“You’ve been toying with me.”
His grin widened. “Seems I can shadow against you if I concentrate.”
I grabbed a spatula and chucked it at his head. “I’ve been searching forhours!”
Oliver dodged. The spatula crashed into a line of hanging pans with a loud clatter. He shrugged. “Wanted to see how badly you wanted to find me.”
Dorus, the head cook, whipped her head around the corner of the pastry hall. “You mess up my kitchens, and I’ll make you scrub every dish by hand until your fingers bleed.”
“Sorry, Dorus,” we both chimed in unison, sheepish expressions on our faces.
I shook my head at Oliver once she left. “You’re impossible.”
Oliver took the last bite of his lemon bar, popping his fingers into his mouth to lick off the sugar. “Pot,” he said, gesturing to himself. “Meet kettle.” He waved his hands dramatically toward me.
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. He was right. Lately, I’d been just as impossible to deal with. That was actually what I came here to talk to him about—not just that, but to apologize again.
“I’m truly sorry for what I said about your sister, Oliver.”
His legs stopped swinging, and he gazed down at the stone. “Don’t. You’re right. I have been struggling to find Melanie. You’d think in ninety-five years I’d have more than just a king’s deal to help with that,whenever he can,” he said, rubbing the rune still inked into hiswrist.
How did he admit that so easily? The thought of sayinghe was rightput a bad taste in my mouth.
Oliver dropped off the counter, facing me with a sudden seriousness that made me swallow hard. The playful, easygoing version of him flipped, catching me off guard. “But I don’t want your apology forwhatyou said. I want it forwhyyou said it. You wanted to hurt me because you didn’t like the truth I made you face.” He raised an eyebrow. “Right?”
I scowled.
“And now,” he continued, “after almost dying from Divine Wasting and getting yelled at by the general, your father, and Sam—yeah, I was there the entire time, yeah, I shadowed and eavesdropped on those conversations,” he said, noticing my confusion but barreling on, “you’re thinking maybe your best friendknewwhat he was talking about. And now you’re coming to me with your tail tucked between your legs, fighting the words, ‘You’re right, Oliver,’” he finished in an exaggerated, high-pitched voice.
I gritted my teeth. “Okay, fine. But if I say it, I want an apology for leaving me high and dry on the hill.”
Guilt tugged at his lips. “I’m sorry I didn’t help you up the hill or take you to the healers, but I wanted you to see the error of your ways.” Oliver shook his head, walking toward me and pulling me into a tight hug. “I just want the best for you,” he said softly. “As a best friend should.”
I gave a small, relieved laugh, nodding against his sweater. But the more I thought about that run and my training, the more somber my thoughts became. “I don’t know how to stop, Oli. It’s like this obsessive need. Like if I don’t doeverythingin my power to be strongerthan everyone else, Aspen will die. With Ni, it was more about not knowing how to use my Glory effectively, and my mother draining me. But the rest… it’s this constant urgency I can’t shake. I thought it would ease knowing the general would train me, but it hasn’t.”
He pulled back. “I’ve felt that way before too, Luce. You need to find a way to manage it. I’ll help, and I’m sure the general will too. Just don’t bite our heads off when we do.”
“So you forgive me?”
Oliver snorted. “Yeah, and you didn’t even have to say ‘I’m right’. You should feel so special.”
I smacked his arm, rolling my eyes.
He glanced down at my attire, his grin returning. “Youdoknow you’re still wearing pajamas, right?”
“I wanted to find you more than I wanted to change.Youshould feel sospecial,” I teased back.
Oliver smirked, throwing his arm around my shoulders as he guided me deeper into the pastry kitchen. “Well, now that we’re best friends again, I think it’s only fair I show you all of Dorus’s chocolate truffles that she makes just foryou.”
I gave him a suspicious side-eye. “Me?”
“Yep. Dorus can sense a person’s favorite foods, least favorites, and even allergies. As long as you’re within range—meaning anyone in this castle—she’s got you figured out.”
I eyed the remnants of powdered sugar on his sweater. “Lemon bars?”
Oliver’s eyes twinkled. “Now you know my weakness.”
“I’ll make sure to use it for evil. Don’t worry.”
