Chapter 8
AfterZaydenandIhad dinner, which he did go get, we talked a little bit about the mission. He was surprised, frightened, but also excited. I think he hasn't really been outside of the city very much and I was sure almost never beyond our land's boundaries. When he started to get too familiar again, I told him that we needed to get our bags packed and ready for the trip. Zayden even offered up the wisdom of wearing our next day clothes to bed so we could sleep in a little longer. It was a smart idea. We got ready for bed, me in my bed, and him on the floor.
Fast forward to now, I can’t sleep. It’s the night before the long trek into the badlands, and I couldn’t fall into a restful place, partly because Zayden’s light snoring called to me from the floor next to my bed.
You would think being a trained assassin I could sleep at a moment’s notice, but that was not the case. What usually happened was the assassins learned how to work off less sleep than other people. Where some people could get six to eight hours, I would work off of one or two with some heavy meditation.
I could do this with a technique I learned from a monk in a neighboring country, Tearten, who had no eyes. He had some of the sharpest reflexes that I’d ever seen, but because of his lack of sight, his hearing amplified so much that it made sleeping almost impossible. He learned a meditation technique that puts your body into a REM like state without ever actually sleeping. So that’s what I did last night to get ready.
It’s not completely Zayden’s fault. I was nervous about the mission, because we were walking into unknown territory that I had little or hearsay knowledge of. Me and my father never ventured there, never had a need to, as that’s a place where people who have been exiled landed. It was well known for its lawless and sparse land, making it a hotbed for criminal activity. A small number of people, people who had been wrongly banished or tired of their rulers, kept to themselves and made sure to be well armed. Those that just wanted to make a life banded together to make tribes so they could fight off the majority of bad people that live there. But that was from intel from many years ago. I knew nothing of what to expect when we crossed the mountain border.
Partner all that with the fight Vance and I just had, and I guess that equaled no sleep. I was so worried about our friendship at the moment. It physically pains me to think that he might not want to see me, might not want my help anymore. I decided last night that if it came to that I would do this mission, report back, then pretend to disappear as I watched out for him in the shadows, where I thrived, still planning to help him achieve his goals, just not with his knowledge.
After I had figured this out in the middle of the night, confident in my game plan, I got ready to go to bed again. Then I got a message from Vance on the two-way parchment on my nightstand. All it said was that he would drop off the map to get to the librarian in the morning. The map. I completely forgot about that when we had our argument.
What’s he going to be like when he comes over? Was he going to pretend nothing happened? Was he going to be angry and say everything all over again?
The cold assassin part of me rose.See, this is why you shouldn’t have friends, shouldn’t care about anyone. You just make all the wrong moves. You’re not cut out for relationships.I was starting to agree. Feeling this way and worrying about our relationship did us no good. I should just leave now and do it myself. It would be faster and safer that way.
I heard a loud yawn beside me and I shifted, looking down at Zayden, who’s actively yawning and stretching on the floor. “I swear, I could feel your worry from here,” his sleepy tone indicating that he normally wasn’t up this early in the morning.
I blinked, not knowing how to respond to that. Did he truly have empathic magic, or was it just an accurate guess from looking at my face and body language?
He laughed as he rolled over to face me. “You know, sleeping on the floor, it was surprisingly the best sleep I’ve had in a long time.” I looked at the uneven and weathered floor boards, raising an eyebrow at him. He shrugged. “Maybe it was my sleeping buddy?” He winked at me and I snorted out a breath and rolled my eyes. Always the flirt with this one.
A light knock came from the front door and we both turned towards it in surprise. The familiar fun bubble of time popped with the sound. Zayden sighed next to me. I swung my legs over the bed and stood up. Nervous that it’s Vance, and I took a second to put on my assassin mask, the one where nothing and no one could hurt me. I turned to leave my room when I noticed my bedroom door open, the creak of the front door opening as Zayden’s voice called out from the main room.
“Hey, thanks for the wake-up call. I guess we needed it.” His purposeful sultry tone made it seem like much more happened last night than him crashing on my floor.
What was he talking about? We both had our bags packed and slept in our clothes so that we would be ready. I stomped out of my room to face whoever Zayden talked to and I found two sets of eyes seeking mine like arrows.
Rykon and Ajax were in the doorway as Zayden leaned against the door with folded arms, looking like he’s already at home with a smug smile aimed towards them. Ajax’s body vibrated with fury. Violence swirled in his eyes when he looked at Zayden. Rykon kept bouncing his head back and forth between us, brows furrowed like he was trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
“Don’t loiter in the doorway. That calls attention to this place.” I made sure my voice was firm as I went to my bag on the floor to double check I had everything.
I heard their footsteps shuffle in slowly behind me as Zayden called out, “Welcome in, guys,” then shut the door. The tension in the room was going up by the second. It didn’t surprise me when I heard Ajax’s clipped words next.
“What the fuck is going on here?”
I closed my eyes and inhaled, reminding myself that these three are useful. They helped me save children and when it really mattered, they showed up and got it done. I stood up, swiveled towards Ajax, and held my chin up as I looked into accusing and furious eyes.
From my peripheral, I see Zayden opening his mouth, but I raised my hand, eyes not leaving Ajax “That’s enough from you.” He shut his mouth and folded his arms, grumbling about me ruining his fun.
Now it was time to address the grumpy pants. “If you are asking me why Zayden was already here, then I would tell you he came over last night and asked for a place to stay.”
My eyes flicked across the room for a second to take in the room and I noticed Rykon turning toward Zayden, brows furrowed as he scanned Zayden. I wonder if Rykon knew anything about the abuse Zayden’s father puts him through.
Apparently, that’s not good enough for Ajax, “And that means you are just going to let a stranger into your bed!?”
I folded my arms and narrowed my gaze at him, eyes drilling into his. Like he has any room to make a comment about strangers between my thighs. I could tell by the pink rising on his face that he understood what I was saying without saying a damn thing. His hunched shoulders went down as hurt crept into his eyes.
The hurt defused any of my self-righteousness and I stomped to my bedroom door, and pushed it open to show Zayden’s makeshift bed on the floor. “He slept on the floor.”
“Like a gentleman, I might add.” Zayden quickly said with a charming smile, needing to make sure he still had a leg up on the other two. My eyes flicked to his for a second. Mirth at his quip shone in my eyes as the two others peered into my room.
Rykon was the first to step away. His lip quivered, his eyes laughing at Zayden. I suspect that if Rykon had that idea first, he would’ve done the same thing.
I heard Ajax huff as he inspected my rumpled bed sheets and the blanket and pillow on the floor. Staring at it like he could reenact it with his mind just to make sure. His back muscles relaxed more and more with each second. As soon as he turned around, mouth open, another knock came from the door.
