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Alek tugs me into a swift hug that wrenches at my heart. “We’ll talk more tomorrow,” he says firmly.
After they’ve departed, I lean against the table for a few moments longer. I want to gather my emotions before I have to face Stavros again.
That’s all?Julita speaks up in a puzzled tone.A kiss on the cheek and a hug? You’d think with the danger you’re about to charge into, they’d have a little more affection to show.
A quiver of exasperation runs through my nerves. Now she’s complaining that they aren’t fawning over meenough?
“I told them we should cool off that side of our relationship for now,” I say. “It was obviously making you uncomfortable.”
Julita hesitates.I was all right. I never expected—
I break in before she gives any more of the reassurances I no longer believe anyway. “I know. But you’ve lost a lot, and I don’t want to rub it in your face. I don’t want you to feel like you have to hide away in the dark constantly. Having you here matters a lot to me too, in case I haven’t made that clear enough. Besides, I’ve got an awful lot of other things to focus on right now.”
I had no idea— Well. If you think that’s best.
I notice she doesn’t protest all that emphatically. Which is fine. I wasn’t waiting for her to talk me out of my decision.
“Let’s just get through this initiation, and then we can worry about the rest.”
She lets out a strained laugh.We can only hope it’ll be so simple.
When I step through the ring of cord into Stavros’s quarters, I find the former general standing by his chest of prosthetics, removing the wooden hand from his wrist harness. He startles at my arrival and turns to face me as I make my now-habitual circuit of the room.
“I didn’t expect you back so soon.”
After confirming no conjured vermin are lurking around, I offer him a tight smile. “We’d already said almost everything that needed to be said.”
“Ah.” The former general hesitates, the set of his broad shoulders looking strangely awkward. “I don’t know the specifics of what’s developed between the three of you, but I hope that neither of them are concerned about you continuing to share my quarters.”
“You’ve managed not to murder me so far, so I suppose they’ve decided you’re not that great a threat to my continued existence.”
Stavros’s chuckle sounds awkward too. “I didn’t mean as far as that… There aren’t many who’d like the idea of their paramour living with another man.”
I can’t suppress the snort that escapes me. “Oh, they’re probably happy about that part. They seem to have gotten it into their heads that I’m going to be the next Signy, and I need a full set.”
The words have barely spilled from my lips before I realize that I’ve said them to the last person I’d have wanted to admit it to.
I snap my mouth shut, my cheeks flaring, and shoot Stavros a pointed glance. “Not that I agree with them or have any designs along those lines.”
I won’t mention the flicker of heat that washes through my veins when he gazes at me with as much intensity as he is right now.
The corner of his lips curves upward in a hint of his usual cocky grin, the one I haven’t seen much of in recent weeks. “Duly noted. I’m glad to hear there aren’t any issues of jealousy, in any case.”
“Nothing to worry about.” I pull myself away from him, my skin still thrumming with unwelcome heat, and head toward the sofa. “I guess we should both get some sleep while we can.”
“It has been in rather short supply.”
A trace of discomfort in Stavros’s voice brings my gaze back to him. He’s looking at his bedroom door now, with an expression as if he’s dreading climbing under the covers.
A weird sense of guilt knots my stomach. Or maybe not so weird when I know it’s nightmares about my possible crimes that have been disturbing his slumber.
After the protection and trust he offered me during our meeting, I can give him a little something in return, can’t I?
The suggestion tumbles out before I can think better of it. “I could read some more from our book first. It might help settle my mind too. If you’d like that.”
Stavros seems to waver for a moment and then shoots me a self-deprecating smile. “Who would have thought the great General Stavros would need a bedtime story? But thank you—if you aren’t terribly tired already, I’d welcome it. Let me undress on my own so I don’t offend your modesty. Join me in a few minutes.”
As I wait for the rustling from the next room to quiet, I remove my belt and my boots so I’ll be able to sit more comfortably while I read.
