Fabia shakes her head. “No, that’s a lie. Arienna’s hiding her broken heart under more pain too; it’s just being mete out by the other recruits rather than herself.”
I swing my legs over the side of the bed. “Give me the names of everyone who’s laid a hand on her.” Our army is about to have a massive loss of soldiers.
“Richard Dickwad Morningstar,” she answers flatly.
I glare at her, but it lacks any heat. “I know I fucked up, but I did it to protect her.” I hold her gaze, noticing that it looks infinitely more sympathetic than the last time I saw it. “And you know you would’ve done the same in my place.”
She glances away before looking back at me. “I would have talked to her first.”
I scoff. “You tried to kill me even though she begged you not to.”
“Yeah, but I stilltalkedto her about it. I just didn’t listen. That’s different.”
“Seems to be,” I say sourly. Arienna forgave her fucking quickly. Looking down at the floor, I clear my throat. “Is she… seeing someone?”
“What? No.”
I close my eyes as a ragged breath leaves me.
“For some stupid reason, she loves you, and if she found out you’re acting this sort of crazy, she’d probably yell at me for keeping the secret and then at Jace for not protecting you.”
My head jerks up. I search her eyes for a lie. Not seeing one, the panic inside me calms.She still loves me.
Shaking her head, Fabia turns for the door. “I’m heading back. Echo only gave me an hour, and I’ve wasted half of it.”
“Wait.” I push to my feet and instantly grow dizzy. Jace grabs me before I even start to fall. “I thought Kioshi healed me?” I say to him.
“She did, but your dumbass nicked your heart. If you went much farther, I would’ve had to call Deirdre.”
“You wouldn’t have just put cum in my mouth to bring me back?” I ask dryly.
“Oh, I would have done that too and not just yours this time.”
Shoving him away from me, I head for the desk in the sitting area. A bang sounds from my ensuite, but I ignore it. Opening a drawer, I pull out a pen and piece of paper. After scrawling a quick note, I fold it over and press my seal into the wax.
Fabia comes up behind me. “Who’s in the bathroom?”
“Someone Evangeline’s dealing with. Not important.” I hand her the note. “Give this to Echo.”
“Not Arienna?”
I shake my head. “I need to clear any gift deliveries to the barracks with Echo.”
She grabs the note. Pocketing it, she heads for the door. “Fine, but maybe don’t kill yourself before then, yeah?”
A slow smile curls my lips. “Worried about me?”
Stepping out, she scoffs, “No. I’d just never hear the fucking end of it.”
As soon as she’s gone, Jace turns to me.
“I’m not in the mood,” I say as I head for the kitchenette to grab a bottle of helfire. Ambrosia is for the nice days; helfire is for when you want to suffer.
“Tough shit.” Taking the bottle off me, he shoves me onto a stool. I only sit because my damn legs give out. Then he pops the cork and drinks straight from the bottle. I wince, listening to it sizzle down his throat.
“And you’re worried I’m suicidal,” I mutter.
He slams the bottle down, glaring at me. “You ever do anything like that again, and I’ll kill her myself.”
