Chapter 27 Touch and Tension #2
“Indeed, and I thought you understood when I told you that was your one pass.” He points at the tea. “Gwen added more of the nettleleaf.”
“Thanks, Lief.”
His smile grows affectionate as he pats my shoulder. “Breakfast will be out shortly.”
“You’re still sore?” Holden’s tone is deceptively casual.
My guard rises, expecting him to criticize me in a dozen different ways that I likely am not prepared for.
“I’m fine.” At least I made it down the stairs without wincing, which feels like progress.
“How are your other classes?”
I try to read between the lines of his seemingly simple question. Outside of Runes, I never see him at Thornhurst, an arrangement I’m more than happy with.
“It’s not a trick question,” he says.
“I assumed it was more of a trap than a trick…”
He barely reacts, staring at me with those endless dark eyes as he raises his cup of coffee to his mouth.
“How do Vestras work?” I completed an entire book of Edmond’s last night on Vestras, but it barely mentioned how they’re formed. “Is it a choice? Preordained? Does it require a blood test?”
Holden runs his short fingernails along the underside of his jaw. Like Griffin, he has a permanent layer of short scruff that catches my attention too often. “Vestras aren’t chosen,” he says finally. “They’re revealed. Every year, at the Convergence Ceremony, the universe decides.”
Revealed. Because they have a matching mark. Scarlet and the text confirmed it. I want to ask if he’ll show me his—or at least describe it to me—but his guarded expression has me biting my tongue.
“How long have you guys been a Vestra?”
He blinks slowly, as though I’m testing his patience or making him suspicious.
Kai strides into the room then, and though I’ve barely seen my despondent bond roommate outside of classes—where he sits as far from me as possible—and shielding, I’m relieved to have someone else here. He sits a few seats away from me—a neutral position.
Once more, I’m overthinking everything.
“We need to work on your Soul Element this weekend and see if activating it will strengthen your shields,” Kai says, turning his light blue eyes on me. “It might be the only way to pass with Lyra.”
The way he’s so casual about my potential demise is unnerving.
“Also, you need to step it up in D&C. They’ll be putting you in the rings soon, and opponents will be running circles around you if your stamina doesn’t improve.”
“She should be healing faster,” Holden says absently.
“It’s only been two weeks,” I say as inadequacy colors my skin.
Kai tilts his head. “No. He’s right. Our bodies heal considerably faster than what you’re used to.”
Lief enters then, our breakfast perfuming the air, making my stomach growl.
“You’d think we weren’t feeding you,” Lief says with a teasing smile as he sets a plate with eggs, potatoes, fruit, and some sort of green salad in front of me.
“Thanks, Lief. This looks amazing.” My relationship with food will likely never be normal. I’m not sure it’s possible after the past eleven months.
“If you’d actually eat, you wouldn’t constantly be starving,” Kai mutters.
Holden’s gaze jumps to Kai. “She’s still not eating?”
“Not enough,” Kai answers.
Lief frowns as he sets plates mounded with food in front of each of them. “Injured souls take longer to heal,” he says in his soft but somehow authoritative voice.
Something crosses Holden’s face, but he says nothing. He doesn’t have to. His judgment is clear—he hates that Lief is kind to me.
“How were things this morning?” Scarlet asks, arriving in Charms.
“Cozy as walking barefoot across pinecones.”
She winces. “Well, on the bright side, we have tidecast to look forward to tomorrow.” She waggles her eyebrows.
I grin despite the flurry of doubt in my stomach. Between the possibility that the guys will refuse me going and the mountain of homework I’ve collected, going isn’t nearly as desirable as I pretend it to be. But considering all she’s given up for me, I can’t say no.
“We’re going to Keyhouse after the game. It’s a local bar with great food and a dancefloor.” She waggles her eyebrows.
“That sounds deceptively human.”
“Then you should feel right at home.”
I sputter as Professor Anara steps into the room, calling the class to attention.
With Scarlet’s tidecast game at the front of my thoughts, I squeeze in as much homework as possible anytime there’s a spare moment—stolen minutes between classes, lunch, and most of Alchemy.
After D&C, I head for the parking lot with aching muscles, scanning for Kai or Holden, but to my surprise, Griffin’s standing beside a glider.
He’s wearing an army-green tee that accentuates his broad chest in a way that should be illegal and a pair of jeans that look like they were tailored for his body.
My heart skips and then spins, like an Olympic ice skater. It’s entirely unfair that my body reacts without my consent.
His blue eyes light up as he gives an almost imperceptible nod.
I cross the distance, pulse racing. His eucalyptus and mint scent wraps around me.
His warm hand skims my lower back, inviting me to get into the glider, and every nerve cell in my body awakens at his touch.
He follows, sitting so close that our thighs touch as the doors close.
Heat floods through my veins. I should scoot closer away from him. Instead, I’m frozen as the screen appears. Rather than enter our destination, Griffin turns to me and gently tucks a lock of hair behind my ear, where his fingers linger. His imprint is visible.
He’s been gone all week, and though I’ve tried to convince myself I barely noticed, his absence has been a weight on my chest. Accusations and admissions swirl in my thoughts, each refusing to be voiced as he studies me, likely hearing them all before I remember to set my shields.
“Kai said your shields were improving.” A smile teases the corners of his full lips. “He downplayed how good you’ve gotten.” I swear pride flickers in his eyes, and I hate how much I love it.
I attempt to smother those embers with a gentle scoff. “Yesterday, he told me a human could do better.”
Griffin twists a section of my hair around his finger, brushing the ends with his thumb as his gaze travels to mine. A silent question passes between us as he waits to see if I pull back, move, ask him to stop.
“Kai’s a liar.”
I don’t move. Neither does he.
It’s hard to think. Impossible to speak.
Griffin’s tongue drags across his bottom lip, and my thoughts turn to static. I’ve never wanted to be kissed so badly in my life. It feels like I’ll stop breathing if he doesn’t kiss me.
The glider doors open, and I jolt as Kai and Holden slip inside. Embarrassment and nerves color my cheeks as they stare at us.
Griffin doesn’t move. Doesn’t seem fazed.
Panic swirls in my chest, bracing for them to snap, for tension or disapproval, but to my utter surprise, neither says anything, though both glance at Griffin’s finger, still tangled in my hair.
Griffin finally lowers his hand, so slowly it’s as though he’s memorizing how each strand falls from his skin as he leans back in his seat.
Holden releases a button on his cuff, rolling the sleeve several times, but his posture remains stiff.
Kai turns the screen and taps a few commands. The glider hums to life.
“Kandi’s off all weekend?” Holden asks.
Griffin nods. “Until Tuesday. And next weekend, she’s going to Valisse. One or more of us will likely have to go.”
“I will,” Holden volunteers.
I remind myself I’m relieved and not at all bothered by how quickly he offers.
“What are we doing this weekend?” Griffin asks.
“Working on shielding,” Kai says.
I silently drum my fingers. I haven’t sought permission in years, and I’m not about to start now. I craft my words carefully. “Scarlet has a tidescast game tomorrow that I’m going to.”
The temperature in the glider drops instantly.
Holden swings his attention to me, eyes narrowing. A probe. A warning.
Kai’s jaw tightens. “No.” A single word, delivered with the finality of a door slamming shut.
“It’s at Thornhurst, which has been cleared, and I’m supposed to be posing as her cousin.”
“Everyone goes out afterward,” Kai says.
“Exactly. Safety in numbers, right?”
Holden scoffs.
“You need to be training,” Kai argues.
“You should go,” Griffin says, shocking everyone. “You haven’t been anywhere except Thornhurst, and going will reinforce the story we need everyone to believe.” His gaze turns to the other two. “But Kai’s right. We need to do some training.”
The compromise hangs in the air like a fragile truce. Kai grips the back of his neck, and Holden pinches the bridge of his nose. I hold my breath, waiting for them to object, but for the first time, fate doesn’t punch me in the boob, and we ride the rest of the way to Mysthaven in silence.
“Let’s start practicing now,” Griffin says as the doors open.
“Now?” My voice is several octaves too high.
Griffin nods, gesturing for me to exit the glider first. The cool air outside ushers me into the house.
Lief waits in the foyer, more specifically, he waits for me, another part of my new daily routine. “This is a happy surprise. I was expecting you to arrive alone,” he says. “Should I ask Gwen to prepare more snacks?”
“We’re not going to the springs today,” I say. “We’re shielding.”
“Actually,” Griffin cuts in, looking at Kai and then Holden, “the springs would be perfect. We’ve got something new to try.”
This time, I want Holden and Kai to object, but once again, no one does.
Fate is clearly mocking me because I’m heading to the springs with three of my bonds.