“Yes, it is absurd, but I will allow it this once.” I gave her my best attempt at a smile and fell into pace alongside her. Huntyr drew the attention of every individual we passed, every one of them smiling and waving at her. She was a damn goddess around here.
I choked down the jealousy that crept up my chest. The last thing I wanted was to envy my best friend. But sometimes?
It was hard not to crave what she had. Everyone we met cared about Huntyr. They wanted her to be happy.
Me? I was invisible.
“Have you seen Jessiah?” Huntyr asked as we approached the feast.
She scanned the crowd, and I quickly followed, looking for those ridiculous white wings.
“Not since this morning,” I replied. “Why?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. He just seemed… off when he left. More tense than I expected, even if he didn’t agree with us.”
Groaning, I tossed my head back. “Poor little Jessiah not getting everything he wants. I think he’ll survive.” I straightened. “You’re making big decisions for the sake of Scarlata. You don’t need to consider his feelings on top of everything else.”
“I know, but even if we don’t see eye to eye, he has Scarlata’s best interest in mind, too. I’d hate for him to think we’re on opposite sides of this whole thing.”
“Aren’t you, though?”
Her features stiffened, and she came to a stop. “Can I ask you something?”
Tension radiated from her, putting me on edge.
So I did what I did best. I went with humor. “Of course,my queen.”
She smiled and elbowed me in the ribs. “What happened between you two? Why do you hate each other so much? If you believe one thing, he’ll believe the opposite just to get a rise from you. It’s unlike him.”
My first instinct was to lie. To joke it off. To make a sarcastic remark and change the subject.
But the pain and confusion in Huntyr’s eyes made me reconsider. She never looked at me that way before. Not since we’d left Midgrave, anyway. She looked desperate.
“I don’t know, Hunt,” I started. “We’re just very, very different people.”
Her eyes narrowed. “That’s a bullshit answer, and you know it.”
Busted.Of course there was a reason. We had gotten along at first. Back then, he’d been my best friend here, my refuge from all the other shit in my life.
Obviously, something happened. But my chest tightened at the thought and my instinct to protect myself forced the memory from my mind before I could even consider spilling the truth to Hunt.
“He’s a bit of a prick, okay?” I rolled my shoulders back. “He’s everything I hate in a person. He’s self-righteous and entitled. He walks around here like he’s owed something just because of who he is.”
She cocked a brow. “Maybe being the son of the archangel did that to him.”
“I really don’t give a shit about who his daddy was. I have family issues, too. We all do. But mine didn’t turn me into a grade A pain in the ass.”
That brow rose higher on her forehead.
“What?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “It’s true!”
“You and Jessiah used to get along. More than that, even. When we first came to Scarlata, you actually liked him,” she said. “So what happened to change that?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you. It’s been two years. People change. Feelings change. After two years of having to put up with his arrogant ass, I’m just tired of it. Okay?”
She stared at me for a second longer, and dammit, it was like she could see straight into my soul. “Okay,” she answered. “But one day, we’ll all get along again. Just wait.”
A woman called her name, and suddenly, my alone time with the Queen of Scarlata Empire was over.
