Page 124 of Resurgent

I force my breathing to slow as he smiles back at me.

“Good morning.”

“Hi,” I say, my voice coming out approximately three octaves too high.

Tyr practically purrs inside my head.

“Excellent recovery.”

“Shut up.”

Hunter looks at me, then at the clearing. “What are you doing out here?”

“Training.”

“With Tyr?”

“Yes.”

His mouth twitches. “Ambitious to think you can take on a dragon, but I’d still bet on you.”

He takes another step closer, and I smile. Normal. Completely normal. There’s nothing suspicious happening here.

Then Hunter's eyes narrow.

“You must have really committed; there’s dirt on your face,” he says, extending his thumb up to wipe it away.

My stomach drops. The mole. I forgot about the fucking mole.

“Breathe, Little Faren.”

His fingers brush the spot just as I slowly pull it back…enough to think there was something, not enough to alert him of a drastic change.

“Tyr.”

“You can do this.”

Hunter watches my face, and for one terrifying second, I think he saw it. But then his expression softens. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving,” I admit, letting him lead me into the house.

Tyr's amusement warms through the bond, “You are terrible at lying, but that morph was impressive.”

“Thanks! Let’s never get that close to being caught again.”

Hunter looks at me for another second, smiling as if seeing me has made his whole week.

“Gods, you’re beautiful.”

Hunter is halfway through complaining about Jacobs when I realize I’m smiling.

“I swear, he does it on purpose,” he says, chopping broccoli with far more aggression than the vegetable deserves. “There is no other explanation. Every time I tell him to do something, he finds a way to make it ten times harder than it should be. It’s not like this is new to him—his parents are both respected Vanguard Commanders!”

I set the pot on the stove and light the crackling flame beneath it. “Maybe he just enjoys watching you get pissed off.”

“He does.”

I laugh.