Finn: Any word?
Me: Sage can’t get us in. We need another option.
Finn: Libraries?
I turned toward Sage. “What about the Solis Library?”
I could see her thinking over the suggestion, so I waited patiently—or as patiently as I could with Finn continually texting about whether I thought that would be a viable option.
A touch of a familiar affinity brushed over me. I glanced up, catching my mother’s gaze from across the tavern as she headed our direction while gesturing for me to busy myself. I sighed before I began cleaning the dishes that had piled behind the bar top.
“It’s been far too long since you’ve stopped by, Sage.” My mother’s voice was a jovial scold as she set down the tray she’d been holding before pulling Sage into a hug.
“I won’t let it happen again, Mrs. Kingsley,” Sage chirped back as she sat back down on the barstool she’d been occupying.
“Is the court keeping you busy with your studies in the libraries?” my mother asked as she bustled about, making a drink. Soap sloshed onto the bar top as I washed another set of glasses, listening to Sage ramble on about the various study techniques she’d been utilizing for her job.
It was only once my mother left, drink order in hand, that Sage swiveled on the barstool, turning to face me once again.
“We might be able to make the libraries work,” Sage confirmed after what felt like an entire year had passed.
I looked up, hands coated in dish suds as my eyes hooked on hers. “You think?”
She nodded, her eyes lighting up excitedly. “I need to go. But I will text everyone tonight with the plans, okay? Just promise me you’ll stay out of trouble?”
I nodded, a teasing smile on my lips. “Ay, ay, captain,” I joked as I made a fake salute to my best friend—a perfect imitation of the RSG. “We’ll all be ready.”
It was just my luck. . . because of course . . . of all the days in the summer,todayhad to be the day for a flash rain to be summoned by the gods. I stared out the front door of the Tilted Tavern as I wrapped up for the night, praying for the onslaught to stop before I finished drying the last of the glasses, but so far, I’d had no such luck.
“See you tomorrow,” Xander’s voice rumbled as he turned off the TVs. “You’re positive you don’t need a ride? I don’t need your mom blaming me for you catching a cold.”
I smiled at Xander as I locked up behind the counter and headed toward the door. “I’ll be fine, Xan. It’s only a few blocks; don’t worry about me.”
He smiled back, his eyes darting toward the windows as we both watched the rain pick up.
It didn’t rain often in Solis . . . maybe ten days a year, if that. But when it did, the rains came down in waves, nearly causing flash floods on the outer streets of Solis. We simply couldn’t handle the amount of water falling from the heavens.
With a heavy sigh, I turned the handle of the front door,darting out into the rain. I was drenched the moment I left the covering above the tavern. Chilled droplets soaked through my clothing as I began to hurry down the sidewalk, attempting to avoid the largest puddles on the pavement. The neon hues of the streetlights reflected in the water, staining the sidewalks, the colors dancing as more droplets puddled on the ground.
It’s just five blocks . . . not the end of the world,I repeated in my head as I hurried down the street. The roar of an engine sounded behind me as I hurriedly walked through the rain, and I wished for the third time in just one block that I’d taken Xan up on his offer for a ride. The rumble sounded closer as I heard the vehicle approaching. Ducking my head down as the rain came down harder, I picked up my steps, hurrying to cross the next street as the signal blinked.
No sooner had I stepped off the curb than a large spray of water flew onto me as a bike raced past, the water from a street puddle soaking me.
“Fucking stars!” I screamed, raising my hand in a gesture toward the bike passing by. “At least watch where you’re driving!”
I shivered as my shirt clung to my skin. The brake lights flared as the bike revved backward.
Stars help me.
Not now . . . Not in the Nox District.
There weren’t even any surveillance drones out right now with the weather.
The bike stopped right beside me, as my hand flew to the blade Finn had given me at my waist, grabbing it as I held it in my palm.
“Didn’t anyone ever teach you to watch your language?” a deep voice purred as the male flipped up his visor, and amber eyes pierced mine.
Eyes I recognized . ..
