Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 235897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1179(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 786(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 235897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1179(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 786(@300wpm)
And I’m not accepting one.
“It’s not going to happen,” Rhi says with a sigh from his other side. “She’s going to have a fight on her hands as it is, and they won’t let you miss class, anyway. They’re not even letting us in that room.”
“I can keep you safe,” he insists, turning to me, an unpeeled orange in his hands.
“Pretty sure Riorson will keep her safe,” Sawyer notes, walking on Rhi’s right with the help of his crutches and his latest metal prosthetic leg. He’s even rejoined classes this week, though he has yet to make it to the flight field.
“And Mira.” I’m taking Dad’s letter to heart.
A foursome of infantry cadets steps aside so we can pass, and the massive double doors to the great hall come into view. Cat stands near the threshold, smiling up at a tall flier I’ve never seen before.
He looks to be a couple of inches shorter than Xaden, with a lean build and a quick smile. His hair is as dark as Cat’s, reflecting the same blue mage light that catches on the hilt of the blade he carries at his side and the V of daggers sheathed at his chest.
My eyebrows rise. I figured when I asked her to join this meeting with someone she trusts, she’d choose Maren, but I’m all for her moving on if it means she’s going to stop staring at Xaden constantly. Though I kind of hoped Trager had a shot with her.
“Hey, will you just try?” Ridoc’s voice doesn’t only tense up, it rises, causing all dozen people in the hallway to glance our way.
“What’s this really about?” I reach for his upper arm, and the four of us pause ten feet shy of the door.
“I just…need to go.” He looks away and grips the orange in both hands. “One of us needs to go with you. Ever since…” Pain flashes through his dark-brown eyes as he brings his gaze back to mine. “Ever since Athebyne, one of us has been by your side.” He lifts his finger. “Except the time you snuck out on your little siblings-only trip to Cordyn. The school splits, and we go with you. Basgiath falls under attack, and we’re there. Heading into Poromiel for Maren’s brothers? It’s us. We get separated, and you either get dragged into an interrogation chamber and tortured for days or nearly roasted by Aura’s fire, and I know I can’t be the only one who thought, if Liam had been here, keeping watch over you, it never would have happened.” He swings that finger toward Rhiannon and Sawyer. “You both know it crossed your minds.”
A lump grows in my throat. “I appreciate it, I do. But I don’t need anyone keeping watch over me.”
“I didn’t mean it that way.” He covers the orange with both hands. “I just think bad things happen when we aren’t together. Rhi can’t go—she has an entire squad to lead—and Sawyer is still recovering, which leaves me. And if Riorson had been a hundred percent sure of his ability to keep bad things from happening, he wouldn’t have assigned Liam to our squad in the first place. The guy is powerful, but he’s not infallible.”
If he only knew the truth. Gods know who they have waiting behind these doors to replace the ones we lost, but I’m already sure I can only trust two of them—Mira and Xaden.
“And you are?” Sawyer asks, leaning on his crutches.
Ridoc’s eyes narrow. “I’m just as good of a fighter as any of you, and while you’ve been focused on rehab and Rhiannon is chasing first-years to keep them in line, I’ve been the one reading every fucking book Jesinia shoves at me and spending extra hours training—” The skin on the orange splits. “It really pisses me off when you guys act like my sense of humor somehow lessens my ability to show up for our squad.”
“Ridoc,” I whisper, staring at the orange. “What did you do?”
“I’ve been trying to tell you.” He hands me the fruit, and it immediately chills my hands. “You aren’t the only one who’s been spending hours honing their signet.”
Using my thumb, I peel back the rind. The fruit of the orange is frozen solid beneath it. “How did you do it?”
“I’ve always been able to draw water out of the air,” he says. “Plus, I get bored waiting for Sawyer to wake up when he rests—no offense—and if there’s one thing healers are good at, it’s leaving fruit lying around. I realized I could freeze the water in the fruit.”
My lips part as my mind spins through the implications.
“Sorrengail, are we going in or what?” Cat yells from down the hall.
I look up at Ridoc and whisper, “Are you trying to tell me that you can freeze the water in someone’s body?”