Once I’m alone, my mood sours. I don’t want to be here any longer, surrounded by strangers lost in the frenzy of the celebration.
I want to be alone.
But just as I turn, two familiar faces pop up. Bloom and Fern are making their way through the crowd towards me. Gods, how long has it been since we last talked? Months or weeks? It feelslike years, but the last time I saw my former squad mates was at the late General’s funeral.
I wasn’t a social butterfly before or even after joining the Order. But now…I’m a whole separate island.
I force a cordial smile onto my face. “Hey, guys. Enjoying the celebration?”
Bloom and Fern halt in front of me. After a beat of silence, they press their fists over their hearts and bow at the waist for me. I stare at them, mute. Are they fucking for real?
When they straighten their backs, I see that Bloom is grinning and Fern has a mischievous smirk at the corner of her mouth. Ah, some things never change.
I roll my eyes. “Assholes.”
Bloom barks a laugh and pats my shoulder. “You got it, Wildarrow.”
“We just couldn’t resist teasing you a bit,” Fern says slyly. “Wouldn’t want our favorite human to lose her humility.”
“So thoughtful of you,” I deadpan.
“You entering the trials caused a havoc in our bets,” Bloom says. She leans closer to me and drops her voice a couple of octaves. “Gotta say, the odds are not in your favor. Ezkai Daegel is the crowd favorite.”
Fern inspects her nails. “Who can blame them? Have you seen that face? The pedigree? He was born to be the next Ezkai General.”
My stomach is in knots.
“Oh, I’m aware,” I say.
Fern glances at me and smirks. “Oh, we know.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, Wildarrow, I threw in my bet with you,” Bloom says. My eyebrows hike all the way to my hairline. “Nobody believed you could graduate Ezkai Academy, and look at you. If you pull another one of those, you’ll make me a rich woman.”
“Best of luck, Wildarrow,” Fern says. She gives me that famous Ekiosh once-over. “I almost grew to like you.”
I smile at that as they walk away.
You can always count on fae to be brutally honest.
For a moment, I allow myself to get lost in the past, the memories of Ezkai Academy and how things were different back then. I was a different human. What sort of person will I be after the trials? Will I even recognize myself?
A familiar voice snaps me out of it, the low-timbred notes sending shivers down my back. “Are you enjoying yourself tonight?”
CHAPTER FORTY
PHOENIX
Slowly, I turn. Daegel towers over me, a wicked smirk curling his sensuous mouth. “When we spoke last, you were so offended I’d hire someone like Jax to convince you to drop out of the trials, you assured me you cannot stand the guy…Yet, tonight you don’t seem to mind his company, princess.”
He wears straight black pants and a wide white shirt that’s unbuttoned almost halfway. No paint covers his face, no masks.
I click my tongue. “Seriously? You’re going to be jealous of a lackey on your own retainer?” I step closer to him. “You ordered him to follow me around like an obedient puppy. If I have to be around him, I might as well get something out of it. You will just have to deal with it.”
He doesn’t flinch at my words. Instead, he barks a laugh. It rumbles from the depths of his chest and makes my toes curl in my shoes.
Possession, dark and dangerous, crosses his stunning features.
“You don’t see me running around being close and intimate with other women, do you? I’d expect the same courtesy from you, even if we fight.”
