He came closer to me. “Rumor has it that Conemar is now seated on the council as representative for Esteril. The council is gathering all the havens’ armies for an attack. No one knows what the council is planning, but my bet is an attack on Barmhilde. There was talk in Asile. They fear The Red.”
Arik had been working really hard to regain everyone’s trust. He didn’t have to with me, because I knew him. I’d known he’d side with the council. And I’d known he’d come around once he saw what they were up to. Plus, I could tell by how ashamed he was when he let Bastien beat him up.
“I’m going with Royston tonight.”
“I think you must,” he said. “I have all the faith in the world in you, Gia. Don’t worry about things here. The others and I will handle it. We’ll take care of Carrig, Uncle Philip, Deidre, and…Emily.”
Why had he paused at Emily’s name?
“Thanks,” I said and started walking away, but his next question stopped me.
“Will you tell Bastien?”
I was avoiding Bastien. We hadn’t really talked much since returning three days ago. It hurt to think about how Sinead would still be alive if he hadn’t stopped me from using my globe to stop Ruth Ann from stabbing Carrig. And I couldn’t get him beating up Arik out of my mind.
“I’m not sure,” I said and rounded the corner of the tent.
Bastien was kicked back against a large pole that held a lantern. “What aren’t you sure about telling Bastien?”
“Are you spying on me?”
“No.” He unhitched himself from the pole. “Should I be?”
“Then what are you doing?” I suddenly felt guilty for no apparent reason. So what if I was keeping something from him?
He walked in that confident swagger over to me and his hands landed on my shoulders. “When will you forgive me?”
“Why did you stop me? Sinead…”
“I misjudged the situation.” His beautiful blue eyes were haunting and sad. “Your globe wouldn’t have stopped her. She would have stabbed Carrig before it hit her. I thought by preventing you from throwing it, we would’ve had more time to find a way to disable her. She’d allowed us a minute to give her what she wanted. I thought she’d wait. Bargain.”
I took in a deep breath, digesting his comments. I’d played that moment in the curer’s room several times in my dreams. There was a second. A second where my globe could’ve hit Ruth Ann right before she stabbed Carrig. And a second where the dagger could’ve stabbed him right before the globe hit its mark.
Then there was the thought that if I hadn’t tried to throw my globe, Ruth Ann wouldn’t have panicked and stabbed Carrig.
The only one to blame for Sinead’s death was Ruth Ann.
“I’m sorry, Bastien,” I said. My voice didn’t sound like my own. It was tired, drained of energy. “It wasn’t your fault. I haven’t been fair to you.”
“We both made mistakes. And you were grieving.”
“I was,” I said.
“You’re leaving tonight to find the Tetrad, aren’t you?”
“So you were spying on me.”
He quirked a smile, taking a few steps until there was almost no space between us. “Is it spying if the person was in the right place at the right time?”
“I suppose not,” I said with a small smile.
“My guards will stand watch in the library when you leave,” he said. “Make sure you can return safely.”
“Yeah, okay. I’d feel better knowing they’re there.” I grasped his hand and he towed me to him.
His hand slid behind my neck, and as he lowered his lips to mine, I tangled my fingers in his hair. A surge of heat rushed through my body, my heart pumping like a runner on the last lap of a five-mile run. I wanted to get lost in him. Forget the storm building around us. Forget the pain of injuries and loss. Forget my fear that we’d never have a normal life together.
Rain dropped on us and clapped against the taut skin of the tents. It plastered our hair to our faces and our clothes to our skin, but it didn’t pull us apart. We kissed as if we’d never kiss again, and I hungrily devoured his lips, wanting more from him. Wanting all of him.
I pushed my body harder against his, causing him to lose his footing, and we tumbled to the muddy ground. He rolled onto his back to keep me from ending up in the mud. And his consideration made me want him more.
“If you keep that up, you’ll both drown, duckies,” Lei hollered over the rain drumming around us.
Jaran laughed. “Good one.”
Bastien let me go, and we held each other’s arms as we struggled to stand, our feet slipping in the mud until we gained our footing.
“That’s determination,” Demos said. “There’s dozens of tents around them, and they chose a mud pit to do that in.”
“You’re just jealous you didn’t think of it,” I said and walked off to a chorus of their laughs behind me.
After washing up the best I could in a basin full of water, I met the others in the dining tent. Carrig sat at one of the tables with Deidre fussing over him—placing his napkin on his lap, then picking up his fork and knife to cut his food.
When I reached them, I bent and kissed Carrig’s cheek. “You look well.”
“I be feeling good, if not a bit pampered,” he said. Deidre tried to feed him a fork full of potatoes, but he took the utensil from her. “I’m quite capable of feeding me self. Me arms aren’t broken.”
Emily brought Uncle Philip over. “They’re serving meat and potatoes. It’s your favorite. Sit and I’ll get you a plate.”
Uncle Philip took a seat across from Carrig. “I’m not the only one being treated as a baby, I see.”
Carrig stabbed a piece of meat. “They think we be fragile.”
Uncle Philip folded his hands on the table. “I would have to admit that I’m in and out of stability.” He winked at me, and I knew stable Uncle Philip was the one who had come to dinner.
I took a seat next to him and rested my head on his shoulder. “I love you both. You know that?”
Uncle Philip’s lips pushed into a smile. “That’s good to know.”
Freshly showered, and with a mischievous grin plastered on his face, Bastien sat beside me, placing a plate in front of me and one for himself on the table. He leaned over. “You need to eat. Keep up your strength.”
The rest of the Sentinels joined us. Arik took a seat beside Emily. As we shared jokes and stories of our short past together, it felt good to laugh. To have what could be our final meal together.
My eyes went to Emily and Arik. She fed him something from her plate that he hadn’t gotten for himself. There was this easiness to them, as if they were comfortable with each other. The smile on Emily’s face warmed me inside, and I couldn’t help the smile pulling on my lips. She had come through for me time and again, and she was growing on me.
Taking a slow drink from my cup, my eyes scanned the smiling faces around me. I wanted to stay in this moment forever. Remember every detail so I could recall it in later years when I would miss them.
We spent hours there, telling stories and reliving memories. When those we’d lost would come up, we’d go silent until someone would bring up another story. And then the laughs and smiles would continue. And it was over too soon. One by one, they left for their tents, turning in for the night.
When they awoke in the morning, the world would either be changed or destroyed.
Chapter Twenty-Four