I shook like a leaf, still struggling to separate past and present. Or maybe fact from fiction. I didn’t know.
The man behind me slid into my peripheral view. Rowan was also breathing hard. His gaze was trained on the bruise on my cheek. He crossed his arms over his chest, frowning.
I’d wanted to see him again, but not like this. I put a hand on my stomach and forced myself to take a single deep breath.
No magic stabbed into me.
No one touched me.
I hadn’t blacked out.
Was that a good thing or a bad thing?
I squeezed my eyes shut. Everly… I’d abandon the only person here who truly seemed to care about me. “Is Everly okay?”
“Everly’s fine.” Ezra leaned forward. “Her twin dislocated my enforcer’s kneecap.” He took another step forward, and I flinched. He immediately stopped. “What matters now is your state of mind.”
I barked out a laugh. Jesus tap dancing Christ. You’re a genius, Miss Q. Terrorize me, then apologize and make it better. Fucking brainwashing at its finest.
“I’m fine,” I lied.
I scratched at my lower back. The three spots ached, but a fourth still hadn’t added to the collection. Maybe I really was fine.
I looked past the two men boxing me in and found myself at a part of the castle I didn’t recognize. A few flowers dotted a sloping wall. Ancient, rusted cannons protruded through squares at its base. Only the dark clouds were visible above them. A drop of frigid rain landed on my cheek.
“Where are we?” I asked.
Ezra reached toward me.
For a split second, I remembered our moment in the Alun and the feeling of his arms holding me close as he protected me.
A cold wind cut through my hoodie.
This moment was nothing like the Alun.
I wrapped my arms around myself, and Ezra pulled his hand back as if I’d burned him. He rested it against his sword hilt so easily, as if the weapon never left his side.
The two versions of my friend blurred together in my mind; the shirtless eye candy who made me feel safe, and the brutal enforcer now holding himself apart. I shouldn’t have had to fight to reconcile them, but I did. He’d warned me on day one that his muscles weren’t for me to admire. I believed him then. I believe him now. But that didn’t make it any easier to look at him and not miss the man who let me close.
Ezra took a slow breath in. “We’re on the other side of the castle.”
It took me a moment to remember I’d asked a question.
“Quinn?” Ezra asked.
I took two quick breaths. “Right, other side of the castle.”
Ezra glanced at Rowan, still standing and watching, before returning his attention to me. “You don’t seem surprised.”
I gritted my teeth. “It’s not the first time I’ve run from someone trying to hurt me.”
Maybe not the first time I’d run unnaturally fast. God only knew what happened during my blackouts. I hurt enough after some of them that I could have been running laps around a track like the Road Runner.
Ezra rocked back on his heels. He clearly wanted to say something. Instead, he glanced at Rowan again before squaring his shoulders. “I need to get back. Are you able to complete your placement?”
I looked up. “Do I have a choice?”
Ezra grimaced, and that was all the answer I needed.
