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“I’m fine. It’s fine,” she whined, eager to salvage the moment.
“Tenah,” he warned, gently kissing her collarbone.
Her body sagged as he placed her feet back on the pebbled ground. He took her wrist and placed her hand on the puckered scar over his racing heart. “Trust me. I have a whole list of things I want to do to you, but first, you need to recover.”
Giving in to defeat, she traced the outline of the thick scar. “Who did this to you?”
His eyes closed. “The same Corrupt that killed my father.”
“These too?” she asked, unable to stop her fingers from tracing over the other smaller scars down his biceps and forearms.
Renton grew very still. “Hazards of my employment.”
“Not just from Corrupt,” she guessed, her stomach churning with anger. “Boedworth’s wickedness needs to end.”
“Your father killed him. He won’t ever bother us again. Though, there’s a chance hunters will still try to fulfill their contracts until the High Court announces his death.”
“I don’t know what to make of my father’s actions,” she admitted, her shoulders curling inward as she tugged hard at the ends of her dark hair.
He eased his arms around her waist. “He mentioned that you can heal.”
It was hard to focus when his thumbs began stroking distracting circles along her lower back.
“If I was ever capable, that ability is lost.” She met his intense eyes. “Aeyis asked to help, but the cost to him might be too great, especially if I still can’t figure out healing after he cracks open my mind. There’s no certainty that I’m strong enough to fix Corrupt.”
Renton took her face in his calloused hands. “You are stronger than you think.”
Slipping behind her fortified walls, she pulled out of his hold. “You’re wrong. I’m nothing but a coward.”
Shadows found solace placing their faith in her, but they were fools to do so. Ames and her father’s expectations had smothered her as far back as she could remember.
Renton sighed. After a shake of his head, he rose out of the water. She expected him to leave without another word. Instead, he knelt down at the edge of the pool. Gently, he took her chin in one hand and tilted her head up to look at him.
“I’veseenyou, Tenah. Yes, you carry fear, but it is fear for the safety of others. That is an admirable trait. So don’t think for one second that makes you a coward. Your pure heart makes you strong. Don’t ever let anyone oranythingmake you think otherwise.”
Speechless, Tenah watched him toss his clothes over a bare shoulder and stride through the gate. Alone with the moonlight, she let her body sink to the depths of the pool.
Chapter30
Tenah
Idon’t mean to interrupt.Aeyis implanted the words in her mind.
The rock Tenah grasped crumbled away. Her body swung out over a thirty-foot drop, her other hand clamping down harder on the side of the plateau in the city center.
After the much-needed soak in the healing pools last night, Tenah had sought to tear her muscles all over again the very next morning. Now she was regretting it.
Yes, you do, she snapped back, fuming as she scaled down the wall to safety. She’d lost track of time while climbing with the aim of untangling all the mottled thoughts in her head, one rock at a time.
Hass will meet us at the back door of the Embassy in an hour. We’ve been granted an evening with the tome.
Feet back on solid ground, Tenah brushed her dirt-covered hands along her thighs, dreading her trek back to the villa on weary legs. After rinsing off, she hastily dressed in a black, two-piece ensemble—a beaded crop top matched with a voluminous skirt of silky material that fell mid-thigh. She debated between her dirty leather boots and the fancy slippers that wouldn’t thud against the Embassy floors. She stuffed her feet into the boots and laced them up. Then she grabbed the cipher page and tucked it into her skirt pocket.
Aeyis lurked beside the alley door of the Embassy. Dark circles lined his eyes, and his locks of white hair stuck out in all directions. Was this part of his trickery, making her feel an instant need to mother him? She noticed a delicate earring on a long chain hanging from his freshly pierced ear, but before she could ask about it, the back door creaked open.
Hass appeared. With a sharp once-over and a nod, he led them into a back hallway. Tenah kept her eyes on Hass, searching for a hint of manipulation. It was just Aeyis’s style.
I’d like it to be known that I’m innocent, Aeyis stated.
