“It appears I left you in good hands while I was gone,” Fletcher said, his eyes twinkling. “Do you have anything more serious that I should look at, or can I take comfort in knowing you’ll live another day without further medical attention?”
Another whole day was a bit of a gamble, since Alex didn’t know what she would face with the Shadow Walkers and Dayriders in the morning. She offered him as much honesty as she could when she answered, “I’m good for at least eight hours.”
With a longsuffering sigh, Fletcher reached for his MedTek and turned back to Bear.
When a holographic X-ray of the broken bone rose out of the Device, Alex’s lunch threatened to make a reappearance, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to watch what was coming next.
Offering a rushed farewell to those in the room, along with another quick but heartfelt “Thank you” to Hunter, she spun around and headed for the exit.
“Hold up there, Alex.” Kaiden grabbed her arm just before she could step outside. He gestured a hand up and down her body and said, “Winter. Snow. Cold. Remember?”
With the orangey medicine having reheated her body, Alex had forgotten what she would face outdoors. And her expression must have shown as much.
“Here,” Declan said, unbuttoning his thick coat. “I’ll stay in case Fletch and Hunter need a hand. Kaid can walk you to the dorm and then bring this back for me.”
Relieved beyond words, Alex moved impatiently from foot to foot as he helped her into his coat. It was massive on her, enough that she was swimming in it. But it was also toasty warm and she knew that even with her legs bare she would still make it back to the dorm relatively unscathed.
“Thanks, Declan,” she told him once she was all bundled up. “Your grandfather might be a piece of work, but you go all right.”
Startled, Declan laughed. “You obviously don’t know him very well,” he said. “If you did, you’d be calling him more than a ‘piece of work’.”
Alex could only imagine. “I was trying to be generous.”
“Jaxon’s an ass, plain and simple,” Declan said, his tone oddly amused given his relation to the royal advisor. “But for better or worse, he’s family.” He paused, then corrected, “Nope, just for worse.”
His words prompted a chuckle from Alex as he nudged her towards the door.
“Now get out of here before Kaid offers you more ‘first aid’,” Declan said, using air quotes for the last two words. “CPR’s probably next on his list, and I doubt you’d want an audience for that.”
Feeling her cheeks flush, Alex’s mind blanked enough that she couldn’t form a response, so she forced out another huff of laughter and stepped outside with a shamelessly grinning Kaiden in tow.
It was too cold for them to dally, so they set a brisk pace across the campus, frozen puffs of vapour leaving their mouths with every breath.
“Did what Bear say really happen?” Kaiden asked as they hurried towards the dorm building. “The ‘angry little people’ in the trees—did you visit the Jarnocks?”
Seeing no point in lying, Alex nodded.
“And was the part about the underwater monster dragging you down true as well? Was he talking about Kaku?”
Alex shuddered and, more hesitantly this time, nodded again.
Kaiden released a loud sigh and said, “I’ve never encountered anyone more prone to finding trouble than you.”
“I don’t find trouble,” Alex said, indignant. “It just… finds me.”
“With everything that you’ve been through, I’m amazed you’ve managed to survive this long.”
“You’re not the only one,” Alex murmured her agreement.
Silence. And then—
“Is there anything you can’t do?”
Kaiden’s question surprised her. Not the words themselves, but the wonder in them. The admiration. The… affection.
Feeling the need to lighten the suddenly heavy mood, Alex flippantly replied, “I’m afraid I’m not very good at baking.”
Kaiden laughed, just as she’d hoped he would. “How scandalous.”
“You can’t tell a soul,” Alex told him. “If my secret gets out, it’ll be the end of me.”
“Your secrets are safe with me,” Kaiden promised as they reached the dorm building and stepped through its entrance. Halting just inside the doors, his face was serious as he finished meaningfully, “All of them, Alex.”
She couldn’t hold his gaze and instead focused on unbuttoning Declan’s coat. But Kaiden’s hands reached out for hers, halting her fingers to pull her closer.
As in, way closer.
With one hand curling around her waist and the other moving up to her cheek, Kaiden looked deep into her eyes and whispered, “What’s it going to take for you to finally trust me?”
Mouth dry at both his words and his proximity, Alex couldn’t respond. All she could do was feel the warm touch of his fingers on her skin and the comforting strength of his arms holding her tight.
“Kaiden,” she whispered as he moved impossibly closer.
“What’s it going to take?” he repeated, his breath fanning over her lips, causing her to shiver.
Slowly, carefully, he tilted her face upwards, watching her intently to gauge her reaction. Her eyes began to flutter closed of their own accord. But then—
“… so of course I said ‘no’. I mean, as if I would ever agree to that!”
Jumping back about three feet and dislodging Kaiden’s arms in the process, Alex spun around, heart pounding, face burning, and found two fifth-year girls descending the stairs, presumably heading to the Rec Room.
“And then—oh, hey, Kaiden!” one of them called. “Did you finish Luranda’s flesh-eating algae assignment? It took me forever!”
Kaiden called out a token response and the girls took that as an invitation to approach. Her heartbeat still erratic, Alex decided to be relieved rather than disappointed by the interruption, and she used the girls’ presence as an excuse to strip out of Declan’s coat and shakily hand it over to Kaiden.
She could barely meet his eyes before she had to look away again, and she was thankful for the unending dialogue from the girls that kept her from being able to say anything. Instead, she mustered the most genuine smile she could offer, hoping it didn’t look as skittish as she felt, and quietly excused herself.
She only just managed to make it up the stairs without looking over her shoulder, and she determinedly ignored the heated stare she felt branding her with every step.
“What do you mean, you almost kissed Kaiden?” D.C. all but shrieked later that night after Alex had showered off the jungle grime, checked in with Niyx to let him know she was safe and hear his promises that he was too, and donned her comfiest pyjamas.
“I didn’t almost kiss him,” Alex corrected, sitting cross-legged on D.C.’s bed and facing her roommate. “He almost kissed me.”
“Semantics.” D.C. gave an impatient wave of her hand. “You so would have kissed him back. Jordan told me you’ve liked him for ages.”
“Jordan has a big mouth,” Alex grumbled.
“Aha! You admit it!”