Page 88 of Slayer

Daphne got out of the way then, and Asher stepped forward and lightly lunged for me. I was awkward, trying to hold up the heavy sword as he verbally coached me. Our swords clacked against each other for the next twenty minutes as he spun and evaded me like an expert until my arms were sore and Asher tapped my neck with his sword, probably just to take a break. I sat around for the next hour, watching everyone practice and trying to take as many mental notes as possible. Then I had a few more rounds with Manda and one of the guys before we were done with drills.

When Asher was crowned victor, he handed out his winnings to everyone.

“For you, my lady.” He held out the open packet of Double Stuf Oreos.

I smiled, taking one and biting into it.

He then moved over to sit by Daphne, and I found myself watching them. He was so attentive and respectful with her. Smiling, seemingly happy, but there was something under the surface of his skin. Small, subtle clues that he was avoiding her touch. A micro lean away, a snaking back of his hand. There was a story there, but it wasn’t my business.

As the night darkened, I waited for Harper and Luna to show up. When they did, the festivities really began. The music was cranked up, the bonfire raged, and we all ate way too much sugar.

I watched as Daphne and Luna held hands and swung each other around rapidly before letting go and collapsing onto the sand, laughing.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Asher’s voice startled me. I hadn’t noticed him come up behind me.

Harper had left my side a few minutes ago to catch up with one of her other friends, and I was sitting alone on a beach blanket off to the side.

“Oh, hey.” I made room on the blanket as he sat next to me. “I’m thinking about a hundred things right now,” I told him honestly.

He nodded. “Give me three.”

I chuckled. “Okay, number one, I’m nervous I won’t get hunter marks, and I’ll be relegated to a desk job forever,” I confessed.

“Ouch,” he said.

“Two, I’m feeling grateful for new friendships, and I love living here,” I added.

“Good.” He nodded.

“Three, I’m…” I hesitated, wanting to know more about what he was going to tell me that day of our attack. “I’m wondering what you were going to say about Daphne before we were attacked,” I said, lowering my voice.

He blew air through his teeth and nodded as if coming to terms with something. “I love her.”

Oh. That was all? “That’s…good,” I offered.

“Like a sister,” he added in a soft voice, and I flinched.

Oh. Oh. The pulling away from her touch. It all made sense now.

“Why not just tell her?”

He looked so sad in that moment that it broke my heart.

“She and I...we’ve been through so much together. I can’t be the cause of her losing someone else she loves. I can’t break her. I like seeing her happy.”

I saw Asher’s true heart then. He was staying with someone he wasn’t romantically attracted to so that she wouldn’t be sad. It was a self-sacrificing type of love that I hadn’t expected from him.

“Are you happy?” I asked, because I was sure Daphne wanted that for him as well.

He tensed. “Doesn’t matter.”

We were silent then, letting the sounds of the music, the crackling fire, and Luna’s and Daphne’s laughter fill in the hole that what Asher just said made in my heart.

Doesn’t matter.

His words stayed with me a long time after that, and my respect for him grew immensely.

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