Em and Akari can hardly stop laughing long enough to help her back up while I’m a useless mess just trying not to pee myself.
“How’d those get there?” Amaya says as Emeric picks a petal out of her braids.
Tears stream down my face, looking at my disheveled best friend. I’m fully on the ground, praying to The Mother I don’t pee my pants right here in the middle of the Heart.
“They just came out of nowhere!” Em plays along.
“I knew the peonies had it out for me.”
“Stop!” I beg as I fight to compose myself. “I can’t take anymore.”
Amaya turns back to the bush that has been slightly flattened by her body. “You hear that, peonies? My best friend, who just came back from the dead, is gonna kick your ass if you try something like that again.”
Her threat to the blush-colored flowers has Emeric throwing her over his shoulder. “Let’s get her out of here before she starts a war with the tulips next.”
“Stay the night?” I ask Amaya when we finally reach our rooms.
“I was hoping you’d ask!” she squeals, tossing her arm over my shoulder.
I’ll enjoy having my own space tomorrow night. For now, I just want to hang out with my favorite person.
“Night, you two.” Emeric and Akari give us each a hug before continuing down the hall.
“Wow!” Amaya gawks as she stumbles into my room. “Looks just like mine only a lot more gold!”
“The plum color really suits you, though.”
She twirls around and falls back onto my bed. “It does, doesn’t it?”
“Can you believe we get our own rooms?” I let her have the majority of the bed and sit on the top with the feather-filled pillows.
“Honestly? No. I mean all of this is so crazy. We’re supposed to be at the Sector right now training. Instead, we’re in this unknown underworld preparing for war.” She rolls over onto her stomach and sits up on her elbows to look at me. “It’s like I know how we got to this point and somehow my mind still can’t wrap itself around it.”
“You’re telling me,” I sigh.
“Shit. Yeah, what am I saying? You’ve gone through more than any of us. You know… we haven’t really talked about you being a phoenix.”
I reach for a pillow and hug it, searching for any kind of comfort I can. “I know. There’s just so much going on right now. You know, today I found out my father is dead.”
Amaya shoots up from her elbows and positions herself next to me up against the headboard. “I’m so sorry! How did you find out?”
“Well, that’s a whole other story.”
I lean my head back and tell her everything Ryder had told me about my father’s death and the promise he had made to him.
“Okay, that’s… a lot.” She turns to me, searching my face. “How do you feel about it?”
“How do you think I feel? Betrayed! He lied to me the whole time we’ve known each other. He had every opportunity to tell me the truth, and he kept it from me. It’s like we were playing a game and I didn’t know the rules.”
“Yeah. I understand all of that. I’d be mad too if I were you. But please don’t hate me for what I’m about to say.”
I glance at her sideways already annoyed with her tone. It’s the one that is usually followed by rational thinking.
“Just say it.”
“All I’m saying is if you really think about it, what choice did Ryder really have?” I’m about to interject but she holds up her hand. “Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t feel some type of way about it, but if roles were reversed, would you risk the king finding out about the rebellion? I think not. If Ryder had told you the truth, you would’ve told all of us, including Damien. Word would’ve gotten back to the king that his son was in cahoots with someone who had been sent to the Shadow Lands as a traitor and who knows what kind of action he would’ve taken. The rebellion would’ve been crushed before even getting on its feet because let’s face it, without Ryder leading the cause, the rebellion would be nothing more than a whisper like it had been before he came here. Despite what you may think about Ryder, he did save you from being poisoned and being tortured. I mean, now we know you’re immortal but at the time we didn’t. That has to count for something, right?”
I throw the pillow I had been holding at her head. “I hate when you’re right.”
