“No.”
“No,” I repeated the word, answering her previous one, even though I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was lying.
“No, what?”
“No—I’ve never brought anyone here before,” I said.
“So there’s no oneyou’reinvolved with?” She threw my question back at me.
I shook my head, then went into my own question. “Your Token…” The moment I said it, her breath hitched like she was bracing herself for what I was about to ask. “Whatever happened to make it manifest,” I said carefully, “is that why you ran away from Moriann?”
“I…” she started, then stopped.
“You don’t have to answer, if you don’t want to,” I cut in. The lastthing I wanted her to do was have another panic attack like she had from the brothel, but I couldn’t stop the question. It felt compulsive, like I needed to know why she left, why she thought she couldn’t run now.
I needed to know what the hell she was going through so I could fix it…
“Why do you want to know?” Her back straightened as she shifted in the chair. “Are you trying to figure out why I left so you can report it to Elion?”
“No.” I set my drink down, already wishing I had more of it. I ran my fingers over my face before letting out a half laugh. “Hell, if Elion knew I had you here, he’d skin me alive.”
Which was exactly what he was going to do the second Cash told him what happened. I knew the prick wouldn’t let an opportunity pass to publicly incriminate me.
“So King Elion didn’t order you to watch me?”
“No, Nollie.”
She sat there for a moment, her breathing picking up a notch. “Why doyou want to know then?”
My hand fell from my face. She was so fucking guarded that it ate away at me, wondering what the hell happened to her that made her this way. “I’m curious,” I said. “I’d seen the drop in the cliffs to know not many people are willing to risk their lives to climb it.”
“Why…” she started, then swallowed. “Why was that person at the brothel? The one who got me out?”
“Because I asked him to follow you. I saw you walk out of the Dome with Cash, and he’s a fucking bastard. I don’t trust him.”
“Why do you care?” she asked, her voice was so quiet, and she wouldn’t look at me.
“I have no idea,” I said, even though I knew it was a lie. Deep down, I knew what was happening between us, but I was too much of a coward to admit it. “I can’t stop thinking about you,” I said, giving her some sort of truth, “and I don’t even know you.”
I stood then, not wanting to get into this conversation. It was too dangerous. “I can bring you back to the castle if you want. I can’tpromise Cash won’t be there, but I can make sure he doesn’t come into your room.”
I wanted her to stay here, but if she felt safer back in her room, I’d do it.
“No, you can’t,” she scoffed.
“I can.” I stared at her. I didn’t care what Tokens Cash possessed, it wouldn’t break through my shields. “But I can’t protect you if you scale rooftops and leave your room when you’re not supposed to.”
Her mouth parted.
“Because of your air magic?” she guessed, recomposing herself.
I nodded, still standing above her at the table. I had to tilt my neck down to look at her. The candle light was playing tricks on me, making her eyes more blue than gray in the soft glow, and I couldn’t tear my gaze away.
“And if I don’t want you to take me back?” she whispered.
“You can stay here,” I said, not looking away.
“I’ll…” she swallowed. “I’ll stay here.”
