He let out a small, self-conscious chuckle at my surprise. “If that’s okay with you.”
I chewed slowly, thinking it over. Neither of the Wylder boys had ever mentioned their mother. And having grown up most of my life without one—plus a poor excuse for a father—I’d never developed the habit of asking about anyone’s family. Mostly because the last thing I wanted was to talk about my own.
“I’d like that,” I said, grinning a little too sheepishly.
Rhodes actually blushed. “Good. You’ll be the first girl either of us has brought to meet her.”
“You’re telling me”—I flicked my fork for emphasis—“that the charismatic Prince Charming Shayde Wylder has never brought a girl home? Not even Pehper?”
I noticed the subtle hitch in Rhodes’s breathing when I said his brother’s name. I opened my mouth to backpedal—meaning before we all knew about Shayde working for the Grim—but Rhodes cut me off with a shake of his head.
“Even Pehper,” he said quietly. “And she was raised here in the Glade too, if that tells you anything.”
“Pehper is from here?”
“Yep,” he replied curtly, focusing on his food.
I ran through everything I knew about Pehper. After I started getting closer to Shayde last year, the things she said to me—trying to get under my skin—made it sound like they had some long-term, deep relationship. And the way Shayde talked about her that day he lent me his spare clothes after she dumped coffee all over me only seemed to confirm it.
“They weren’t as close as you’re thinking,” Rhodes said, voice low. “Shayde broke it off for good before we left for Mageia. He probably knew she wouldn’t have been easy with long distance.”
I nodded slowly. “So, is she a trained fighter too? Like you two?”
Rhodes tilted his head, weighing his answer. “Pehper’s sworn to secrecy about Glade operations, but she’s never been one for the front lines. Her family focuses more on battle strategy. Shayde tried to train her, but she never would.”
I scoffed. “Probably never wanted to get her hands dirty. Now that she has an element, she’ll never have to.”
My heart rate spiked as a memory slammed into me—Pehper wielding her water element during our first Arcane Battle Simulation. She sent me sprawling without lifting a finger, trying to drown me on dry land in front of everyone. She’d hated me the moment Shayde first spoke to me. Maybe he meant more to her than he realized. Or maybe she was just that toxic and insecure.
“Everyone is going to have to get their hands dirty if we’re going to win this war,” he muttered. “Our lands will fall if we rely only on magic to save us.”
“Then why is War Chief Kalluri so obsessed with only strengthening cadets’ elements? It makes little sense.”
Rhodes’s jaw worked. “Since the day he lost his daughter to Tyria, nothing’s made sense with him. Just like my father… one day he just—” He exhaled roughly. “Lost sight of what’s important.”
A sickening shiver ran down my spine, turning the warm food in my stomach to lead. I set my plate aside. Rhodes noticed and pushed his away too. I jumped to my feet and began unfastening my belt.
“Let’s jump in.”
Rhodes’s gaze shamelessly followed my movements as I shimmied out of my leather pants. “You don’t want to jump into that pond.”
I slipped off my jacket and shivered in the cool air. “Says who? You’re telling me this is one of your favorite hideaways, and you’ve never gone swimming in that beautiful pond?”
His cheeks flushed as I pulled my tunic over my head, leaving only the undergarment around my chest. “I’m telling you—” His voice rasped. “You don’t want to do that.”
I rolled my eyes and sprinted to the water’s edge, leaping as high as I could and channeling my air element for an extra boost. For one perfect moment, I felt like I was flying—
Then kaplunk—straight into the shallow water. I curled into a ball and rolled, arms over my head.
Rhodes’s amused laughter rang out as I sat up on my knees, pushing wet hair from my eyes. He stood at the pond’s edge, hands on hips. He rubbed the back of his neck and closed his eyes, shaking his head slowly.
“I told you, my thorn. You don’t want to jump into this pond,” he wheezed.
But I couldn’t even find the will to be embarrassed. Not with him smiling like that—both dimples on full display, practically begging me to trace them with my fingers.
“Happy looks good on you,” I teased.
His laughter softened, but the smile stayed.
