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Gavriel sank down on my other side and began finger-combing my messy hair, picking the occasional stray fleck of glitter out and placing it in a small pouch at his waist. I had no idea what he was collecting them for. Possibly to decorate the new kazoo he’d been making for Precious’s birthday, but it could also have been for the decorative inlay on one of his new guitars. He was slightly obsessed with finding uses for all the glitter.
“It’s not harsh enough,” Hope replied. “We can’t just look away from this sort of thing. It’s a serious infraction.”
“Are we certain she did it on purpose?” Mikhail asked, turning the chime over in his hand. “She can’t have known—”
“I’ve seen Sunny’s thoughts. I heard Precious’s confession. And Perception just left our home. It’s very, very serious, Mikhail.” Hope’s nostrils flared. “I can’t believe you of all people would excuse her behavior, and with the Protector who was once her teacher.”
All three of my mates sat up straighter and straighter as Hope spoke, like hunting dogs alerting at a scent. “Whatbehavior, Hope?” Gavriel demanded, his voice a growl.
Oh, crapsickles.
Sunny stood up, rubbing her temples like she had a terrible headache. “Presh jumped Percy in the hot springs. She kissed him. He was angry. She’s ashamed.”
“Fuck.”
Sunny winced at Gavriel’s once-in-a-decade curse, and I tried to re-center our discussion. “That’s not as important as what she did to the naming chime. Focus, family.”
“I’ll focus on unmaking him,” Righteous snapped, springing into the air and flying toward the farthest edge of the Limen settlement.
Percy lived there, as far from our house as he could get, without falling off the edge into the Void. I’d wondered at his choice, but I had a terrible feeling he’d been trying to avoid this scenario, or something like it. He was Perception, after all. He might have seen this coming.
“Come back, Ry!” I yelled after him. “Gavriel, Ry doesn’t understand.”
Gavriel’s face looked like a thunderstorm as well.“He understands enough.” When I whimpered, he went on. “He won’t hurt him, much. But he’ll make sure Percy knows to be more aware of his surroundings in future.”
“It’s not Percy’s fault she has a crush,” I insisted, but Mikhail shook his head.
“He’s known of her fixation on him, for some time. We all have. He promised me he’d make certain she knew he was not interested in her that way. I think a reminder of that promise may be overdue.” He cracked his knuckles one by one.
“I swear, you’re all a bunch of Neanderthals,” I muttered. “Percy didn’t do anything. And Precious has learned her lesson.”Sweet pickle relish, I hope so.
Hope gave a short laugh. “The first crush I had was on a Protector named Exuberance. When they gave up their name to become a Guide, I cried for a week.”
“Guides were off limits?” I asked, curious. “Or just taboo?”
“Very taboo.” Hope shuddered. “But I still followed them around Sanctuary for weeks after they were in their robe and hood…until one of my friends gently let me know I was stalking the wrong Guide.” She covered her face. “My cohort teased me for decades.”
Sunny snorted. “The Guides did all look the same in those outfits.”
I grinned. “The first time I had a crush on a guy on Earth—well, besides Righteous—I did all sorts of ridiculous things to get him to notice me.”
“You, ridiculous?” Sunny teased, handing me a cup filled with steaming hot chocolate. “That’s so out of character, birch.”
I shot her the finger, but thanked her for the drink. “He was a farmhand, and it was harvest time. I used to hide in the wheatfields and make noises like a lost lamb to see if he would come and rescue me.” I frowned, remembering. “But he never came looking. Apparently, my lamb impression sounded like some sort of monster, and they accused Laurel, the one-eyed daughter of the farmer, of being a witch and calling demons into the crop. They tied her to a stake to burn her.”
“What happened?” Hope asked absently, her eyes scanning the horizon.
“Just what you’d expect. Turns out the farmhand I loved had a thing for Laurel. He came running with wet blankets and a bucket of water, but tripped and cracked his head open trying to save her. I ended up getting Laurel free.” I frowned, remembering her response to my heroism. “She wasn’t a witch, but she ended up being a word that rhymes with it. She threw me back into the flames. Burning alive sucks. One out of ten do not recommend.”
“One out of ten?” Sunny asked curiously. “Why not zero?”
I shrugged. “It was terrible, but not as bad as the piranhas. Nowthatwas a zero.” I’d take burning over being eaten alive by fish any day.
“I would go back and burn down the world for you, sweet soul,” Mikhail growled into my hair as he pulled me onto his lap and nuzzled my neck. “They didn’t deserve you.”
“None of us do,” Gavriel agreed, running his hands along the tops of my wings as we waited. I closed my eyes and tried to relax.
We didn’t wait long. In less than five minutes, Ry was winging back across the Limen, followed by Perception, who was flying a little less steadily.
