“Oh, but I hope one day I will.”
We are silent for a moment, studying each other before I finally say, “Tell me, what’s your favorite food then, since you seem to think it’s so much better than lemon tarts?”
“Oh, trust me when I say that it is far better than lemon tarts.”
“Well don’t keep me guessing, Gray.”
She tilts her head up towards mine as she confidently says, “Butterscotch.”
“Butterscotch,” I repeat, committing the information to memory.
“Yes.” She smiles, but I see the sadness in it. “My father used to give out the candy to his patients. And every time he would fix up one of my wounds, or I would help fix up someone else's, we would eat butterscotch after as a sort of reward.”
We are quiet for a moment. “You two were very close.”
“We were,” she states. “But you and your father aren’t, are you? Not after what he’s put you through.”
I’m thankful for the lack of pity in her voice, though her disgust is clear. A quiet, bitter laugh escapes me. “No. I’m more soldier than son, and he’s more king than Father. It’s hard to be close when our only time spent together was training, and I didn’t exactly look forward to those encounters.”
“And your mother?” she asks quietly.
“She’s everything I could have asked for,” I state simply. “Everything I needed as a boy. She’s been one of the only constants in my life, a source of kindness and caring.”
“And yet,” Paedyn says hesitantly, “she let your father do what he did?”
I pause, speaking to her even as I remind myself. “She didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter. And becoming the future Enforcer is my duty, no matter the methods it takes to get there.”
She eyes me with that expression I can never quite seem to place. Is it wonder? Confusion? One moment she’s an open book, and then the next, I can barely crack the spine.
And then she’s peppering me with questions. Most of them random, though all are deemed equally important to her. She tells me stories of growing up, and I do the same, listening to her laugh at Kitt and I’s stupidity.
“So, tell me about the split lip you had when we met?” I ask, brows raised.
She laughs and the sound snakes up my spine. “I wasn’t lying when I told you that it was a gift from one of your Imperials.”
“Right. You informed me of that when you had your dagger to my throat, I believe?”
“Sounds about right.”
“Well, I’m still unaware of the details behind how you earned it.” My eyes darken at the thought. “I don’t react kindly to my Imperials hitting women.”
“Oh? Then you should probably know that this wasn’t the first time.” Her words are casual, blunt. “Long story short, he didn’t believe I was a Psychic, so I proved it to him. And clearly, he didn’t like what I had to say.”
I stare at her in disbelief. “And, what, you just took the hit?”
“Yes, but not before I took some of his pride.”
“Why am I not surprised by that?”
She gives me a sly smile. “Probably because you’ve gotten so used to me humbling you, prince.”
“That I have.” I pause, taking her in. “You never cease to amaze me, Gray.” I smirk as I release her hand to flick the tip of her nose lightly.
She bats my fingers away with a huff. “And you never cease to annoy me.”
I grab her hand again and guide it up my arm until both of her palms rest on my shoulders. Then I slip my hands around her waist and behind her back, careful of her injured side as I pull her closer.
And then we just sway.
No fancy footwork, no waltz to step in time to. Just us, in the middle of a forest, surrounded by thousands of winking stars. Her lashes flutter, and then her fingers are laced behind my neck.
The tension between us pulls taut, like an invisible tether connecting the two of us. My pulse quickens and so does her breathing, her chest rising and falling rapidly.
“I never cease to annoy you, huh?” I watch her face while pulling her impossibly closer. “What about know. Is this the exception?”
She swallows and dips her head, not offering me an answer. I smile slightly as I try to get her to speak, a problem I’ve never had to deal with before. “Pae?”
Still no answer.
My fingers catch her chin, gently guiding her gaze to meet mine. There is confusion etched all over her face as she lets out a shaky laugh. “I’m annoyed that I’m not finding this annoying.”
My hand tightens around her waist like it might catch fire from the feel of her. I’m embarrassed by how much this one girl engrosses me, afraid of how affected I am. It makes me feel equally weak and wonderful. Alarmed yet alive.
“Why didn’t you shoot me, Paedyn?”
The question tumbles out of my mouth, curious and quiet. She tilts her head, studying me. “You’re going to have to be more specific than that, Azer.”
Deflecting.
I crack a smile, knowing that she is aware of what I’m referring to. “You could have shot me a few days ago but you fired at the ground. I want to know why.”
She pauses, pondering her answer. Then her eyes are pinned on mine. “Just because I was doomed for death doesn’t mean I wanted to damn you as well.” Her eyes roam over me, and I relish the feel of her gaze.
And then she pulls away.
Her hands are back on my shoulders, stiff and stubbornly unmoving. Then her eyes are on the sky, choosing to stare at the stars rather than me. She sighs through her nose, silently collecting herself.
And I’m doing the same, trying to pull myself together after she pulled away.
Yes, we are opponents. Yes, I am the future Enforcer. Yes, I’m a killer that has no right to want to keep her. But there is something else, something that has her refusing to admit this confusing connection we share.
Plagues, I’m pissed that I admitted it to myself.
My masks are still at the ready, my walls still in place, but she is slowly breaking down both my facades and fortresses. And I’m suddenly angry at myself for allowing it. For allowing myself to care. For allowing myself to think of her in any way other than my competition.
Because she’s made it clear that that is all I am to her.
“Kai,” she says quietly, the sound of my name on her lips ripping me from my thoughts. “I—”
A soft, female voice cuts through her words. “Sorry to interrupt, but you both have something I need.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Paedyn
The voice echoes from all around us. Kai and I jump apart, instinctively swiveling around to press our backs against each other. I squint in the dim light where the outlines of tall, dark figures begin to take shape. A reluctant sigh rings out into the darkness, amplified by the numerous bodies surrounding us.
We’re trapped.
They all take a measured step forward, enclosing us in a human cage of bodies. Dozens of hazel eyes shimmer in the firelight, dark hair and skin gleaming.
Sadie.