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He cut a look to his wounded leg. “They did not. One of the cadets I used as a stepping stone decided to slash at me with his sparring dagger. They are not as sharp as fighting daggers, but he put a lot of force in his attack. It sliced my calf and made me lose my balance and drop from the wall.”
I cringed at this, imagining plummeting off a climbing wall. “At least it didn’t kill you. I feel like death is an actual possibility for some of your training.”
He shrugged. “Usually only during the trials. Occasionally during the battle of the schools. Rarely during routine training.”
Rarely was not never. “How long will it take to heal?”
“Drexians are fast healers, but I cannot return to regular Blade training for a few more days.”
“Then you have plenty of time to study Kronock.”
His eyes widened. “I thought you…”
I knew exactly what he’d thought. He’d believed the reason I’d stayed away was because of the kiss. “Got scared off by a little kiss?”
He studied me, his eyes narrowing. “I would not call it a little kiss.”
“It was dark, we were close together, it happened. No big deal.” I didn’t tell him that it had been a big deal. I didn’t tell him that I hadn’t been able to think about anything else since. I didn’t dare tell him that it had been the best kiss of my life, not that there was a ton of competition in that regard. If I told him any of that, his big head wouldn’t fit through the door.
“It was no big deal?” His tone told me he didn’t believe me.
My pulse fluttered as I remembered my wobbly legs and ragged breath and racing heart. I managed to let out a light laugh that didn’t shake. “It was one kiss. I think we can move on from one kiss.”
“Move on?”
Okay, now I wondered if the fall had effected his brain and was making him repeat everything I said. Either that, or he was having a hard time believing me. “Well, you still have a lot of Kronock to learn.”
Part of me wanted to ask if he was willing to release me from our deal, but a tiny part of me wanted a reason to continue seeing him. Coming to his room at night, even though it was skirting the rules and was not at all in character for me, had become part of my routine. I looked forward to sitting next to him and hearing him recite alien words in his deep voice. I even thrilled when he would sometimes drape his arm across the back of my chair when he leaned closer to read something. And that kiss…
He loosed a long-suffering sigh that didn’t sound so tortured. “I guess I have nowhere to go.”
I stifled a grin, stood, walked to his nightstand, and picked up the tablet. “Where were we? The verb kill, right?”
Torq rattled off a series of Kronock words that were exactly right. When I gaped at him, he only smiled. “Like I said, I have had nowhere to go, and I was not sure if you were coming back.”
I glanced at his desk and his injured leg stretched long in front of him. With his leg bandaged, he wasn’t much of a threat, not that I’d ever felt he was. At this point, I suspected I could take him. I glanced at his broad shoulders. Maybe not.
I nudged him as I sat next to him on the bed, and he scooted over without protest so we could sit side by side. “Just for the record, this is not you getting me into bed.”
He laughed and the sound rumbled into me. “Is it not?”
Chapter
Twenty-Five
Torq
Kann leaned against the wall of my room with his arms folded as he watched the surgeon assess my leg.
“I told you I am fine.” I stood on my injured leg, putting all my weight on it as the Drexian academy’s medical officer inspected the gash that had healed into a faint scar.
The surgeon grunted and sat back on his heels. “He is right. His cut has healed, and he has regained full motion in his ankle. I do not see any lasting damage or any reason he cannot return to training.”
Kann gave us both a curt nod. “If you are sure.”
The surgeon stood. “I am sure. You could try sending me fewer cadets to mend, though.”
Kann’s serious expression morphed into a crooked grin. “We are Blades.”
