“You think so highly of me.” He rolls his eyes but turns serious once more. “I could only manage to get one by myself—and I went for the yellow dragon because I was hoping it was healing. I got pretty beat up in the process, so thankfully it was. I hid under the yellow dragon until morning. The inquisitors must’ve disabled the others while I was asleep.”
“Did they ask you about seeing a sigil?” I ask. Lucan shakes his head. “Me neither. So, they must be all right with us using them…”
“Right. You have one that protects. I have one that heals. That’s a good team right there. Why not work together?”
“And what about Saipha?”
“Two allies are better than one. We’re all stronger together.” His proposal hangs in the air as I consider it.Can I trust him?Other factions have begun to form. Saipha and I are less outnumbered if we have a third.
She would be screeching at me to say yes, or dying of laughter, if she knew that I have him begging to help us without even having to do one little bit of batting my eyelashes.
Luckily, I’m not Saipha, and my caution is going to keep us safe. “How do I know that you haven’t asked others this same thing? That I’m not being played?”
“I wouldn’t expose my advantage like that to just anyone.” Not a particularly convincing argument… As I’m weighing the risk against potential reward, he continues, “Take some time and think about it. I don’t need to pressure you now because I know you’ll come to the right decision.”
Arrogant. “Fine.” I stand and start for the door.
“You’re welcome, by the way.” He draws my attention back to him. The very corner of his mouth curls slightly. “For healing you.”
I’m actually incredibly thankful—and ashamed I haven’t thanked him yet—so of course I bite out my, “Thank you.”
Lucan smiles, and the whole room brightens. Once more, he seems to glow. But this time there’s no magic involved…it’s all on his own.
I quickly leave before I’m caught staring. The last thing I need is for him to think Ilikelooking at him. But as I step out of the chapter house and back into the cloisters, I hear two voices coming from a hallway ahead.
Voices I know all too well.
23
I spot Saipha talking with Cindel and immediately wonder,Am I about to have to break up a fight?
Before I can walk over and find out for myself, Cindel spots me, and she lifts her chin and walks away. Saipha turns and heads over.
“So…”she begins, dragging out the word. “What did you and Lucan talk about?” One eyebrow is raised to match the teasing lift to the corner of her mouth.
“You first,” I say, waving a hand in the direction in which Cindel slunk off. “What wereyoutwo talking about?”
Saipha’s smile thins. “Oh, I pulled her aside to tell her that if she tries to come at you again—or send her cronies to do it—she’s going to be dealing with a lot more than words from me—and I can hit back harder than her and her little lackeys could ever imagine.”
“Benj wasn’t that big of a deal.”
“He wasn’t, but you know Cindel. She’ll make it a big deal.” Saipha’s serious expression lightens, a slight smile quirking her lips. “And you know me. I get angry when I’m hungry, so the last thing we want is me continually having to split my portions with you.”
My chest tightens, and I grab her hand, squeezing it. “You’re the best, you know.”
“I know,” she says without missing a beat, and we both share a little grin. “But you’re not going to use my greatness as a distraction from telling me about Lucan.”
“Right, speaking of having each other’s backs… Lucan had an interesting proposition for me—for us.”
“Oh! So you did use your looks for good.” She doesn’t let go ofmy hand and pulls me closer. “I knew you had it in you.”
“I did not, and I’m not sure if that would be ‘for good,’ Saipha,” I say with mocking scolding.
“We need to use every advantage in here.” She shrugs. “Stop stalling and tell me what he said.”
I repeat what Lucan said and detail how he healed me. When I’m finished, we lay out the risks and the upsides of agreeing to take him on as a formal ally. If the vicar is looking out for him…maybe there are benefits to be gained from having him in our fold. Maybe he has important knowledge. Being able to also use sigils is a pretty significant item on the “upsides” list.
But he also clearly feels the need to comply with anyone above him, like the vicar or inquisitors. And worrying if we can trust him with our secrets when times get tough is a pretty major risk. I tell Saipha in no uncertain terms that I will feel profoundly stupid if I trust him only to have him run off,again, and rat me out about something at the first opportunity.
