“Yeah, okay,” Florian agreed.
“Do you know anything about the Arrow near here?” Kade asked, turning back to his father. “It’s only supposed to be about a day away. Do you know where it is?”
“I think so. Let me find my map...” Kallik leaned down to pull a rolled-up piece of paper from a lower drawer, then groaned with discomfort as he pulled himself back up into a sitting position. “Here. It’s in this area.”
With the map spread out on his desk, he pointed to a spot south of the wolf kingdom. But the area marked was blank, part of a huge expanse labeled only as “The Nova Blight.” No other landmarks were noted inside the Nova Blight, other than the border of the wolf kingdom.
“I don’t know the last time anyone was ever in that area,” Kallik continued as Florian frowned, looking down at the map. “It’s been a while since I’ve read one of the history books, but I think it was... bear shifters? No, maybe leopards? There was a clan of shifters somewhere around there. It might be somewhere in their village. But your guess is as good as mine.”
Florian already knew that it was an old shifter colony from Jerah’s notes, though they made no mention of what kind of shifter. Bears or leopards—he imagined that knowing wouldn’t help them much either way. It was close enough to the wolf kingdom that Florian figured it would likely be the same kind of terrain: something like a tundra, but without all the snow and trees. He could only hope that they would wander close enough to the aura of the second Arrow that he would feel it—the way he had the first.
“I wish I could tell you more,” Kallik sighed, pulling him from his thoughts. “I’d go with you if I could.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Kade said, taking the map from him. “We’ll be alright. I don’t want you to worry.”
“Well, I’m going to worry,” Kallik muttered. They seemed to stare each other down for a moment, then finally Kade looked away with a huff. To Florian’s surprise, Kallik laughed, and a slight smile spread across his features. The smile was small and subtle, like Kade’s.
“If you don’t mind, Florian,” Kallik said, glancing over at him quickly. “I was hoping to talk to Kade alone for a moment.”
“Oh,” he said, blinking in surprise. “Sure. I’ll wait outside.”
He and Kade exchanged an uncertain look before Florian turned to go, closing the door behind him. It felt awkward to wait in the hall, so he made his way back out of the house into the cold morning air.
A thin layer of snow blanketed the low stone wall around the large wooden house, and he brushed a spot clear, leaning against it and watching the rest of the village wake and go about their day. A group of four or five wolves dashed through the town square together, small enough that Florian thought they were probably teenagers who had only just started to shift. As they ran by, he recognized Yuka and smiled at him—the boy glanced over at him, his ears pricking up, but he kept running with his friends.
Florian had idly started to make a small stack of snowballs on the top of the wall when Kade finally came striding out of the house, his expression blank.
“Everything okay?” Florian asked, raising a curious eyebrow. Kade let out a huff of a sigh, but wrapped his arms around Florian before answering. He blinked, surprised, but gingerly hugged Kade back.
“He’s still hung up about... this. Us,” Kade finally muttered, still not letting Florian go.
“Oh,” Florian said softly, and he squeezed him a little tighter. “Well, whatever. Who cares?”
He felt more than heard Kade laugh bitterly. Then Kade pushed him back, just enough that their eyes could meet. The gleam of his tangerine eyes made him so much more handsome in the Veil, Florian thought.
“Listen,” he said, brows furrowing. “You really don’t think I’m... using you, right? For power or status or whatever. You don’t think that?”
“What?” Florian asked, bewildered. “Of course not. I meant what I said back then with your parents. If you wanted my power, you could have taken it when you had the chance. If anything...”
He trailed off, unsure if he wanted to say it now, but Kade was looking at him so earnestly. “I mean, if anything, I sort of worried you maybe... I don’t know. Felt bad for me, or just... Out of some kind of loyalty to my dad or something. I don’t really think that, but that made more sense to me than—than you trying to take over the Winter Court or something.”
Kade had started to frown as he spoke; but he still took a long moment before answering, his eyes downcast. His silence made Florian nervous, but he knew Kade wouldn’t speak until he knew exactly what he wanted to say.
“I guess I understand that,” he finally settled on, sighing. “But... I really was ready to go home, you know, that day. I would have gone if you hadn’t asked me to stay. I admired Jerah, but how I feel for you... It’s entirely separate.”
“I know,” Florian agreed, nodding, and he pushed himself back into Kade’s arms. “I believe you. So no point in worrying about what they think. Okay?”
Kade laughed again, but wrapped his arms back around Florian. After a moment, he added nervously, “There was, um, something else he said.”
Florian looked up at him curiously—it was rare for Kade to sound so obviously flustered, and now he was glancing away. “What?”
“Well,” Kade started, looking as though he already regretted bringing it up. “You wouldn’t know this, but, there’s... That is, it’s—I guess you would say taboo, for... Um, for shifters to... And he...”
It took Florian a moment to piece together what he was trying to say, but a wicked grin started spreading across his face as he realized.
“What are you saying?” he pressed, not truly believing Kade meant what he thought he meant. But the other man’s face was burning red, a sight Florian had rarely seen on his stoic face.
“I guess he’s worried that since you’re—since you can shift, too, but aren’t… part of the clan, that you might think that, um...” Kade continued resolutely, unable to meet Florian’s gaze. “I mean—I would never, ever—do anything like that. I swear, Florian.”
