My eyes fluttered shut as I tried to clear my mind of all the trauma I'd endured. I hadn't fully processed everything yet, and was due for a panic attack over it any minute.
Regardless, I was almost asleep when Sawyer woke me. In fact, from what he said, I think Sawyer thought Iwasasleep.
“Seb is in love with you. He's too much of a wuss to say it, but he is. He has this idea in his head that he can't love you the way you need.” He paused to breathe, and his tone was bleak—dejected—when he continued. “I know you're in love with him, too.”
I rolled to face him, letting him know that I was awake.
His green eyes met mine dead on. “If you're gonna tell him, don't wait too long. Take it from me.”
I couldn't help but grin at Sawyer’s blunt honesty. The latter of his confession sent sorrow throughout me, but I clung to the part about Sebastian loving me, and my stomach fluttered as I drifted off to sleep.
“I’d sayyou're as close togood as newas you’ll get,” Pia chimed, concluding her last go at healing me.
“You're amazing. Truly,” I beamed and admired myself in the mirror of my washroom. The only scars I bore from my near death experience was the self-inflicted one on my elbow, and the one between my ribs.
“I've been told.” She grinned, pulling me into a quick hug before we abandoned my room and started down the hall.
The academy year was coming to a close, so we had some free time today. With the heat of summer rolling in, we decided to spend some time by the shore while we still could.
King Hawthorne had called an assembly for everyone on the castle grounds a few days ago. He put an immediate hold on classes in preparation for Draemor’s attack. Though we didn't know for certain when it would happen, at least he was actually taking the threat seriously. If only he had that sense of logic before I was almost killed.
Sebastian suggested that we send Caelestian soldiers to Draemor first—catch them off guard like we had with Craterra and keep the battle further from our territory. Of course the king shot the idea down, claiming we stood more of a chance fighting on familiar land.
I couldn't stress enough how much of a moron that man was.
It was basically a waiting game now. We were to sit here and twiddle our thumbs until the first sign of interference. First years were not expected to fight. I, of course, was the exception. I didn't mind, though. After everything I’d been through this year—hell, this week alone—I was craving some reprisal.
We stepped outside, Kohen trailing behind us. Sebastian didn't dare leave me without a guard after what happened. He usually did the honors himself, but in the event he couldn’t, I had Sawyer or Kohen on my tail.
Sunlight blazed down onto my skin, and I smiled as the warmth embraced me. The sand welcomed my bare toes while I stood at the edge of the water, planting my feet into the ground and letting the ocean crawl over me. I gazed down the coast line, admiring the view of the rocky cliffside that the castle laid upon.
My skin stung from the salt as it soaked into my flesh—the bite of the sea. The horizon faded into huesof orange and pink, the daylight melting away as each second passed. Gods, I’d missed this.
“You look awfully peaceful, maybe I should come back later.”
My lips formed an immediate smile.
Sebastian’s skin glowed from the golden rays of the sun, his dark hair swirling around his face from the coastal breeze as he stepped through the sand towards me. His biceps tightened around me, strong and firm, holding me close against his chest.
“I still like my beach better,” he teased, referring to the one he brought me to on our first night of training. We hadn't been back there yet, but that small piece of paradise would forever hold a special place in my heart.
I smiled, reminiscing on everything that we’d been through since he brought me there. “That night seems so long ago.”
“Don't I know it. It’s been a hell of a year.”
Pia complained from down the beach, yelling at Sawyer who had showed up with Sebastian. He waved a bottle of some spirit above her head, and she desperately tried to reach it. They bickered like siblings while Kohen sat in the sand, a silent observer to their antics.
My smile faded to a frown.
“What's wrong?”
I chewed my lip. “I can't help but feel like this will be one of our last times together as a group where everything is normal. For a while at least.”
Sebastian kissed the side of my neck. “Nothing is ever normal. I mean, have youmetSawyer?” He huffed a laugh.
I elbowed him, though the fresh skin of my scar was sensitive and twinged at the contact. “You know what I mean.”
Sebastian spun me in his arms. With my back towards the ocean, my hair blew wildly in the wind. He tucked the stray pieces behind my ears and gazed into my eyes. I stared back,not breaking the contact as I counted the speckles in his irises.
