Concern creased his brow, but it quickly smoothed away as he lifted his chin. “She’ll be fine,” he stated, clearly unwilling to let others see her as anything but strong.
“Good.” Lifting my tankards, I went to walk away.
“You should watch your back,” Bevan recommended, gripping the pitcher Glory placed in front of him. “Atticus is … not himself.”
And so might finally act on all the hatred he felt for me. “Thanks for the advice. Though I have to wonder why you’d warn me.” Bevan and I were civil to each other, but not in the sense that we’d offer each other advice.
“Two reasons. First, if I can convince you to be careful, he’ll then skip the opportunity to do something that could gethim killed—I don’t want him dead. Second, you saved my life once. I don’t like to feel indebted to people, so I’m returning the favor by warning you that you need to be cautious with your own life. Now we’re even.”
I gave a slow nod of understanding. “We’re even.” I blinked as someone abruptly appeared in the small space between me and Bevan. Talon, I quickly realized.
As the Cardinal silently placed an order with Glory, Bevan tipped his chin at me in goodbye and then scampered.
Good idea.I turned, meaning to cross to Khalida.
I didn’t get the chance.
Talon smoothly slipped in front of me, blocking my path. He folded his arms and planted his feet, his stance all business.
Staring at his throat, I inwardly sighed. He did this occasionally, placing me in a situation where I was forced to look at him whether I liked it or not.
I raised my gaze to his, finding it brimming with irritation. Nothing new there. I gave him a too-quick, somewhat distant smile. His glare intensified tenfold, and a muscle in his cheek ticked.
Whereas I would once have teased him about the whole glaring thing, now I only politely said, “Excuse me.”
His dark expression didn’t change, and he made no move to let me pass. An effort to provoke me, no doubt. But I wasn’t going to reproach him. Or joke with him. Or anything.
Instead, I took an idle sip of my mead. The fact was that I really wouldn’t need to do a damn thing to put an end to this scenario. I had a perfect solution. A solution that would soon make its way over here. It would appear any minute now. Any minute. One, two, three, four, five—
“Hi, Anara,” Skye stiffly greeted as she sidled up to him, a none-too-happy expression plastered over her face.
I felt my mouth curve. I knew I would be able to count on her to rescue me, though I was quite certain she wouldn’t think of it that way. She just wanted Talon away from me … and pretty much every other woman here, for that matter.
“Hello, Skye.” Taking in how the Phoenixian’s arm brushed his, I lifted my brows. She was typically careful to never touch him. “Are you two an item now?” I doubted it, but the prospect made my stomach do a nauseating tumble.
She averted her gaze briefly. “Uh, no.”
And my belly instantly settled. How annoying. Not bothering to fight the temptation to toss out a comment I knew would poke at his patience, I said, “That’s a shame. You look real cute together.”
Oh, his glare turned into an almighty glower that could surely flay skin from bone.
Her expression softened at my words, and she cast Talon a shy look … only to freeze when she noticed that he wasnotquite as touched by my remark.
I leaned into her and whispered, “I’m rooting for you.” I skirted around her and walked straight to the table that Khalida had claimed near the fireplace. The back of my scalp prickled, and I just knew he was still glowering at me.
Whatever.
I wasn’t going to concern myself with anything he did. Nope. I’d just leave him to it.
I set the drinks either side of the circular table, careful not to knock the candle or small tray of bread slices there. Taking the seat across from Khalida, I saw that she was staring at me funny. “What’s wrong?”
She wrapped a hand around her tankard. “That was my question.”
I felt my head twitch to the side. “Huh?”
“What did you say to Talon to make him mad at you?”
I gave an innocent blink. “Nothing.”
