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Chapter 76
Talin
Anver had pulled me down into the new bed, kissing me until my dick was throbbing, begging for more. Thankfully, by the time that happened, everyone else was in the shower. I'd pulled back, telling him I needed to cool down, so he'd cuddled up against my chest. It was so casual that the feeling of letting Nari down faded just a little more, smothered by all the good that had been waiting for us at home.
I tried to ignore that stupid feeling, but time and time again, when she needed me most, I hadn't been there for her. One way or another, I felt like I kept failing her, as if I was the worst guardian in the world. She'd been at Sandrest because of me. My brother had tried to rape her. I'd let her get her ribs broken last year because I hadn't stepped in soon enough. I'd been too slow today, and how many other times had I just not been enough?
"There's a crease, right here," Anver said, tracing a line across my brow. "You can't kiss me like that and still look so unhappy, Talin. You're going to give me a complex."
I chuckled, just like he'd intended. "No, the kissing is helping. The room does too. This is just me trying not to worry about what happened today," I admitted. "Speaking of that, will you come to Compassion with us tonight?"
"For the Fresh Start?" he asked.
"Yeah, and to meet Nari's family. I have a feeling she'd like that."
"I'd love to," Anver said. "I'd planned to spend the evening with all of you anyway, once Zeal said you were coming back."
"When did that happen?" I asked.
"About fifteen minutes before you got home," Anver said. "He gave me a rundown of Tath, Nari, Ela, Wraythe, and you while I headed over here, told me to wait for you, then said he needed to talk to his sister. That was the last I saw him."
"Because it's a holiday," I realized, "and all of our gods are busy. Yeah. That's why he wanted me to wait." The shower turned off. "And right now, I need to get clean. Is there any way to convince you to order food for us?"
"Always," Anver promised. "How hungry?"
"We had tea early this morning. That's it."
He immediately hopped up. "Then I can handle that," he said, heading back to the old bedroom like he was on a mission.
Wraythe walked out of the new bathroom, so I headed in. There were towels in there. They matched the ones we had before, so probably half our stock. The water was hot. When I got out, the meals were waiting, and they were so much better than what we'd been served at Sandrest.
Little by little, we all relaxed. There was something comfortable about being home, and the new and improved version made it feel a bit less cramped. Not that it kept the five of us from sticking beside each other, but that was the beauty of our relationship.
Then, five hours after we made it home, we were all dressed and ready to head back out. More than that, we were feeling so much better about pretty much everything. The dress code for the night was cocktail, so neither too formal nor too casual. Nari pulled out a stunning dress made of the darkest purple fabric I'd ever seen. The sleeves were long, the neckline was closed around her throat and had an opening below to show her cleavage and lace. The bodice was fitted to just below her hips where the skirt flared out.
It was gorgeous, and she truly looked like a walking temptation. The guys and I all dressed the same, down to our pocket watches attached to our vests. Still a little tense after the ordeal that morning, we also chose to take weapons. What we didn't bother with were coats, since the Temple of Compassion was just a short walk away.
I offered Nari my arm, the guys fell in behind us, and we headed up the hall, intending to use the back exit to the grassy area where we'd simply cut across. It was just early enough that most people wouldn't be leaving yet, if they were even bothering to go. Still, knowing that Maela would be there, I wanted to ask her how my mother was doing. More importantly, I needed to make sure that Maela was truly as fine as she'd pretended this morning.
We were about to turn onto a side hall - the one that headed to the initiate wing and cut over to the corner with the door - when I heard Anver's name. That made my feet slow and my head turn, right as we rounded the corner. The sound of a slap stopped me hard, but I didn't miss the sight of Ciella dropping to the floor. I barely had the presence of mind to pull Nari back before we were spotted. She lifted her hand, simultaneously stopping and silencing the other guys just as the man who'd struck that idiot lost his temper.
"What do you mean youthinkAnver has additional lace?" The voice belonged to Kinen, the High Priest.
"Tishlie said she saw something on his throat," Ciella whimpered.
"And you haven't made sure of it?" Kinen asked. "What good are you to me if you can barely 'think' of something I might be interested in? I stuck my neck out for you. I took a risk, and you're so busy giving hand jobs to Lord Ranndor that you have nothing -nothing!- on Nariana!"
"But Anver never takes off his shirt," she tried to explain. "I've tried to invite him over. I've tried to surprise him in his room. The guynevertakes off his shirt, sir!"
There was another crack of a hand meeting flesh. I eased forward, peeking around the corner to see that yes, it was definitely Kinen, and Ciella was still on the floor. The man was so angry his face was red, and she looked pale and terrified. I ducked back quickly.
"You waste your time on inane schoolgirl tricks and drama. I don't care if you're popular, Ciella. If you want to stay in this temple, then you need to prove your worth tome. You have no lace. You have no Path. Either you bring me something that will give me a reason to remove Nariana from this temple, you convince her to leave yourself, oryouwill be the one that's gone."
"I'll make it happen," Ciella promised.
"I don't even care if you kill her," Kinen said. "The temple is split, and more people are willing to listen to her than to me."
"She says she sees Zeal," Ciella tried to explain. "They just want to believe in their god."
