“You messaged him? Who is this guy?” My arm drooped, and I turned to Quinn, confused. “Did you find your TB?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the bartender sliding out of the doorway.
“I did, but I lost it again.” Quinn nodded really big and twirled some of her hair around her finger.
I pursed my lips, and pain shot to my nose.
“Yeah, no,” Rowan said. “That’s not gonna fly anymore. I can’t believe anyone believed it in the first place.”
I dropped my arm. Though I still kept myself between Quinn and Rowan, I released the runes, which strengthened my muscles, and started drawing healing ones on my nose.
“What were you doing in my room?” Quinn asked again.
Rowan scrubbed his fingers through his hair. “I found you after you fell, in the back of a shop. You were out of the castle and a mess. I took you back to your dorm. I assumed you’d wake up and message a medic, not...” Rowan shoved his hand toward me.
“She doesn’t have a TB, you buffoon.” The final word went up in pitch, destroying my insult. “How could you leave her bleeding?”
Guilt flooded Rowan’s face. His shoulders lowered, and he squeezed his eyes shut.
“Right.” Quinn came out from behind me and looked between us. “I’m not saying this again. I fell. No one hit me. It sounds like Rowan found me in a bad place and brought me to a good one.” She smiled at him. “Ezra might have locked me in a cell if he found out, so thank you, Rowan.”
Rowan bit his lips together. “Don’t thank me.”
My healing runes clicked together. My nose cracked back into place before all the pain in my face vanished. I glared at Rowan, silently warning him never to touch my girl again, before fixing my bleeding hands.
Rowan straightened and focused on Quinn, though he kept one eye on me. “What was the favor you needed?”
Quinn blew out a breath. “I need to go to The Green. Ezra banned me from leaving. But I can’t live like this. I need to be able to take care of myself.” Quin rubbed her arms, her gaze focused on Rowan. “You’ve been really good to me, and I need…” She struggled with herself. “I need help. My last attempt didn’t go so well.”
“I’ll take you.” I pulled a shard of glass out of my thumb. “You should have asked.”
Rowan held up a hand. “You’re no enforcer. As one of Ezra’s five, what Quinn’s asking is still a tall order.”
A knot of jealousy I didn’t know I’d been holding loosened in my gut. Quinn hadn’t messaged him because he was better than me, just because he had connections I didn’t. Ezra had her training with his five; this man wasn’t a friend, only a tutor. Except… he’d found her after her fall, before the tutoring ever began.
I’d bet money he was the ‘handsome’ enforcer who gave her the book.
I didn’t trust any of this.
The last cut on my right hand sealed shut. “Then we’ll all go together.”
Rowan scowled at me, and Quinn bounced, making the glass under her feet scrape. “Might I suggest we go now before Matt comes back?” Quinn batted her lashes at us.
I scowled. Those should have been my eyelash battings and mine alone.
“I need to change into my blacks.” Rowan looked at me. “And I suggest something less bloody. The Green is civilized.”
“I know what The Green is.” I slid my hands into my pockets.
Rowan grunted. “Be at the stables in thirty.”
“We will.” Quinn shifted to Rowan’s side and squeezed his arm. “Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
Rowan looked like he wanted to hug her back, but pulled away and walked down the hall. Quinn chewed her lower lip and watched him go.
I didn’t kiss Quinn when she gave me the chance, and I stood by that decision. Quinn needed the best at her side, and an enforcer who left her bleeding was not it.
I would make sure he understood his place.
