“Unless it’s Mara,” I say with a wince. My arm is fully healed, thanks to the magical salve, but the memory is still too fresh. I don’t know what it would be like if she steps out of that portal. The hatred inside her is already too fierce, so she might take longer to break than I did. Part of me hopes it isn’t her, so we don’t have to deal with that while also convincing Weston to send me back for the dust.
“That would be unfortunate,” Sig says.
“Don’t we need to get to the beach?” I ask, looking around at everyone and their lack of movement. “Why aren’t we getting ready?”
“Oh, we have time,” Stassia says.
“The mountain takes all day. No one comes out before nightfall, so we have time to get into position,” Sig says. “You can do whatever you need to do, just like before a shift, but make sure you’re ready. We don’t know what to expect when we get down there.”
I finish the rest of my chore that I abandoned to climb with Jorn just before Stassia comes to find me to prepare for tonight. The mess is full, commotion and laughter ringing through the space while we eat when Sig drops into the chair across from me.
“Cap’s all taken care of. You’re clear to come tonight,” she says and takes a bite of her food.
“What’d you have to trade to make that happen?” I ask.
After the way he glared at Jorn and me today, and as angry as he was when he took away my shift, I figured he wouldn’t agree to let me come, no matter what Sig tried.
She shrugs. “Nothing. He didn’t put up a fight at all. Just agreed.”
“Are you still not talking?” Stassia asks.
“Nope,” I say and stab a roasted vegetable before popping it into my mouth.
“Are you ever going to tell us what happened?” she asks. Sig looks down at the table, just as Auralie walks up with her plate and sits down in the last empty seat.
“What happened with what?” Auralie asks innocently, glancing between us.
“Why Weston and I aren’t speaking,” I answer.
“Oh,Weston. It’sWestonnow?” Stassia teases.
I roll my eyes at her and take a bite of another vegetable. I’m not sure it really matters if I tell them or not. None of it is a lie, and he didn’t say any of it needed to be kept between us. What do I have to hide?
“He kissed me, then told me it will never happen again, all before I found out he’s been hiding the truth from me about who he is, and that’s why he’s been acting the way he has.” The words string together as I try to get everything out before my courage disappears. It seems to have the expected effect, because Stassia audibly gasps and Auralie stares blankly. Even Sig looked up when I mentioned the kiss, a slight look of shock on her face.
I guess Sig didn’t know everything.
Silence falls over our table, and I look down at my plate, continuing to eat as they digest my statement.
“What is wrong with him?” Stassia finally says, and I can’t stop the giggle that erupts. It feels good to finally talk about it, and have someone who understands my feelings.
“A lot of things, it would seem,” I say.
“He needs to figure out what’s going on in that beautiful head of his, because he is not thinking clearly,” she says.
“It’s fine,” I say, then blow out a sigh. “I thought we were starting to become friends, but I don’t think friends keep something like that from each other.”
“I don’t blame you,” Auralie says.
My gaze falls to Sig. “I’m not talking about you. I know he ordered you not to say anything.”
Her face softens and my chest squeezes. Has Sig been worried that I’m upset with her, too? If anything, Sig has helped me get through this, making me feel like I am not alone, and giving me perspective on life. I don’t know how I’m going to return to the real world without her.
“I’m too mad at him to even ask how the kiss was,” Stassia says. My cheeks heat and I clear my throat, hoping no one else sees how just the thought of it has me rattled.
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that kiss since it happened, no matter how mad at him I’ve been. If Stassia got wind of that, or the way he held me in bed the morning after, she’d never let me hear the end of it.
That kiss all but erased every single one of Dane’s, and after I found out about his deception the next morning, it was as if Dane didn’t exist anymore. If anyone made a mistake, it’s me.
