“I can’t!”
I flinched. He had never raised his voice to me, and it caused my stupid lip to tremble.
Don’t you dare cry, Lena.
He covered his eyes. “I…I’m sorry, Lena. You just have to trust me.”
I wanted to. I had given him all of me, and I did love him with my whole being. But something was…off. Even though I myself lived a secretive life, he was far more closed off than evenme.Something was wrong.
And I was going to figure it out.
Chapter Seventeen
Quillheldmeandplayed with my hair until I drifted to sleep, and when I woke up in the morning, his side of the bed was empty. I was tangled up in my sheets, my quilt tucked around me. A sweet gesture before he left.
Last night had been…outstanding. But I was sick of his secrecy, and when Thursday rolled around, I would follow him home. I didn’t care if he would be upset with me.
But how do I avoid being caught?
I stayed lying in bed as I brainstormed, and then the idea came—an invisibility elixir.
I had been working on healing and stamina elixirs, but Mother and I had never tried an invisibility one. Still, I had to give it a shot. I would go out to train, and after he walked me home, I would take the elixir and follow him.
It seemed easy enough. Even if I didn’t get answers, I could find out where he lived, at least, since I apparently did not deserve that information either.
It was just past seven in the morning, and as I went to leave my bed, I remembered I was naked. I threw on a nightgown and peeked out my door.
Silence.
Mother must still be at Wendi’s house. I sauntered to the bathroom and hopped in the ice-cold shower, wincing like I did every morning.
To have hot water…it must be so lovely.
When I left the bathroom, squeezing my hair and wearing a bath towel, Mother strolled in with a quirked eyebrow.
“Well?” she asked as she hung up her cloak.
I sucked in my lips and turned the other way.
“Oh. My. Gods,” she breathed as she walked forward. “It happened, didn’t it?”
“I’m not telling you anything,” I mumbled as I strode towards my bedroom.
“How was it?”
I paused.
“Amazing. Now, no more questions,” I said quickly as I escaped to my room.
After I re-entered our living area, dressed in a sweater and pants with my hair pulled back, I went to the kitchen where Mother was making breakfast. She told me about her night with the ladies and how she almost won a hundred coppers playing cards. I told her about mine, save for the sex details. That would be dreadful.
Although, I did wish I had a friend I could talk about things like that with.
“I want to learn the invisibility elixir.”
Mother gaped at me for a moment before she continued making breakfast. “Why would you want to learn that? You can barely do a stamina one, and that’s one of the easiest.”
I huffed and crossed my arms as I leaned against the counter beside her. “Well, maybe I could learn it, but you make it.” I took a deep breath. “Quill is hiding something from me. He won’t let me meet his parents. He won’t even tell his friends about me, and you already know I don’t know where his house is. He says it’s complicated but proceeds to not tell mewhyit’s complicated.”
