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“Sariel—” My words cut off with a huff when he turned those irritated eyes on me.
The next few days were like this.
Sariel went back to being a prickly asshole, and our friends tried to give us a wide berth. I tried to be understanding, coaxing him into spending time with them and Auren’s circle when they held another small gathering to discuss how best to go about collecting some of their recently freed members, but he was bordering on insufferable the longer he dwelled on the situation.
“Bend your knees,” Atlan advised. I had joined the training regime earlier, letting him move me through the motions with a grimace. “Elbows up.”
To his credit, he adjusted me with impassive taps and jerks, grumbling about how I must have been tossed off the deep end with no guidance. It seemed counterproductive to argue that the fae had done their best to help me, so I accepted the criticism without comment.
“Did you even practice stances?” he finally demanded.
I glared, hands going to my hips. “Not really. They focused on real-life situations.”
Atlan rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “You can’t build a house without a foundation. They know better.”
“It seemed to work just fine for them against Azazels’ team.”
Kiran chuckled darkly from where he was demonstrating the next stance, taking a more friendly approach to correcting the others. I was being given special attention even though I didn’t really want it.
Atlan folded his arms, his lithe body appearing almost liquid for a moment as he gestured with one hand for me to get back into position. “Do you want to be able to fight or just survive? It’s the difference between using a lighter or flint to start a fire.”
“What does that even mean?” I bit back instead of obeying.
Kiran finally gave up the pretense of letting me and his brother hash it out, walking over to us with a small smile. “One is as easy as flicking a switch. The other takes more time and a bit of luck. It’s not worth learning if you’re not going to do it right, Aria.”
It made sense when he put it like that. His brother’s snotty attitude about everything just made it difficult to take his advice.
“That’s what I just said,” Atlan protested, looking incredulous when I nodded and moved back into position. He was seemingly more offended by Kiran’s laughter than my insubordination.
However, the small speech from the brothers seemed to inspire the rest of the class as well, because nobody complained about Atlan’s critiques as he made the rounds.
“Don’t take anything he says personally,” Kiran advised when we were all much sweatier and exhausted, shuffling away from the small field we were using as a training ground. “Atlan is just predisposed to being cranky, but he means well.”
He patted me on the shoulder, then jogged on by to catch up to the moody hybrid. It made me a little woozy to watch their glamor waver and vanish, leaving nothing but the tails of two massive black wolves visible as they trotted into the small line of trees.
“Don’t let that fool you,” Zuzanna chirped, giving me a friendly smile as she wrapped a small towel around her neck. “They look like wolves only until you see their faces.”
She shuddered theatrically, then tilted her head to gesture for me to walk with her. “How are you adjusting to camp life?”
“Better than expected,” I admitted as we wandered down into the little town we were all calling home. “It helps that it’s not real camping. I’d be miserable if I couldn’t shower at least once a day.”
Zuzanna laughed when I sighed.
It was… it was nice getting to talk to someone new. I’d spent so much of my life scared that I would say or do the wrong thing and be discovered for what I was, that even these tiny interactions were exciting.
“I’m glad. Auren worried about how you and Sariel would settle in after knowing everything.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell her my mate would probably pack up and leave tomorrow if I gave him the word. Instead, I zeroed in on the dreamy look on her face. “Are you and Auren—?
I didn’t know how to finish asking once the words started tumbling out, but from how her eyebrows drooped and then shot up, she figured out where I was going with that.
“Ha! No, we’re definitely not fucking. or anything else, for that matter.”
It threw me to hear her drop that foul word so easily, then snort like my question was the most ridiculous thing she’d heard today.
“He’s too young,” she continued with a grimace, “though Ihavebeen giving what you said about Michael and Lucia some thought. It’s almost unheard of for two mated pairs to come from the same family in this day and age, you know? I’d be interested to see if a match turns up for him, too.”
I’d thought Sariel was just being funny when he’d said it, but with this new knowledge, I couldn’t help but be curious too. “Sorry if I offended you,” I said. “I get tired of people prying into my sex life, too. You guys just seem… close.”
