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“Burton.” Pushing a heavy exhale past her lips, she looks down at her hands then back at me. “I get that I’ve caught you by surprise, but it doesn’t change who I am. This is what my father was leaning toward when he invited you to train with us. He sees the fight in you too, but I need you to understand that guilds are secrets for a reason, and I wouldn’t be following the code if I just told the first person I ever considered my friend.”
My chest tightens at the sincerity in her voice. Through the fog in my brain, I can see and believe in her words, I just don’t like how it left me feeling to begin with, and I can’t shake it. If she asked me if I trusted her right now, I don’t know if I could give an honest answer and the one she’s hoping to hear at least.
“Are we just supposed to believe that?” Zane asks from behind me, and Leila shakes her head again.
“No, Raven is. I don’t owe you guys shit, but I owe her something.”
I can feel everyone’s gaze on me, waiting for my response, but I’m still falling flat.
Creed clears his throat from the open doorway. “Are you going to answer any questions we might have?”
“That depends…”
“On what?”
“Who it is that is asking,” she retorts, cocking her brow as she plants her hand on her hip.
A beat of silence settles around us before I roll my neck, trying to alleviate some of the tension riddling my limbs. “Let’s take this around the back. I might be able to think better there.”
I don’t wait for anyone else as I head for the garden. Leila, Zane, Creed, and Eldon follow after me, and I find Brax already standing back there. The tension in his jaw seems worse than it was moments earlier, and when I catch a glimpse of his eyes, it’s anger I see burning in them.
“Someone’s been in here.”
“What, who?” Panic ripples through me as Brax’s gaze cuts to Leila.
“I don’t fucking know, but maybe your little friend here might have an idea,” he snarls.
“Why would I know?”
He steps around me to go toe to toe with Leila. “Was it your job to keep us busy or something while they snuck in? Tell me who it was and I’ll opt to slaughter you instead of torturing you.”
“What? No, of course not,” she hastily replies.
“I don’t believe you,” Brax pushes, but she doesn’t back down. Instead, she rolls her shoulders back and somehow stands taller.
“You don’t have to believe me. I didn’t take part in getting you guys to the Guild, but I wouldn’t be shocked if whoever did snooped, Brax.”
“Bullshit. You know.”
“Read me.”
“What?” I interject, confused with what the hell is going on now.
“Brax can read my mind. Do it.”
He doesn’t even glance in my direction as he lifts his hand to her head, happy to take the facts from her mind without taking her word.
“No, don’t you dare,” I interrupt, knocking his hand down before he can touch her. I don’t care if it would clear things up. It’s violating. Whether she’s agreeing to it or not, I’m definitely not okay with it.
Shoulder checking Brax, he reluctantly moves aside so I can take his place in front of Leila. Pinching the bridge of my nose for a moment’s reprieve, I drop my hands to my hips and stare her straight in the eyes.
“I’m fucking trusting you, Leila. One foot out of line and we’re done, do you understand?”
“Of course,” she agrees quickly.
“I wanted more time to process and fucking think, but the five of you make it impossible to do things at my own speed,” I grind out, flicking my gaze to Brax, Creed, Zane, and Eldon too. “You’re right, I had no intentions of telling you about Shadowmoor, and that’s not the only thing I’m keeping guarded. The same goes for you, but that’s going to take a certain level of trust out of our friendship whether we like it or not.”
“When you first acted like my friend, I thought it wouldn’t last, Raven. I expected you to realize what a loser I was like everyone else, so I didn’t get into the deeper stuff. I would change that in a heartbeat if I could.”
