I smiled. “He is.”
“Well, tell me how it’s been? And I mean the details you left out at dinner. You two seem close.”
I sighed and plucked a clover blossom. It was nice to talk with Kayda again. It felt like my time away made us miss each other enough to finally heal whatever rift had been there before. “We are close. We’re always together. At first it was strange living in the same room?—”
She gasped. “You share a room?” She lowered her voice at the scandal. “So he is youraskair? Don’t worry, I won’t tell Dad or Ivarr.”
I flushed, wondering if Vander could hear. Thankfully, he seemed preoccupied with my brother.
“No, I wasn’t lying, but we do share a room. It’s the way things are during training.” Last night’s rejection hit me in the chest again. I wanted him to be myaskair. That strain still lingered between us, even if we’d escaped it for the afternoon. Tonight, when we were back in our room, I was sure it would be a weight pushing between us.
I explained our living situation, which I’d purposefully left out at the dinner table. My father, brother, and grandmother wouldn’t think it was acceptable for me to be living with a man I wasn’t romantically involved with, no matter the reason.
“But do you like him?” The corner of Kayda’s lip curled. “I meanlikehim like him. You look at him the same way you used to look at Kace, and he looks at you almost as if... he’s afraid to be too far away from you or something. You two mirror each other’s movements a lot too.”
“I’ve shadowed him for training long enough that I think I do it without thinking now.”
“It’s not only you that does it.” She wiggled her brows. “He likes to be close to you. I can tell.”
I chuckled and feigned ignorance with a shrug. I didn’t see what she did, but what I’d had with Kace was just a girlhoodinfatuation. With Vander I had fallen into an endless cavern and kept falling, waiting for him to catch me. I feared I would fall forever. “I do enjoy his company more than I should.”
Kayda giggled behind her hand. “Have you kissed?”
“No,” I hissed and then smiled. “You’re as bad as Ivarr.”
“Sira.” My heart skipped at the familiar male voice. I twisted around to see Kace.
Chapter 25
Kace hadn’t changed—the same short, trimmed beard, same big smile and tied-back chestnut hair, same confident swagger. It took only a moment for all the old, familiar feelings to come rushing back. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed him. I jumped up and in a few long strides he lifted my feet off the ground, squeezing the air from my lungs.
“Kace! It’s so good to see you.” I gripped tighter around the back of his neck. “How are you?”
He set me on my feet but kept hold of my elbows. “Someone told me they saw two assassins come in on the main road, so I had to see for myself. But forget about me. What about you? Are they treating you well? Did you get my letter? My father and I have been doing everything to get you back, but we’ve been stonewalled at every turn. That’s the ducai for you, though. They don’t care what we want.”
“I know.” I agreed like I wasn’t one of them. “I did get your letter and my things. I appreciate that you’re trying, but I’m in it for life now, and I’ve accepted it. Once my apprenticeship is finished, I’ll be able to visit more.”
He pulled me into another hug. He smelled pleasant, like leather and the sage his mother burned at home. “You look goodin that uniform,” he said quietly in my ear. “Doesn’t leave much to the imagination with how fitted it is.”
I pulled back with a grin and playfully shoved him. We fell right back into how we were before I left. “You haven’t changed.”
He chuckled. “Nope. I’m the same old Kace. You, however—I hardly recognized you. You just, I don’t know, look more mature. Beautiful, as always, too. Your mother would be proud.”
I had noticed the past few months my face looked leaner from training and had lost that young-girl roundness. I also had more defined muscle than I ever had before, from moving my body constantly. “Thank you.”
“And I don’t want you to worry, we check on your family often. Your mother’s loss is felt through the entirety of Neverglade. We’re a family here.”
I pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I know. Neverglade is a wonderful community. I miss it.” It was small and inviting. I’d taken it for granted while I lived here. I’d come to love Nighthaven for its amenities, safety, and the man I’d been living with, but even as closeknit as LOA was, it didn’t feel the same as where I grew up.
“How long are you staying?”
“Not long. We have to head back tonight.” I glanced up at the sky. Time had gone by fast. It was already late afternoon.
“Whosewe?”
“Me and my trainer, Viper. He’s—” I turned to point him out and was surprised to find him only a few steps away. His icy presence made the hair on the back of my neck rise. I didn’t see my brother. He must have gone back into the house. Kayda slowly rose up and brushed the stray grass off her pants, looking everywhere but at us. Yet the little eavesdropper wasn’t going inside. “Uh, Kace, this is Viper. Viper, Kace.”
The air had shifted from an excited reunion to a coming storm that put me on edge.
