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Kavina looked around before leaning in. “Ash told me you don’t get along with Cyn and Ezra.”
“He did, did he?” My lips thinned. It seemed I needed to have a talk with Ash about gossiping about my business with others.
“Well, when I asked about you, he said he’s the only one bonded to you.”
“Uh huuuuh.” I sat back and crossed my arms.
“I asked him why, and he said things were complicated with the others. And I know there’s no way you don’t get along with Zeke. He’s sweet. So I figure the problem is the tightass and… well, Cyn. I didn’t really ask for details. Not my business.” She shrugged. “No one else knows, though.”
That made more sense.
I didn’t want to believe Ash was out there telling everyone about what happened between us, or how I wasn’t getting along with Cyn, or whatever the hell it was with Ezra.
I finished my last fry and looked at the door as a woman with brown spiraling horns like those of a ram came in holding a toddler on her hip.
“Did I upset you?”
“Huh?” I looked back at Kavina and shook my head. “No. You figured right. I mean, I don’t know what’s going on with Zeke either, but we get along well.”
Even if I thought we could become friends, I wasn’t going to spill all the personal details of my situation with Zeke or the others to a total stranger like Kavina.
Maybe one day I’d find someone to talk to the way I did with Maya back on Earth, but I wasn’t entirely sure who I could trust yet. What if someone wanted to get close to me because I was a novelty? Or worse yet, to get to the guys?
12
SIDE EFFECTS
RAE
The guys weren’t home when Kavina brought me back, so I headed upstairs and started unpacking the boxes we’d brought from my old house on Earth to make my room feel a little less temporary.
The room dimmed as night approached, so I finished up and popped the candy Jax had given me into my mouth before stripping down to shower away the day.
I decided against pajama pants and a pullover in favor of shorts and a tank top because I couldn’t seem to cool off even after my shower.
I stepped out onto the balcony overlooking the forest and gazed up at the two moons illuminating the sky. Goose bumps rose as the breeze met my overheated skin.
“Rae?” Zeke knocked on my door before peeking inside. “You in here?”
“Outside!”
He crossed my room and joined me. “Sorry it took so long. We couldn’t convince Ezra to leave, and he’d forgotten Ash is on patrol tonight.”
I looked out into the darkness of the trees where I knew the wall surrounding Elyrdin loomed in the distance. Ash would be out there all night.
“Is it safe?”
“What?”
“Wall patrol.”
“Oh yeah. I think it’s boring.” He turned and leaned back against the railing, resting his hands on either side of his hips. “You’re either in one of the guard towers or walking the top watching for anything getting too close to the wall.”
“What happens if something gets too close?”
“Unless they are trying to get through the main gate, lesser infernals aren’t generally strong enough to get through the fortified wall. But we still watch them. The real problem is the beasts from Moicae. Our job on the wall is to alert the sanctum so the Elyrdin Guard can form a defense.”
I remembered the lesser infernals I’d seen on Earth and couldn’t imagine any of them breaking through a giant wall—no matter how scary they looked.
