Page 18 of Evergreen

“It kind of is though,” Nerion continued, completely undeterred by my hostility. “Because I’m thinking about setting you up with someone.”

“I don’t need⁠—”

“Nerion,” Teddy said quietly, placing a hand on the red-head’s shoulder. There was a warning in his tone that even I could pick up on. “Maybe give him more than a minute before you start grilling him?”

Nerion pouted but turned his attention back to his canvas, though I could tell he was still listening to every word. Guys like that always were. They thrived on drama and gossip and inserting themselves into other people’s business. I felt like I knew him already and I’d only been in his presence for thirty-five seconds.

I grabbed a shovel from where we’d left them that morning and moved deeper into the greenhouse, toward the eastern section where we’d been making progress. The work was mindless enough that I could do it without thinking too hard, which was good because my brain was already overloaded with the presence of these new people.

Especially Linden.

He’d been quieter this evening, more reserved than usual. I wondered if he’d told his friends about last night. About the snow. About the way he’d held my hands and healed them, instead of being grossed out by how torn up they were or letting me suffer like he probably thought I deserved.

“I’ll help you with that,” Linden said, appearing beside me with his own shovel. His tone was careful, like he was walking on eggshells.

“You don’t have to,” I replied, not looking at him. “I can handle it.”

“I know you can,” he said simply. “But we work faster together.”

That was true enough. We’d developed a rhythm over the past couple of days, a way of working that was almost... comfortable. He’d point out where to dig, I’d clear the debris, and then he’d assess what we’d uncovered with those golden eyes that seemed to see things I couldn’t.

We fell into that rhythm now, the sound of our shovels striking earth and stone creating a steady percussion beneath Nerion’s occasional commentary and the scratch of his brush against canvas. My muscles protested with every movement, but I pushed through it. I wasn’t going to let Linden see me struggle. Wasn’t going to give him another reason to worry about me or try to help me or⁠—

“Your hands look better,” Linden observed, not looking away from the section he was working on. “I’m glad they healed well.”

“Yeah. They’re fine now,” I muttered. “Thanks, I guess.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice even though I wasn’t looking at him.

We worked in silence for a while after that, and I found myself falling back into that comfortable rhythm. Shovel, clear, assess. Shovel, clear, assess. It was almost meditative in its repetition, and for the first time since this whole nightmare started, I felt something that wasn’t pure frustration or exhaustion.

“So, uh,” Linden said after maybe five minutes of quiet work, “Nerion’s kind of a lot, huh?”

I couldn’t help but let out a short laugh at that. “That’s putting it mildly.”

“He means well,” Linden continued, and I could tell he was trying to smooth things over. “He’s just... enthusiastic about people.”

“He’s nosy,” I corrected, but there was less bite to it than there could have been. “And he was definitely trying to set me up with someone. Which is weird because I don’t even know the guy.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Nerion,” Linden admitted. “He’s been on this whole mission to get me to—” He stopped abruptly, and I finally glanced over at him. Even in the dim light of the greenhouse, I could see the faint red tint to his cheeks that suggested he was blushing. “To get me to date.”

I filed that information away for later analysis. So Nerion was trying to get Linden to date. Which meant Linden probably wasn’t the type to go out and hook up with random people. Which meant he was probably⁠—

“Don’t,” I muttered to myself.

“Don’t what?” Linden asked.

“Nothing,” I said quickly. “Just... thinking out loud.”

We continued working, and I was grateful when Nerion called out something about needing better light and Teddy went over to help him adjust his easel, putting both of them as far from us as they could get inside the greenhouse. It gave me a moment to breathe, to get my head on straight. But it didn’t last long.

“Your magic’s acting up again,” Linden observed quietly.

I looked up and saw a small cloud forming above us. Fuck. I’d been doing so well about keeping that under control. “It’s just the humidity,” I lied.

“Cass,” Linden said, and there was something in his tone that made me stop what I was doing and actually look at him. “It’s okay if you’re⁠—”

“I’m not,” I interrupted, not even sure what he was about to say. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine.”