He looked down at our joined hands for a second, breathing in as he mumbled, “When light and dark meet, anything is possible.”
“What?”
He pointed with his other hand to the map on my bed. “It’s an inscription I found last night on the bottom corner of the map. I didn’t notice it when Mason gave it to me, but I really was researching and planning the best route last night hoping it would make the trip easier.” Fucking damn it, can’t he see how good he was? I pissed him off last night and I knew he was hurting and yet he still stayed up all night to ensure the best way to accomplish the mission.
I squeezed his hand and smiled at him. “Of course you did.”
He squeezed mine back, but let go. His hand rubbed his neck, his chin dipped, and his ears turned red. “I get it now but…” His eyes traveled back up to mine as he stared into my soul, “but I still love you and not just as a friend.” He rushed out, “It’s going to take me time to work through these feelings, so maybe it’s a good thing we will be a part of a bit.”
I nodded, thinking the same thing. He lowered his tone to almost nonexistent. “But Mika, even when I was mad at you, I still wanted to be your friend. Wanted to be here for you, support you, fight alongside you. Nothing you can do or say is going to cause me to cut you from my life.” I let out a breath I knew I was holding. “As much as you say you need me, I need you. I need someone who will stand up to me, who knows the world and what it’s capable of and how to handle tough situations. We balance each other out and I can see why you’re fearful of ruining that.”
He lifted his hand and cupped my cheek. “I’m sorry I got upset and said those hurtful things to you.”
“Water under the bridge.” I said as I waved him off, not wanting to go into all that when I felt we were at a tentative peace.
He chuckled before he stated, “I have to admit, it was infuriating to have Zayden pretty much confirm everything you said.” I laughed and nodded at that, because when Zayden was the one that was the voice of reason it was a hard pill to swallow.
We were both silent after his words, not knowing what else to say. I blurted out, “Are we okay?”
His smile was big and wide. “Yes, we’re fine.” I smiled back. He suddenly leaned forward, scooping me into his arms for a big hug. It was weird for a second before I settled into it as he said. “I think our first fight warrants a hug.” I grinned, hesitantly wrapping my arms around him, not having a lot of practice with hugs. My chest felt like a brick had lifted and I finally felt like we were in a place to be okay. Not back to normal, but at least in a good place again.
He broke off first. “We should head outside now. I’m sure they are all waiting to see if you killed me, or at least severed a limb.” His laughter was infectious and I snorted and he turned to the door.
I grabbed the map off my bed and followed him out into the main area of the apartment. All three guys were at the table discussing something, but it was all hush-hush, because as soon as we came out they stopped and looked at us. Vance looked at me. His smile wavered.
I’ve had my fill of feelings, so I pushed forward. “Are you all ready? Let’s go.”
I walked to the door, Vance following close behind me as I picked up my two short swords, Nita & Nika, and strapped them on my back, slinging my bag over my shoulder and marching to the door. I looked back at the boys expectantly.
Chairs screeched and hush tones cursed as they all got up from the table quickly and grabbed their weapons, and put on their bags, getting ready to leave.
Vance put his hand on my arm lightly, getting my attention. “Be careful. Make sure that no matter what, you come back. Win or fail, we need you here.” He turned towards the guys, all making their way to the door. “All of you.”
His eyes came back to mine and I saw a flicker of fear, but also hope, shining back at me before he took a breath. “Good luck.” Then he opened the door and slipped out.
I stared at the spot he just left, worry encased me for a second as I thought about all he would face alone while I was gone. All the bullshit his father put him through, not to mention the courts. I reminded myself that he had lived in this world all his life and I needed to trust he could take care of himself. Anxious thoughts rolled around in my head.Was the right choice to leave him so vulnerable? With a pit of vipers waiting for him at court?
I felt a hand land on my shoulder. I looked over immediately and found a pair of teal eyes twinkling at me. Rykon gave me a small smile. “He’s going to be fine. I told some of my people to look out for him.”
I both hated and loved that he saw right through me, but I was so incredibly thankful he had the foresight to do something like that…or he was covering his investment. A dark voice in the back of my mind cooed. I didn’t care either way because it was just an added layer of protection for Vance, and I appreciated it. I dipped my head to him, the only thanks I could give him at the moment as I felt a familiar cold take over my body. My muscles vibrated with the need to get going and complete a job. I flicked my hood on and turned back to the door, inhaling before opening it. Reminding myself that this was what Vance needed from me right now, and I would not fail him.
“Let’s go. We’re burning daylight.” The time to worry has passed. I needed to focus on the challenges we were going to face.
Chapter 9
Ajaxcomplainedaboutmywanting to leave immediately, but I think it had more to do about not getting to see the map Vance gave me. “Are you really not going to let us see where we’re going? We might know a better route.”
I held back my eye roll and reminded myself that I was the one that wanted them on this trip as I walked out my door and eyed the streets.
“Maybe she just didn’t tell you?” Rykon goaded Ajax, following so close behind me I could feel his breath on my neck. For one miniscule of a second, I had a flashback to the night I met them over six years ago. Rykon and I were dancing, my back to his front, his head lowered into the nook of my neck, his breath on my neck just like it was now, as we swayed side to side. We were watching a drunk Zayden singing on stage. While Rykon’s arms circled around me, I could feel Ajax’s gaze on me from our table in the back. The feeling of his eyes caressing my body still burned into the memory.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Ajax called out from the back of the line, effectively pulling me out of the memory so I could focus on the present. I looked back and noticed that Zayden somehow got between Ajax and Rykon while we were leaving, and I almost wanted to thank him out loud for that. I really didn’t need those two fist fighting while we were trying to leave unnoticed.
I whipped around and whispered angrily, “Look, you all need to be quiet-”
Zayden stepped forward, raising his hand as he grinned. “I was quiet.”
I glared at him as he slowly lowered his arm, his cheeks getting rosy as he slunk back in line. I refocused my gaze on Ajax, the next idiot on my list. “We need to get out of here with the least amount of people seeing us do it, which means that we want to do it while the guards are doing a shift change. If we want to make sure that happens, then we need to leave now. After we get out, we can stop and look at the fucking map.”
