And instead of the three leaders of the Aryan war legion working together, they were sending cadets in to do the dirty work for them.
I huffed in aggravation and jumped from Rhodes’s bed to browse his bookshelf. There were titles of war history, battle strategy, and weaponry on top. But I knew his guilty pleasure…
My finger landed on the series he’d been reading while we were still at Mageia. I wondered how far he’d gotten before we left. I pulled the first book in the series from the shelf and flipped through the pages, savoring the scent of ink on paper. A sharp pain jolted in my chest as I thought about my first trip to Mageia’s library. The four of us poring over dusty tomes, chasing discrepancies in Kalymdor’s history.
Tomorrow night, I’ll see my friends again.
I slammed the book shut. What if Cleo and Tatum blamed me for what happened to Laney? What if the second they saw my face,they alerted our break-in and gave us away to War Chief Kalluri? I had no idea what had happened since Shayde had knocked Laney and me out and driven us away from Mageia. I didn’t know the stories told within the castle walls or how I’d been portrayed. It was so easy for Kalluri to point a finger at me for the murder of Professor Hogboom and Reynoski, and accuse me of being the wraith in a hidden prophecy about the end of everything.
They may have already moved on from me.
“Don’t let yourself think like that,” Lakota encouraged.
I wiped a tear before it slid down my cheek. “I thought you were busy.”
“Never too busy to remind you of who you are, Scarlet Thorne.”
I laughed. “You’re a real pain in the ass sometimes, you know that?”
“You are most welcome.”
Exhaustion dragged at my body, but sleep was far away. Instead, I had another idea. I slipped out of Rhodes’s cabin and climbed higher, branch by branch, until I reached Shayde’s level. I didn’t jump onto the platform. Instead, I channeled a breeze, nudging a small branch against his window in steady taps.
The glass slid up. Rhodes leaned out, stormy eyes landing on me.
He shook his head slowly. “Always such a thorn in my side.”
I bit my lip. “Where’s the view?”
His smirk was devious as he climbed out of the window and leapt to the rope ladder above me. I held on tight as his weight swayed me back and forth. We climbed up the oak, switching rope ladders each time we came to the end of one. The boys had planned this treehouse artistically, using the oak’s natural beauty and strength to create the most whimsical escape.
Light drops of rain began to dot my face, and I welcomed the cool breeze. My muscles were past exhausted from sparring with Fallon earlier, but I kept climbing, chasing what I knew must be one of Rhodes’s favorite views.
At the top, he swung onto a thick branch off to the right. I followed, wrapping my arms tightly around the oak and silently coaching myself not to look down.
A few feet higher, he settled into a natural nook in the tree that looked like it was made for sitting. He reached down, offering his hand. I took it, letting him help me find my footing and guide me onto a nearby branch.
I hugged the sturdy limb and looked out.
“I—” I paused, words caught in my throat. “I think this is the most beautiful view on the entire continent.”
His voice was soft, almost a caress. “You’re right.”
When I glanced over, he wasn’t looking at the view. He was watching me. Rain speckled his hair, clinging to the thick lashes that framed those stormy gray-blue eyes. Up here, his usual stiffness was gone—no guarded posture, no edge. Just stillness.
It hit me then.
“This is your happy place,” I whispered.
He shrugged casually. “Something like that.”
A smile pulled at my lips as I closed my eyes, the warmth in my chest building. Laney once told me everyone needed a happy place—a space that was theirs, whether it was a memory, a mindset, or somewhere they could escape when the world felt too heavy.
“I miss her too.”
My eyes snapped open. They stung, but I didn’t meet his gaze. “Who?”
“Delaney.”
