crackles of moonlight. That’s not typical of Sayers, you know. ”
I did know.
Her mouth curved. “He also said that Talon ordered Ajax to lead the others home so he could stay with you. That’s not typical of Talon. He leads, he doesn’t stay behind for anyone.”
Yeah, well, I didn’t really want to talk about that. “You know, you seem a little too invested in his business. I’m starting to think you have a thing for him,” I tacked on, making my way into the stables.
She hurried after me. “You think no such thing. You’re just being your usual evasive self. I want to talk more about him staying with you.”
“I want to talk more about how you keep asking Quillen to sleep with you in his wolf form.”
“You say it like I mean I want to indulge in some bestiality. When I say sleep, I mean sleep. His wolf pelt is just so soft and cuddly and—dammit, Anara, stop trying to switch the focus from you.”
In the tack room, I threw her a quick look over my shoulder. “A real best friend would roll with it.”
She folded her arms, a grin tugging at her mouth. “I thought we weren’t best friends.”
“Now you’re being hurtful.”
“Me? It was you who claimed—”
“Stop dragging up stuff from the past, let it lie,” I urged, grabbing my sack of personal belongings.
She only snorted.
In the bathhouse, I scrubbed myself clean, pulled on fresh clothes, and gathered my wet curls into a ponytail—all of which went without incident.
I had the feeling that some of the candidates in there would have at least mentioned the earlier shitshow to me if Khalida hadn’t been there, making it clear I was to be left alone and that to ignore her would be a mistake.
The gem also washed the mud from my boots for me.
Once ready to leave, I balled up my dirty clothes and strode out of the bathhouse with them tucked under my arm. “I’ve never enjoyed a bath so much in my life.”
“I can imagine,” said Khalida, idly swinging my sack back and forth as she walked alongside of me. “You hungry yet?”
“So starved I’d eat my own foot.”
“Really?”
“No, but I’d at least consider it.”
She chuckled. “Then let’s stash your things in the tack room and head to—” She cut off as a cluster of male candidates began to pass us by.
One of them was Atticus.
I felt my lips flatten. Just looking at him made my pulse quicken with anger.
My mind’s eye replayed that moment when a cunning glimmer slid into his eyes before he ‘accidentally’ let me go. It bothered me more that he’d gotten away with it.
He slowed to a quick halt as he spotted me, and his friends followed his lead.
Oh, brilliant.
At first, a hint of resentment began to brew in his eyes. He was probably pissed that not only had I possessed dormant power all this time but that mine had surfaced before his own. Yeah, ha. But the resentment vanished quickly, replaced by a gleam of calculation.
“I just want to say,” he began, his voice rubbing at my nerves, “there’s no hard feelings on my end over what happened earlier.”
I did a slow blink. “No hard feelings?” I echoed, my tone flat.
He put a hand to his chest. “I’m not holding your accusation against you. Like I said, that hit to the head probably left you confused.”
This fucker. Plunging my fist into his gut sounded so good right now. Or even tackling him to the ground and stomping down hard on his dick. Repeatedly.
Khalida leaned into me. “He’s baiting you,” she whispered. “Don’t give him what he wants. He’ll be made to pay for what he did, but not here and now.” In front of witnesses she didn’t say but I heard.
She was right, I acknowledged with a deep breath. Engaging with him would not only be foolish, it would be playing into his hands. And yes, he would pay for his actions, I thought as vindictiveness took root in my chest. I’d even the score at some point. I’d just need to bide my time.
So, even as vengeful images skipped around my brain, I locked my anger down and wrestled back the urge to bare my teeth. “It’s good of you to offer me such an out, but I feel I should apologize.”
He went still. “Apologize?”
Well, if he was going to fuck with me I’d fuck with him right back.
“The more I thought about it, the more I realized how silly it was of me to claim you’d make an attempt on my life.
You’re a boil on my ass—that’s a fact. But you’re not brave enough to do anything that would earn you the wrath of Talon, so …
” Relishing the way he bristled, I offered him a repentant look.
“I’m sorry for accusing you of causing my fall. Thank you for trying to save me.”
He stared at me, his face hard. “You’re welcome,” he finally said, the words like gravel. He and his friends then strode off.
Pleased with myself for putting that look on his face, I turned to Khalida with a smile. The odd expression on her face made my forehead crease. “What?”
“Quillen told me that that fall could have killed you; that, at the very least, it should have seriously injured you. But here you are, alive and well. I have to wonder.”
“Wonder what?”
“If being a mortal doesn’t make you a weaker Sayer; if it actually somehow makes you stronger.”