“Do you have a sibling here?” she asked, watching the milling trainees.
“Ah, that would be a no.” I flattened my lips. “Alone and penniless, just like the rumors say.”
“A coward as well?” Hero growled, clearly having heard way more than me.
I put my hands in the air.
Everly whacked her twin on the arm and turned back to me. “You’re not alone anymore.Anymorebeing the keyword. This is supposed to be the Architect’s family. That’s why I came here, to be a part of something.”
We shared a smile, and my heart warmed.
Hero took a half step toward me. “Do not get any ideas, my brother. Everly will not take you as a suitor. She’s under contract.”
Everly threw her head back and groaned. “Don’t remind me.”
She put a hand on her brother’s shoulder. “Relax, Heewee. Quinn’s more likely to hit on you, right?” She winked at me.
I blinked a few times, and she nodded encouragingly. Did she want me to hit on her brother? I mean, he was hot enough… but I was pretending to be a… oh.
I grinned, letting my gaze travel over Hero’s fit frame. He wasn’t Rowan or Ezra. Identical to his twin, he was tall with a runner’s build. The man bun gave his face a severe edge, adding a Tolkien-esque, elf-like quality. But troll or elf, I suddenly wanted in on Everly’s joke.
Male and gay? Why not? This was my delusion; I could be whatever I wanted.
Pink crept into Hero’s cheeks, and I bit my lower lip, not completely acting. Hero seemed to have missed the first part of the conversation. Unlike his sister and whatever magic clued her in, he thoroughly believed my male persona. I looked him up and down a second time and licked my lips for good measure. Everly practically cackled, making her brother look between us uncomfortably.
I extended my hand to Hero. Everly swiftly grabbed it and pulled me beside her, her red eyes flashing warning.
“Why no handshakes?” I whispered, leaning as close to her tall ear as I could get.
Hero growled, and we both ignored him.
“You can feel a person’s magic on prolonged skin contact. He’ll know you’re a woman, instantly.” Everly leaned down to whisper back. “Don’t touch anyone. It’s an unspoken rule. I’m surprised your family didn’t drill it into you.”
I nodded, pretending to be surprised as well.
Everly held out her hand and raised her voice. “Give me your TB. We must be friends.”
“Sister—” Hero began, but Everly cut him off with a wave and took my TB out of my fingers when presented.
“No customization or anything?” she asked, her eyebrows raised.
“I, ah, just got it,” I said, waving dramatically. “I’m like, really bad at all of this.”
Everly laughed again, and several trainees inched closer. The woman’s friendliness apparently offset the rumor mill.
Everly held the TB between her fingers. A little glowing sheet of blood-red semi-transparent magic appeared in front of her before disappearing into the square cube. My jaw dropped, and suddenly Hope’s question: “Do you know how to articulate your thoughts?” made sense.
And no. I definitely did not know how to turn my thoughts into glowing squares of writing.
I managed to pick up my jaw as she passed my TB back to me and did my best to not look amazed.
“My family has to actually send physical scrawls to each other to communicate over distances.” Everly sighed. “Although the TB is way better, it’s not the cell phones from BT, when people could talk over long distances. I read a book saying you could video each other from across the world. Technology was amazing!”
My eyebrows shot up to my hairline. She had magic! I thought magic was amazing.
Everly sighed, still dreaming of technology. Or so I assumed. “Have you read any Lily Gold novels?”
I shook my head.
