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“Smart,” Darla said with a nod. “I assume the two of you are on your way to get that super-secret info from Tristan.”
“You’re not supposed to know that.” Oh Oren…
“I’m not supposed to know a lot of things,” Darla said, batting her eyelashes. She wasfun.It was a shame I was never drawn to her as dating her had to be a riot, but I was fated to someone else. Someone who held half of my soul in their hands and didn’t even seem to know it. “Yet I do.”
“But our amulets—”
“My friend, I don’t need to use mind reading to have people tell me all sorts of juicy things they shouldn’t.” Her smoky eyes returned to mine. “I need to head in the direction of your office, anyway, so would you mind terribly if I walked with you?”
“No, I wouldn’t mind at all,” I said. This was a good time to ask about her relationship with…with…
Everton!
Medic Ayla Everton.
Why was I having such an issue remembering that? “Oren mentioned that Ayla had been going pretty hard since the battle, even though she was injured. Do you have the inside scoop on that?”
Darla’s eyes narrowed. “Why would I have the inside scoop on that?”
“Because you’re best friends.”
“Perhaps you’re confused, sir.” Oren really could be a buzzkill sometimes. “Everton is best known for keeping to herself, if anyone remembers her at all.”
For some reason, I felt defensive about that.
“Medic Everton is just selective about who she spends her time with,” I cut in sharply. “Not everyone needs to have dozens of friends.”
“Hah! You’re right on that one,” Darla said. “If you ask Ayla, she’d probably tell you she has none.” Her tone was light, even cheery, but I heard an undercurrent of hurt there. “She’s been extra standoffish since the attack. I'd be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about her.”
That was one thing I always appreciated about Darla: she may have had the ability to go into people’s minds, but she was always so open with her own thoughts. I’d been suspicious of her when we’d first met, as psychics were always something of an unknown quantity, but she’d long since proved her loyalty and candor.
“She won’t even really let me thank her for saving my life. I understand it’s her job, but I brought her some of those precious herbs that she hoards for her potion stores and freshly cookedpani puriI was pretty proud of, and she basically gave me the brush off. Probably made her feel like we were too chummy.”
The psychic heaved a sigh, and I actually felt bad for her. Memories came flooding back to me of Ayla kneeling at her side, concentrating with a ferocity that only came from the fear of losing someone she cared about. Iknewthat she and Darla was close, and yet the pretty psychic also seemed to be getting the cold shoulder.
How very curious.
“What about her injuries?” I asked. “I heard she was found unconscious.”
If Oren disliked my line of questioning, he didn’t say anything, but I could feel his eyes on me.
“I honestly hadn’t noticed her looking injured at all, just rundown. You know.” Suddenly Darla’s eyes narrowed flirtatiously. For a moment I was worried she'd try to hit on me in front of Oren, but it turned out I didn’t need to be concerned at all. “You could always swing by Ayla’s and give her a kiss as a thank you for saving so many of your troops’ lives. I’m sure our witchy lil’ lady would like that.”
Now,thatwas completely out of left field. Officer Khan broke into laughter.
“Oh, man, I wish you could see your own face right now,” she said. “I can’t tell if you’re horrified or intrigued.”
“Sergeant Khan, please stick to base-appropriate behavior and conversation.”
I could hear him, but I barely paid attention to Oren’s reprimand of Darla. I was just horrified and intrigued by the idea of bursting into Ayla’s room and kissing her.
I’d heard terrible stories about male officers taking advantage of enlisted women or smaller men, and I hadstrictrules and punishments for any kind of sexual assault in my fort. It pained me that some military bases were a little morelaissez fairewith actually bringing perpetrators to justice, but I held a zero-tolerance policy.
Yet, I was intrigued, because something in me quite liked the idea of kissing those full lips of hers. They were a pale, pretty pink, but each time I tried to concentrate on the color, the image of her face flitted out of my mind.
“Ooh, if I don’t, am I gonna be punished?”
It was probably a good thing that we had reached my office because it looked like Oren was going to melt there on the spot. Whether because he was thinking about Darla punishing him or him punishing Darla, I had no idea, but I did have a strong feeling I needed to end the conversation before my second in command spontaneously combusted.
