He didn’t use Arik’s name. It was his way of removing the intimacy from his question.
“If you can’t get him away”—my voice sounded shaky—“try to convince him to come to our side. If not, you have to stop him. But do whatever you can to not harm him.”
The Red laughed and slapped his knees. “You all are missing the perfect way to get a boy distracted.”
“You have a better idea?” Bastien asked. “Then tell us.”
“Gia,” The Red said. “He loves her. I saw the longing and concern in his eyes for her during that battle in Branford. Tell him she’s in danger, and he will search for her. Send him on a wild goose chase. It’s that simple.”
Demos rubbed his chin. “That would work. Arik has it bad for Gia.” He glanced at Bastien and said, “No offense.”
“None taken. Then we’re all set.” Bastien stood and brushed his hands over his pants. “It’s late, and I’m tired. We’ve been through a rough time getting here.” His eyes went to The Red. “Thank you for your hospitality. The tents are quite comfortable.” Bastien pushed the flap aside and walked out into the darkness.
What’s up with that? I was pretty sure he was mad about what The Red and Demos had said about Arik and his feelings for me. Which just pissed me off.
The Red, then Lei and Demos, exited the tent.
Jaran reached his hand out to me. “Come on. My tent’s next to yours. Want to walk together?”
“That would be great.” I grabbed his hand, and he yanked me up to my feet.
“Splendid.” He winked. “We have a lot of catching up to do.”
After I’d put on the comfortable cotton nightdress someone had left on my bed, we sat on the thick mat in my tent, and I told him about Veronique’s attack. The way she and the Sentinels with her had died. About how their battle globes became mine and that I had no control over which one I summoned. I finished with my time in the Fey realm. The part about Arik accusing me of treason and Uncle Philip possibly betraying me formed tears in my eyes. I wanted to tell Jaran everything. Unload it all so that it wouldn’t weigh me down any longer.
And he listened.
He listened as only a true friend does, with sympathetic nods, his hands holding mine tight.
And when I’d finished, he pulled me into a tight hug, and I rested my cheek on his shoulder, tears falling from my lashes.
“I wish you hadn’t had to face that alone,” he said. “I believe you’re right, though. We can’t go to a professor of magic to help with your globes, not when we aren’t certain whom to trust. Lei is a master, though. She could help you learn to control them.”
There were wet spots where my tears had fallen on his shirt. I rubbed them as if it would make them dry. “Look at what I did. I’m sorry.”
He inspected his shirt. “Don’t worry about that. It’s nothing.”
I sniffled. “Thanks. You’re so good to me.”
“That’s what one does for a friend.” He released me. “You contacted Cole on my behalf when asked. We have, as you’ve said, ‘each other’s backs.’”
“Oh, right.” I covered my mouth with my fingers. “He was worried about you. Said he’d wait for you and that he loves you.”
Jaran adjusted on the mat, a wide smile spreading across his lips. “He just told you that? Not knowing who you were?”
I dropped my hand. “He knows me from school. Anyway, what does it matter how he told me? He said it.”
The nervous tick in my lip shuddered.
“Gia…” He said it like Pop would whenever he suspected I’d done something wrong. “What are you hiding from me?”
It was time to come clean. Besides, I should have never told Cole how Jaran felt. “Okay. I may have said you loved him first, but you had to hear him. He was so sad and…and…and he did say he loved you, too.”
Jaran grinned, his eyes dancing with excitement, until suddenly sobering. “I would have preferred for him to say it first.” He picked at a loose thread on his shirt.
“What if he was waiting for you tell him? Someone has to say it first, or no one would say it.”
He glanced up at me, tossing the thread to the floor. “Yeah, but what if he just said that because you told him I did?”
“Are you serious?” I yawned and rubbed my eyes. “He loves you. You should be ecstatic.”
“I am, and you’re tired.” He placed his hand over mine. “Thank you for contacting him. It is nice to know how he feels and that he’d wait for me.”
“He knows a good thing when he sees it,” I said.
He watched his hand on mine. “I dream of running away with him. Fleeing the Mystik world and never returning. He spoke of us going to college together. Living in a studio apartment.” There was sadness in his eyes when he glanced up again. “I want that dream.”
“Why don’t you? Just leave.”
“Unlike you, I’m not shielded from the Monitors.” His hand slipped off mine. “They’d find me and send me to the gallows under the Vatican. Besides, I won’t leave you. I’ll fight beside you until the end, Gia.”
His words were a sledgehammer to the chest. I hated thinking of him in danger because of me. It would crush me if anything happened to him. But I didn’t tell him that—he’d just argue with me—so instead I said, “I’m frightened.”
“I know.” He stared at something across the tent. “I am, too.”
“I kind of miss high school and all its drama right about now.” I yawned again.
“I should let you sleep.” He started to get up, but I caught his arm, stopping him.
“Can you just stay until I fall asleep?”
“Of course.” He stretched out on the mat.
“You’re the best,” I said and snuggled up to his side.
I don’t remember when Jaran left my tent because he’d waited until I was asleep. But the howl of the werehounds in the distance woke me. Or maybe it was because I was worried about Bastien. He’d been so quiet, and it wasn’t like him to leave me behind.
Wrapping my blanket around me, I wiggled my feet into my boots, then eased out of the tent. It was still dark outside, but the moon, hanging low in the sky, provided enough light for me to see where I was going. It was a familiar moon, which made me wonder if the human and Mystik worlds shared the same one. Two werehounds were lying on the ground in front of the opening. At hearing me, their heads popped up.
“Good puppies,” I whispered and then shook my head. “What am I saying? You understand me. I didn’t mean to call you that. I know you’re human…sometimes. I’m just going over there.” I pointed to the tent across from mine.
I crept to Bastien’s tent and slowly pushed open the flap and slipped inside. “Bastien, can I come in?”
“Is that you, Gia?” He sounded groggy.
“Yes.”
He adjusted on the mat and created a ball of light on his palm. His dark hair was tousled and a little smooshed on the right side.
Lifting the blanket, he said, “Get in.”
I tugged off my boots, tossed them aside, and crawled in beside him. He was bare-chested, and I caught a glimpse of his glorious torso—tanned skin, smooth and taut over rippling muscles. “Where’s your shirt?”