CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“Theia and Brannon are on their way,” Kodhan whispered, startling me awake.
“I fell asleep?” Surprisingly, it had been dreamless. Rubbing the bleariness out of my eyes, I scrambled to sit up straight. “For how long?”
“A few hours, I’m guessing. I went to sleep after you did.” Kodhan had already straightened and rebuttoned his vest. Completely unbothered.
Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I asked, “Did anything happen? Is everything alright?”
Behind me, the mattress groaned. “Theia didn’t mention anything. Just that they were on their way.”
I stood, fastening my own vest back into order, and Kodhan appeared in front of me.
His fingers brushed the length of my neck as he gently tugged my hair out from my collar.
Then, with a final sweep of his thumb across my jaw, he bent to pick up the dagger that still lay discarded on the floor and ever so slowly slid it back into the sheath at my hip.
His hand lingered there, as if drawn in by some magnetic pull.
A shuddering breath escaped me as he turned on his heel to face Brannon—who hadn’t bothered knocking before entering—holding plates of food in each hand.
Servings of seasoned roasted meat were accompanied by slices of hard cheese, stacked high beside a heaping of fresh fruit.
All needing to be chewed thoroughly, eliminating any possibility of the meals being poisoned with more nightmare-inducing magical insects.
Real sustenance, in preparation for Wit.
“Good. You’re decent,” Brannon said to neither of us in particular and set the plates down on the bed.
“These appeared out in the corridor on our way here,” he explained.
Tipped his chin to me in greeting. “Eloise. Happy to see you look rested.” Kodhan, however, was not given the same courtesy.
Brannon eyed him distastefully in a calculated once-over.
“You, on the other hand, look horrible.”
Theia followed closely, her own hands full with two more plates.
The door clicked shut behind her on a soft wind.
Her eyes went straight to Kodhan. She hummed contemplatively.
“He’s looked worse.” No signs of anger marked her, nor any indication that she was still upset about their earlier conversation.
Only a smidge of fatigue. Maybe they’d worked out all of their problems before Kodhan had set my room on fire.
Her eyes slid to me. Immediately, she grinned like a fiend. “I see you took my advice.”
“What advice?” Kodhan asked, glancing between the two of us.
“It’s nothing,” I said sharply, simultaneously to Theia’s “it’s none of your business.”
Brows scrunching, Kodhan opened his mouth to press further, but Brannon clapped him on the shoulder, cutting him off. “Our suspicions were true. Lachlan and Elias want revenge. They’ve already began plotting.”
Grateful for the change of subject, I asked, “Plotting what, exactly?”
“Nothing we can’t handle.” Theia studied her nails. “No wonder Darion was in charge. They can barely string two valuable thoughts together.”
Kodhan already seemed back to his usual self. All merciless hard lines, and no hints of the easy smiles he’d gifted me. It was strange, knowing what hid underneath the surface. “So we end them before they can act.”
“I figured you’d say that. We’re almost all in agreement then. Eloise?” My attention snapped to Brannon, who waited expectantly.
“Yes?”
He laughed. “Well, do you agree with the plan?”
“I don’t under…” The rest of the word stuck to the back of my throat. I tried again. “You want my opinion?”
“Of course I do. We’re a team.” We move as one, or not at all.
“I’m sorry, I’m not used to…” All I’d ever known were orders. Diana certainly never thought to ask if I agreed to kill whomever she told me to. And most definitely didn’t care about how I would do it, either. Toying with the handle of the dagger at my hip, I nodded. “I agree. We need to stop them.”
A spark glittered in his eye. “Then let’s go hunting.”