Chapter 11
ELEVEN
SLOAN
“Are you all right?” Sloan looked over at Croft.
With the debriefing of the escaped soldiers of New Hope over, everyone was getting ready for a much needed rest. Everyone, that is, besides Sloan and Croft. Where Sloan didn’t need to sleep at all, there were bags under the witch’s eyes.
The two women sat in the same room in the capital where Croft had first revealed to Sloan she was the sister of Eleanor and Leah. The door was still broken, but Theo had managed to shut it on his way out to make sure Pia, Harrison, and Doyle were comfortable for the night.
Croft winced, bringing a hand to her head. She addressed Sloan’s question a moment later.
“I’ll be fine.” Croft waved Sloan away. “I’m just tired. Go. You’ve done enough for one day. Tomorrow you and Aareth both turn your soldiers, and they start their training under your instruction.”
Sloan rose to go, the events of the day already playing back in her mind and vying for importance, from Kade’s pocket pies, to the many interviews of Azra guards wishing to become vampires, to her old comrades arriving at the gates. It had been an eventful day, to say the least.
Sloan left the room, walking down the hall toward the exit where the night waited for her. To her surprise and delight, Kade stood waiting for her. He offered the crook of his good elbow. “Well, you look like a good time. Can I offer to walk you home?”
“Well, you’re very attractive,” Sloan played along, biting her lower lip for added seduction. “But I’m kind of seeing someone right now.”
“Only kind of?”
“It’s still new, but I think I really like him and I don’t want to scare him off.”
Kade broke character with a smile of his own. “Okay, I don’t have anything else. And that biting your lower lip thing? That was a great touch. It kinda got me all excited.”
“Oh, good.” Sloan laughed out loud as she took Kade’s arm, and the two strolled outside. “I felt like a dork doing that. It’s new to me, but kind of fun.”
Shifter and vampire walked down the sloping path to their quarters at the apartment provided for the refugees of Term.
At this hour of the night, it was quiet.
The distant slapping of the waves drifted on the wind, the clean, salty odor of the sky reminding them how close to the shore Azra actually sat.
“How’s your arm feeling?” Sloan asked, looking over at the white gauze that poked through Kade’s loose shirt. “Any better?”
“Well, I’m lucky to be a shifter. We heal fast. I mean not vampire fast, but it’s already feeling a lot better.” Kade’s eyes drifted to Sloan’s, looking deep. “How are you?”
“Physically, I feel great. Mentally, I feel like I’ve been doing cartwheels the whole day. There’s still a lot to be done. I have four soldiers to turn and begin training tomorrow, and a war to prepare for.”
“You’ll be great,” Kade said without the slightest pause. “You’re the right person for the job.”
“I wish I had your confidence,” Sloan shook her head, thinking of everything that would need to be done in the coming days. “I’m glad I have you by my side.”
“Always.” Kade grinned. “I’d offer to be one of your vampires myself, but I don’t know how that would work with my shifterness and all. I might be transformed into some bit cat-bat thing. I’d be Bat Cat Man.”
Sloan burst out laughing at Kade’s remark. “No, you’ve done more than enough. I like you just the way you are.”
“That’s good.” Kade paused their walk under an archway leading into a residential section of the city. They were alone, under the stars. The sky opened up overhead like a million witnesses to this very moment. “Because I want to ask you something.”
“Oh?” Sloan let Kade hold her hands. Her green eyes met his orange ones. “If you get down on a knee, I’m going to have a heart attack, if vampires can even have those.”
“You’re not going to be that lucky tonight.” Kade squeezed her hands. “Not yet at least. I want you to know how much I like you and that I don’t want to see anyone else. You’ve ruined me as far as dating any other woman in the Outland. There’s no way they could compare to you.”
Sloan’s heart hammered in her chest. Face down a thundering army of vampire soldiers, sure. Attack a cavalry of New Hope soldiers, why not? But ask her to be open and honest with her feelings, and Sloan was a stuttering mess.
“I, uh … that’s so nice. Thank you?”
“You’re really horrible at this, aren’t you?” Kade caught her eyes again as they sunk to the ground in embarrassment. “It’s okay. You’re lucky you’re cute.”
Sloan had no idea how someone could like her. She was usually a mess—dressed in dirty riding boots, with her hair in a ponytail, and not to mention her nonexistent makeup kit.
“I like you too, Kade.” Sloan tried to think of the exact right words for the moment, but nothing seemed to fit. “You’re the best thing that’s happened to me in a very long time. Maybe ever.”
“Well, in light of my being so great”—Kade winked at her—“I want us to be exclusive.”
“Is that the adult way to ask me to be your official girlfriend?” Sloan could feel heat rise to her cheeks.
“I guess so.” Kade released her hands and dug into his pants pocket with the arm on his non-injured side. He produced a folded white piece of paper and handed it to Sloan. “I was going to give you this, but it seemed a little childish.”
Sloan accepted the piece of paper with a grin.
It was folded into four perfect parts, creases where Kade had refolded the sheet to get it just right.
Inside, the paper was one simple question with two options, each distinguished with a check box beside them.
The question was: “Will you be my girlfriend?” and the options were: “Yes” and “Yes.”
Sloan laughed again, shaking her head in amusement. She felt light inside like, just for that moment, she was able to forget about her duties and merely enjoy Kade’s company.
Sloan raised a playful eyebrow. “What if my answer was no?”
Kade cocked his head to the side. “Does that mean your answer is no?”
“My answer’s yes.” Sloan allowed herself to be drawn into Kade’s embrace. “Now get over here and kiss me.”