Right. The ball was tonight, which meant there was a possibility it would be my last night seeing him, which meant I only had one more day to figure out what he cares about.
“Is this where you live?” I asked, not moving from the sofa.
He nodded.
“Like, all the time?”
He eyed me. “Yes. Why?”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t look lived in, is all.”
He surveyed his own cabin. “I sleep here, that’s it.”
“Where did you go last night?”
“Does it matter?”
“Did you go to a girl’s?—”
He cut me off before I could finish. “No.”
I had no idea why that relieved me. It shouldn’t have. If he had, it would mean my hunt was over. It would meanhewould be safe in Moriann and Dahes couldn’t go back on my deal. It would mean that I’d finally get to see Masin after all these years. So why was I happy that Hael didn’t see someone last night?
I started twirling my hair around my finger. Ever since I’d come to Viven, I’d been pulling my long strands in front of me. Exactly as Dahes hated.
“Then where did?—”
He cut me off again. “Nollie, has anyone ever told you that you ask a ridiculous amount of questions?”
My hand immediately fell from my hair, and in the process, I ripped a few strands out, but I barely felt it. I opened my mouth, then closed it.
He took a step closer. “It wasn’t meant as an insult.”
I still didn’t comment because I wasn’t sure if it really was me. I’d been so dead with Dahes that I had no idea who I was anymore. Was I only asking questions because of the hunt? Or was it because it was the first time in my life I could without fear or retribution?
Suns, I didn’t want to go back to Dahes. I wanted to stay here. Even if all I had was a bare cabin with no character, it was ten times better than my room in Dahes’ castle. Hell, I’d even choose life on the streets again over my current situation.
It clicked then—that’swhy I was relieved I hadn’t figured out Hael’s weakness yet. It wasn’t that it’d bother me if he loved someone, but only because once I figured it out, it’d mean my hunt was over. I’d have to go back. Dahes said he was going to check in again, and if he found out I already had his weakness, he would make me go to the location spot immediately.
And once I went there, a thatcher would take me back and my hunt would be over, and with it, my delusional fantasy that I didn’t sell my soul to the devil.
“It’s endearing,” Hael added.
I looked up at him. I hadn’t realized my gaze had fallen to the floor and I’d been staring at a crack in the wood. He was looking directly at me, like he could see through to my soul…
He took another step forward. I thought he was going to say something else, but then, “I have to get you back before Elion notices.”
I nodded, standing from his sofa before following him out the door.
The suns were bright as we stepped onto the slab of wood that made up his porch, and I couldn’t help but notice how different MonClem looked in the light.
It was beautiful. The tall mountains trapping us in didn’t feel smothering, but rather cozy and quaint. It was probably because the cut out terrain was massive—able to fit all the dragons and their riders comfortably—and the mountains themselves gave the illusion of tranquility rather than cage-like entrapment.
My gaze snagged onto the open structure. I saw a Ferro ridermorphing metal. I still couldn’t believe drakins had magic and that they used it to make all of our weapons.
I knew Viven supplied weaponry. It was one of the things Dahes traded in, but I assumed that meant they made swords the old fashion way. There were a few craftsmen in Moriann, but our supplies were limited and the finished products were nothing like Vivenian-made weapons. I only knew because the first time I held a dagger from Viven was when Dahes gifted it to me after my first hunt.
I squinted as I looked up. I thought I saw white clouds, but then it moved, and I realized it was a dragon—his dragon.
