“You can sound so damn condescending at times, woman.” He tossed off the blankets and jumped down from the top bunk. He was a big man with blond hair, blue eyes, and a smattering of golden hair that ran across his chest and down his washboard abs. It was a trail I’d followed many a time with touch and tongue. “It’s a wonder any of us can tolerate you.”
“You do so because of the aforementioned sex. The others do so because the cook is sweet on me and it gets us extra rations.”
April laughed. “That is also very true.”
He flung an arm around each of us, then tugged me closer and kissed me soundly. “Shall we go find an empty coupling room to celebrate?”
Ava punched him lightly. “Is sex really all you can think about at a moment like this?”
He considered the question for a second, and then said, “Yes, I believe it is.”
I laughed and nudged him. “In this particular case, it’s the anticipation of such that has gotten me through the long drive back from Blacklake.”
“See? It’s not just me.” He gave Ava a told-you-so look then caught both our hands and led us out the door. “Let’s go find that coupling room.”
We did. And the sex that followed was a damn good validation of both friendship and life.
And yet that niggling sense that something was wrong, that my life and my world were about to change in ways I couldn’t begin to understand, wouldn’t go away. The wind whispered softly through my dreams, but her voice was unclear and muddy. I had no idea if she was trying to warn me of what might be coming, or merely playing games yet again.
In the nights that followed, the niggling fears did not become reality. Life went on as it normally did, and I heard no word from Saska, Lord Kiro, or even Commander Stone. While it should have eased my mind, the opposite seemed to be happening.
It was on the fifth night after my return that the Adlin were first spotted.
“All towers report,” came the captain’s gruff order. “We have sleuth movement a mile out. Anyone sight anything?”
I leaned out as negatives ran down the line. A sliver moon held court in the sky tonight and it cast little in the way of light. But if the Adlin were only a mile out, we should have been able to spot them—Sifft night sight was almost as good as any mechanical aid currently in use.
“No sign of movement here,” I said, when my turn came.
“Keep sharp, everyone, because they’re out there.”
Not only out there, but howling.
But no attack came. Not then, and not for the long, uneasy nights that followed.
I had a weird feeling they were waiting for something.
Or for someone.
The wind had its own theory about what was going on and who might be involved, and part of me couldn’t help but wonder if the wind was right.
Because the name it kept whispering was none other than Saska Rossi.
4
Which, in reality, was ridiculous. Saska might have had an Adlin beacon with her, but the Adlin didn’t take prisoners. Not live ones, anyway. Even Ava dismissed the idea as absurd when I mentioned it to her. And it wasn’t as if I could confide in anyone else—not without outing my meager abilities.
The Adlin continued to howl night and day, and though both the Night and Daywatch made several strikes at them, little changed. The Adlin simply disappeared before our attack force could get too far beyond the gates. It left us with nothing more to do than wait and watch. Anything else would simply be a waste of armaments. But their actions went against everything we’d ever learned about them, and unease spread across the ranks.
Six days after their first appearance, just as I’d finished my shift and was walking back to the bunkhouse, a young lad dressed in the blue and silver of the Rossi household stopped in front of me, forcing me to a halt.
“Neve March?” he said. “I have a message for you.”
He held out an old-fashioned, folded piece of parchment and my stomach sank. I’d hoped Saska had forgotten her request for my presence at the masque but it seemed I was out of luck.
I reluctantly accepted the parchment and carefully unfolded it. It said, in quite ornate handwriting, Lord Rossi and his recently returned beloved require the presence of Neve March this coming Monday for the Masque of Pomona and the ongoing harvest celebration. A leave of absence has already been sourced from Captain July.
A leave of absence? That rather ominously sounded like I was required for more than one evening. And while I’d heard many tales of hedonistic festivities that ran over days rather than the one night those of us in the outer bailey were given, I hadn’t actually expected my presence to be required for the entire event.
It made me wonder just why they wanted me there—and whether Lord Kiro, with his sharp eyes and restless suspicions, was the main force behind this invitation.
I swallowed the bitter uneasiness that rose up my throat and forced a smile. “You may tell your lord and lady I accept with pleasure.”
“Thank you.” He spun and raced away.
Both Ava and April were waiting for me inside our bunkroom, as it was something of a ritual between us to relieve the tension and stress of the night with some mattress time. They were the only ones currently here, as Moss and Chet preferred to drink away their tensions before sleeping, and Pen had a lover who wasn’t from the watch, meaning she was undoubtedly making full use of his more private dwellings rather than the coupling rooms.
“Talk about a perfect piece of timing,” Ava said as she and April strolled naked and wet from the washroom. Desire, thick and luscious, teased the air, but it was unaccompanied by the scent of sex. Coupling in a bunkhouse was a brig-worthy offense—apparently the powers that be believed the rule cut down on friction and other petty nonsense. “I was just about—”
She stopped abruptly, her gaze scanning my face. “What’s wrong?”
“This.”
I handed her the invitation. April leaned over her shoulder and read its contents as well.
“Oh my,” Ava said. “This is certainly something.”
“But not,” April said, “deserving of such a woebegone expression.”
My gaze rose to his. “You don’t understand—”
“No, I’m thinking you don’t understand.” He plucked the invitation from Ava and lightly waved it in front of my face. “This is a five-day break from duty, and one that comes with unending feasting and debauchery. Why is that suddenly a problem?”
In any other circumstances, it wouldn’t be. I was more than willing to celebrate the upcoming harvest with as much fervent wantonness as the goddess might require—but that wasn’t what this was about. I was sure of it.
“But it’s tomorrow night,” I said. “And I have nothing suitable to wear and no chance—”
April’s loud snort cut off the rest of my sentence. “Clothes are not a requirement at masques, dear Neve. Not for long, anyway.”
I hesitated, and glanced at Ava. She knew I distrusted all things Rossi right now, but even she didn’t appear to see a problem.
“Look,” she said, placing a hand on my arm. “The masque is attended by both the six ruling houses and the six non-ruling. It’s not like you will have to spend every single hour with the Rossi. I doubt they’ll do much more than an official thank-you, and then you’ll be free to enjoy yourself. As for clothes, you can borrow my silver sheath dress. It’s classy enough for even the Upper Reaches.”
“It’s probably just the uneasiness of the whole Adlin situation that’s the issue,” April added. “But what you need to be thinking is that you’re there representing the Nightwatch, and you need to show those people we unlit are more than able to keep up with their nonsense.”
I snorted softly and rose up on my toes to drop a kiss on his cheek. “You’re right. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I really need to make the most of it.”
“Right,” April said. “Now that’s settled, let’s go have sex.”
I rolled my eyes and met Ava’s amused gaze. “You two go. I need a shower and some alone time.”
She squeezed my arm in understanding, then pushed April toward the door. “You heard her, out.”