We set out on the path back to House Viper’s estate.
“Dante’s still not satisfied, though,” I muttered with a sigh. "He probably won’t be until I drown.”
Milo chortled. “Think you’re almost ready for the Trial?”
“Possibly. But it’s hard to know when you aren’t sure what to expect.”
“I overheard Olympia yesterday saying she and Luca were ready for their fourth.”
I jerked my head up. “Didn’t they just finish their third?”
He nodded.
“Grandmother says they’re rushing into things, but Olympia’s been…” Milo glanced at me, then averted his eyes. “It’s like she’s trying to compete with you, Adrian. Passing three Trials is huge. Nearly every one of us in House Avus who goes through the Trials don’t make it past two. But she’s not satisfied. And I don’t think she will be so long as you and Dante are ahead of her.”
“What does Luca think about it?”
“Luca doesn’t take it so seriously. He and I never have. The Trials, for us, have always been about doing the best we can and what happens, happens. It’s easy to deal with failure when you’ve learned to expect it.”
“And difficult to deal with success when you don’t,” I added.
He smiled. “I imagine so.”
We’d reached the fork in the road which I would take left to go to House Viper and he would take the right to return to House Avus.
“Grandmother has asked me to invite you to dinner,” Milo said, almost sheepishly. “She says I spend too much time at Viper, so you should spend some time at Avus.”
I laughed.
“I’d be honored,” I told him. “But not tonight. I’ve got to stay at my own apartment every now and then or my roommate will turn it into a den of miscreants in my absence.”
He raised a brow but simply backed away down the appropriate path.
“I won’t keep you then.” Milo raised his hands in mock surrender after tucking his book into the crook of his arm and strode off toward home.
I grinned and turned left toward House Viper.
When I arrived, I strolled through the front doors, taking the stairs two at a time on my way to my room, nodding at servants I passed along the way. Once inside, I packed a few books I intended to read before bed and headed back out of the estate toward the eastern gate.
More people seemed to watch me as I passed, whispering to one another, smiling my way, nodding warmly in greeting. It was awkward, and most of the time, I only managed an uncomfortable nod in return before lowering my head so my hair obscured my burning cheeks as I made my way down to the Third Ring.
The whole band was in my apartment when I entered. Harrison shot me one of his signature lopsided grins as I pulled my key from the lock and shut the door behind me.
“Feet off the coffee table, Pierson,” I barked at their frontman, Felix Pierson, who shot me a wink and took another sip of the alcohol in his cup that I could smell from the door. I sighed and bent to collect a few discarded bottles, walking them to the trash. “I didn’t know musicians were such animals.”
“Don’t fuss, Adrian,” Harrison called out from where he leaned over the couch. “You know I’ll clean it all up.”
I knew he would. He always did. But maybe I was looking for a reason to be irritated. The truth was, Harrison and his band had brought life back to the apartment in a way I never thought would happen again after Darius. They were always here, hanging out or practicing, much to the chagrin of my landlord who’d come up to yell at us only once before scurrying back down to his dark basement when Dante had stepped forward with a growl and a reminder that House Viper waspaying the rent. I’d made sure to check with Mr. Stone and old Rosemary Marin afterwards though. If either of them had issued a complaint, I would’ve told Harrison and his crew to knock it off. But they both merely smiled and mentioned something about how it was nice to have music in the place again. Even if it was just the grunge metal Harrison’s band preferred.
“Where’s your man?” Noah Rowley, the third and final member of Harrison’s band, said. He could play anything from the strange stringed instruments they fashioned to the drums to little bits of metal arranged in a line and struck to form a lingering tune. “I thought you two were practically joined at the hip.”
At the mind, actually,I thought but didn’t say aloud.
“We do live separate lives, you know,” I ground out, wrinkling my nose at a discarded bra slung over the back of one of my dining room chairs. I raised my brow as I turned to face them. “Belong to a friend of yours?”
“I wouldn’t say friend,” Felix replied with a wicked grin.
I rolled my eyes.
