Maddy pointed at David, who watched the exchange with a muted air of amusement. “There’s your title. You’re welcome.”
With that, she flounced away.
“I’m so sorry,” Anna whispered.
David extracted a volume from the pile she’d just straightened. “Tell her I’ll keep mywoo-woo magicto a minimum.” He opened the book and dropped his gaze. “As long as you do, too.”
Heat flushed through her body. Was that—that couldn’t mean—did heknow?
Too scared to find out, Anna fled in Maddy’s direction, catching up with her right outside the library.
“You’re a hazard to my health,” Anna said.
“Whatever.” Maddy headed in the direction of the Great Terrace. “If you’re going to be hanging around the heir of Manae, he needs to know you’ve got people in your corner. He can’t push you around.”
“He isn’t pushing me around. He’s…intense, yeah, but he’s been pretty docile.” On the outside, at least. His insides were high-key volatile.
Maddy side-eyed her. “That man isnotdocile. Butdamn, he’s something to look at, isn’t he?”
Anna flashed back to the gold that seemed to halo his entire body. The guy was a mess of contradictions. Ethereal yet dangerous. Frozen but reactive. Corrupt yet…pure?
“He’s…something,” she said noncommittally.
Maddy shot her a curious look, leaving Anna to stew over David’s last remark.
As long as you do, too.
Did he know? How did he know? She’d been so careful. Hadn’t she?
Dread was a cold bedfellow, but Anna suspected it would haunt her day and night until she ferreted out exactly what he’d meant.
CHAPTER 20
DAVID
Facing Isobel on the training grounds the next morning, David regretted his decision to participate in today’s athletic festivities. He’d known from the moment Cathaire said he and Anna had other things to do—and therefore Autumn and Isobel would be training them—that the entire endeavor would be tiresome.
But hethoughtthey’d pair him with Autumn. Instead, they offered him in sacrifice to Isobel, who seemed to revel in feeding his blood to the forest floor.
He wiped a dribble of red from a gash in his forehead. “I think you’re enjoying this too much.”
She replied with a snarky smile. “You’re really bad at defending yourself.”
She wasn’t wrong, but some part of him whispered that he deserved this, that it was penance for all the wrongdoing. Isobel, however, didn’t need to know that. “If you weren’t so pretty, I’d try a little harder.”
Her annoyance burst like spice in the air, tickling his nose. “Are you really that easy to distract?”
His stare went flat. “You haven’t done the most stellar job explaining how to extract magic from the fucking air, Isobel. Maybe I’m not bad at this. Maybe you’re bad at teaching.”
Autumn, sparring with Sean nearby, snorted.
“You’re supposed to be a Sentinel,” he said. “How did they teach you?”
Isobel glared and raised her delicate hand, palm out and fingers splayed. “Look. I’ll explain it again: The Luster exists in everything, which means it’s inside you, too. Channel it and let it power whatever you need,” she said. “Do you need a shield? Raise your hands and let it be one. Do you need a stronger punch? Soak it into your fist and swing. Do you need to purge an Indy from a human’s body? Shove it into the human’s heart and watch the creature die. Luster is like poison to them, just as Shade is to us.”
“Shade is their Luster, right?”
She rolled her eyes. “Obviously.”
