“Your ghost friend is strangely revered,” Brea remarked quietly, eyes still on the dagger.
“Hewitt has a way of demanding people’s respect.” Thom motioned to the blade. “That’s a neat trick.”
Brea let it tip forward, then caught the handle in midair. “It’s easy when you’re a Warrior.”
Thom huffed. “Seems most things are easy when you’re a magical being.”
She gave him a flat look, but Deckard spoke before she could respond. “We should keep watch while we’re still in Wauld. There are two per tent, so we can sit up in pairs. If we split the night into quarters, one pair can skip a night, giving us all the opportunity for a solid night of sleep at least once every few days.”
“Isla and I can take the first watch,” Vayden offered.
“That’s very sacrificial of you,” Rafferty said snidely. “Seeing as that’s the best shift.”
Isla raised her brow. “We’ll take the third shift, then,” she replied.
“We’ll take the second,” Deckard said.
“Guess I’ll take fourth,” Thom said. “You with me, Raff?”
“Sounds delightful, Thommy-boy.”
“I hate to break up the boy’s club,” Brea interrupted. “But I’ll be staying with you,mi’caro.”
“What?” Thom and Deckard asked together.
Almost everyone in the camp looked at Brea in question. Ilain muttered something under her breath, and Auden sighed.
“I’m not going to accost you, Breata,” he said in irritation.
“Forgive me if I don’t want to give you more opportunities to try to convince me to Bond with you,” Brea remarked flatly.
Auden turned to Vayden as though his brother could resolve the issue.
Vayden laughed. “You’ve done this to yourself,” he said unmercifully.
“I fail to see the problem,” Thom said. “We have an even number here. Raff and I will share a tent, Auden can go with Ethenn, and—”
“You’re forgetting,” Ilain interjected, “that Ethenn and I are betrothed.”
Thom blinked, then chuckled nervously. “You’re not seriously going to sleep together, are you?”
“You Ephrians.” Ilain rolled her eyes. “We alreadyhave.”
“You said—”
Ilain cut off Rafferty’s accusation. “We’ve shared a bed,” she corrected. “Like any husband and wife would.”
Rafferty’s white-blond brow rose. “A husband and wife would shag,” he said. “Unless you’re the Colonel and Eve.”
Deckard and Evylin sent the weasel a withering look while Thom wiped a hand over his smirk.
“Shut up, Rafferty,” Ethenn said tersely. His eyes kept darting toward Vayden and Auden, a clear streak of red creeping above his collar. “Ilain and I are sharing a tent. That’s the end of it.” Then he turned to Deckard. “We’ll take the first watch.”
Reticent to agree, Deckard glanced between the couple and Thom and Brea. “I’m not sure...” He paused, seeking Evylin’s advice with a single look.
She shrugged dramatically. “Don’t ask me.”
“Look,” Brea spoke up again, “this isn’t an issue. I’m a soldier. I’ve sharedclosedtents with men before. It isn’t as though my virtue is at stake here.”
