Jason couldn't suppress his grin any longer. "Whatever you say, Caller."
Damn right it was what she said. Otherwise, Eva would have him digging latrine pits for the next month.
"Remind me why I invited you to be my apprentice."
Jason's expression was smug. "That's cute. You think someone else would take this job and all the craziness that comes with it."
Eva sniffed. "What are you talking about? Others would cut off their left arm to be in your position and you know it."
"And they would have regretted it the second you abandoned them to go off and play with the Kyren on your own."
Eva huffed, knowing he had a point.
"Are you really not going to share?" Ollie complained. "I thought we were friends."
Eva fixed him with a look. He knew better than to try a guilt trip on her. They never worked. She'd grown up with the champion of guilt trips and had become numb to them as a result.
Jason's gaze moved past Eva to the crowd surrounding the Kyren. "By the way, you should know Ghost just arrived on the scene."
Eva cursed and whirled to find the situation exactly as Jason had described. Much like his namesake, Ghost had appeared silently and without warning.
Eva sent Sebastian a speculative glance, wondering what her chances of flying off and abandoning her duties were.
Don't look at me like that. You don't want to know what Polaris and Theo would do to you if you abandoned them right now.
Eva sighed, knowing he was right.
This would be less of a problem if the two Kyren had landed in the same place as Sebastian. But no, they had to land next to all the people.
Worse, she had only herself to blame. She was the one who'd told them they should mingle and get to know the Trateri.
If only she could go back in time and kick her own ass.
Grumbling under her breath, Eva stalked toward the crowd. Sensing her approach, Jane shifted to acknowledge Eva, never fully taking her attention off the rest of the Trateri.
"Caller," Jane said, bowing her head.
Eva's steps paused at the unexpected address. Jane wasn't one to stand on ceremony. Calling her by the title the Kyren had given her was a calculated action.
"Anateri," Eva said, taking a chance and responding in kind.
If they were using titles, might as well go all in.
A brief gleam of approval lit Jane's eyes before it was gone, and her expression became reserved once again.
"Look who finally returned. Have fun with your Kyren?" Van asked.
Eva didn't immediately answer, taking the time to study those assembled. Most were new faces. From the looks of their clothing and insignia on their chests, they belonged to Lion Clan. There were a few from Rain mixed in, but not many.
Eva scanned the crowd, finding Gawain on the periphery, three of his people at his back. Opposite him, standing slightly aback from the rest, Buck and Witt lingered, their gazes holding a detached curiosity as events unfold.
Eva moved on, her gaze finally stopping on a slender man with nut brown skin. He held himself with a dancer's grace, each movement oddly mesmerizing as he studied the Kyren with a probing frown.
Far from being intrusive, his regard struck Eva as assessing. As if the Kyren were a puzzle he was assembling in his mind.
It was hard to decide why the stranger stood out from the rest. Even surrounded as he was by a crowd of warriors, each fiercer looking than the last.
And this, despite him not being a warrior himself.
