“What are you talking about? You are the bravest person I know,” he says, his voice steady, filled with that infuriating conviction he gets when he decides to be nice to me.
I frown.
“Hey,” he insists. “You were willing to sacrifice yourself to save us all.”
Heat creeps up my neck, and I lower my gaze, fiddling with my cup. The memory of that day, the despair, the crushing weight of hopelessness, claws at the edges of my mind. It wasn’t bravery. It was desperation.
“You let yourself get shot in the head so we could escape,” Ned continues, his voice unwavering. “We’d all still be there if it wasn’t for you.”
I flinch as he reaches across the table and places his hand over mine. His touch is warm, grounding. When I glance up, his expression is soft, but there’s no mistaking the intensity in his eyes.
He’s not just saying this to make me feel better. He believes it.
The anguish I’ve carried for so long wrestles with the sincerity in his gaze. Slowly, ever so slowly, the doubt starts to crack, and I manage a small smile. It doesn’t feel forced this time.
“That’s better,” Ned says, pulling his hand away to gulp down the rest of his coffee. I finish my tea, the lingering warmth soothing in a way I didn’t expect.
“Since you’re such a badass,” he says, his lips curving into a playful grin, “wanna come with me and be my backup while I apologize to Gray?”
I laugh, the sound bubbling out of me before I can stop it. It’s been so long since I’ve felt this light. “Okay, but if Mal is still pissy at you, you’re on your own.”
“Fair enough,” Ned says with a grin.
And for once, it actually feels like it is.
Chapter eleven
Monty
I’m staring at my phone like an obsessed person. What have I done? My arrangement with Pink is very clear. Contact only as and when necessary.
So why the hell have I sent him a text? He hasn’t revoked his clear boundary. His emotional wobble does not give me the right. This foolish feeling that things have shifted between us, is quite likely all my imagination.
Oh Goddess. What have I done? Should I apologize profusely right now and retract my message? Or wait in the blind hope that he might say yes?
Suddenly, my phone buzzes in my hand. I nearly leap into the air.
It is a message. From Pink. He has replied.
I stare at the screen. ‘OMW.’
What does it mean? Gosh. I have never felt so old or so socially awkward. I’m only a few years older than Pink, but right now it feels like hundreds.
I quickly open Google and scan the results. OMW means, on my way.
Pink is on his way. He is coming to the van. He has agreed to help me. And now my heart is fluttering like crazy. My silly little plan is working. This is the best day of my life.
A few minutes later, and he is knocking on my door and I’m flinging it open. He flashes me a bright smile and steps inside. His gaze goes straight to the worktable. It is clear for a change, only covered in runes and sigils drawn in chalk.
“Oh, you are trying to invert a Dimittis incantation,” says Pink.
Oh my, he really is clever. I always knew he was, but something about seeing it in action is so very endearing.
“I think an inverted Iacere rune would be more like this.” He walks up to the table, picks up a piece of chalk and begins rubbing out part of my drawings.
He bites his bottom lip as he works, and I cannot tear my gaze away. He really is so utterly wonderful. I’m so glad my cunning excuse to spend more time with him is working. And his help with my studies is going to be so advantageous. This might just be the best idea I have ever had.
I step back to give him more room to work, and I watch in awe as he applies his knowledge. I know all vessels are well educated in magic theory. But I am certain that Pink is more skilled than most. Perhaps affection is making me biased, but I don’t really care. My heart believes that Pink is the best vessel in the world, so as far as I am concerned, that is the truth.
