Page 37

He dragged a Weylin fairytale book from the pile in the corner, and he spent the rest of the morning reading a bunch of the exact sort of fictional Weylin nonsense he despised.

“Geovani’s been arrested!”

Kai stirred awake, peeling a book off his face and blinking at it in confusion. He slapped it shut and tossed it beside his pillow as the words settled in. He’d barely sat up when the chatter of priestesses filled the temple. He rubbed his eye with his fist. “She was arrested at the council meeting. The Folke are going after any allies of Commander Adassah!” Kai’s fist stopped, his open eye sailing to the doorway. His abdomen tightened as it dawned on him.

If Geovani had been arrested, wouldn’t the Folke come here next…?

A loud bang sounded through the First Temple and Kai leapt to his feet as the screams of priestesses filled his ears. He tore open the bedside table drawer and grabbed his dagger, stepping for the door as shouts and the sharp ringing of swords being drawn filled the sanctuary, priestesses wailing. But he stopped. He couldn’t fight Folke by himself. Kai spun back, mind racing, cursing Heva’s illness that made her unable to fight, and knowing that if she was found in this state, the Folke would probably just kill her instead of going through the hassle of ordering a wagon to carry her to prison.

Prison. His stomach turned as he imagined Heva being sent back to prison, and he stuffed his dagger into his belt.

He found his hands sliding beneath her, lifting her frail body, Heva’s head tipping back and her hair falling in long, silken waves. Folke boots thundered in the hallway, and Kai panicked; he set Heva on the floor, climbed over her, grabbed her waist, and he rolled—barely scooting beneath the bed before the bedroom door was kicked open.

His chest crushed Heva’s limp frame beneath him, but he didn’t dare adjust to prop himself up on his elbows as a Folke swept into the room. More passed by in the halls, checking other rooms.

“Get your nasty hands off her! Run, Nebulin!” A thud sounded in the sanctuary, and then a manly curse. The Folke in Kai’s room turned and rushed back out. Indecipherable female screams lifted from the sanctuary, but the sounds drifted away as if the priestesses had fled out the front door. Several beats passed, but Kai didn’t move—couldn’t move. Distant noises lifted from the streets like the Folke had left the temple doors open when they chased after the priestesses. His shoulders relaxed and he breathed a sigh of relief. At least the priestesses had gotten away. He peered at the hall, chest pounding, breaths heavy, until the tip of a warm dagger slowly slid against his throat, and his wide gaze sailed down.

Heva stared up at him.

Kai blinked at the alertness in her eyes, the colour in her cheeks, her lips.

Her mouth was a breath from Kai’s, and a butterfly tumbled through his abdomen when he realized the position he’d put her in. That if he leaned too far one way or the other, their lips might brush, or—

“What are you doing in my room, Priest?” Heva’s voice was broken and raspy, tickling the corners of his nerves. “This is nauseatingly inappropriate.”

Kai sprang up, hitting his head on the underside of the bed and dropping back down again with a grunt. He winced and reached around to the back of his scalp, but when his eyes opened, he realized she held a fistful of his collar with her other hand. His eyes flickered down to it, then back up to hers.

“I think you’re the one being inappropriate,” he said. His jaw clenched, his whole chest warm where he crushed her, and he added, “Just so we’re clear, this is my room now. I’m not being—inappropriate—at all.” He nearly choked on the word though.

A slow smile danced over Heva’s lips, the sight of it flipping the butterfly in Kai’s abdomen. He pulled his fingers into a fist but ended up clutching a handful of her hair instead. He shook it off and fought to even out his breathing as he avoided looking at her smile. It wasn’t even pretty. It was more like a devil’s smile—something, as a priest, he should exterminate.

He pulled his collar from her fingers and tugged himself away in disgust, sliding out from beneath the bed, sitting up, and beating a fist gently against his abdomen to kill the butterfly. He climbed to his feet and leapt to the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of any priestesses when Heva’s voice came from beneath the bed.

“Fetch me a drink, Priest.”

Kai stopped and blinked down at the bed in disbelief. He dropped to a crouch and glanced under to find her head tipped over, meeting his gaze. She smiled again, and he swallowed.

“Am I your servant?” he demanded.

Heva bit her lip as she tried to inch sideways, but she gave up almost right away, limbs dropping beside her weakly, and Kai’s hard face drained as he realized the pain she’d still be in. For a moment, the gusto with which she spoke had convinced him she was back to being her annoying self.

“You’ve been taking care of me for ages. You nurtured me back to health and fed me broth,” she said, and Kai’s cheeks warmed again. “I’d say you’re my servant at this point.”

He set his jaw. “First…” He closed his mouth, then opened it again. “… I didn’t know you were aware of all that. And second, we have bigger problems to deal with than you being a little thirsty.”

Heva’s eyes slid closed, and Kai thought she’d fallen asleep until she whispered, “What sort of problems?”

“I guess you weren’t aware of everything while you were recovering. The High Priestess was just arrested—” Heva’s eyes flew open “—and the palace has been taken over by evil, mystical creatures from the desert, and the whole city has turned on Ryn since she…”

Heva’s gaze dragged up to him now, red creeping in at the corners of her eyes, mouth twisting into a frown, the laughter gone. “Finish that sentence,” she warned. Her knuckles went white around the dagger in her hand.

Kai held the rail of the bed for balance. “Ryn is…” He tapped a fist against his abdomen. “She went to B’rei Mira.”

Heva’s chest deflated; she tried to inch her way out from under the bed again, and Kai sprang forward, reaching beneath her legs and dragging her out. He lifted her onto the bed in one motion, but her palm hit the mattress, and she pushed herself to sit with a high-pitched grunt, face contorting, fingers digging savagely into the bedsheets as she held herself up.

A glimmer of sweat formed at her brow, her chest rising and falling as she panted. She looked pale again.

“Um…” Kai scratched the back of his head. “I think you should probably rest—”