“I don’t like to dance,” Tatum reminds us pointedly.
“Oh, I don’t remember you complaining when you danced,” Jaddati says with a raised eyebrow.
“I was a good student, nothing more,” Tatum counters, looking at her, making Scheherazade smile.
Grandpa Marcel chuckles. “Well, I’m sure if your mate asks you, you won’t deny her.”
“Exactly,” Mama says, as Uncle Rayhan chuckles.
“Oh, absolutely, so ask him for whatever your heart desires. He will have no option but to give it to you,” Uncle says with a smile.
Everyone continues talking, and I can feel Allie’s eyes on me, but with both Aunty Delsanra and Mama here, none of us risk casting a spell, so we sit quietly. I know Allie’s impatientto question me, but I don’t know what I’ll say when that time comes.
Yes, I like him.
Ok, I admit it.
But can I admit it to them?
No more secrets.
That was our promise.
Oh Goddess, what do I do?
Speaking of Theo, I can sense his eyes on me a few times. I don’t know how, but I can tell when it’s him. The way it makes goosebumps rise on my skin, the way it burns into me, heating my skin…
And I can sense Holden’s glare, which isn’t so subtle as he stares at me from where he’s sitting with his parents, a few tables down.
“You and Holden aren’t together anymore?” Mama asks quietly as we continue eating, the chatter from around us drowning her out, so I have to lean in to hear.
I shake my head no.
She nods, wanting to ask me something else, but doesn’t.
Once dinner isover, I decide to find Uncle Leo and show him my contract. It’s high time I got a custom-designed suit I can wear when I’m not in Academy uniform.
May I have a word?I ask.
He cocks an eyebrow as he lights a cigarette and nods. “Sure, what is it?”
With a flourish of my hand, my contract is in my hand.I’ve designed myself an outfit, and well, before I hand the design over, I want you to sign the contract that this design will not be mass-produced for others. Taking elements of the design is fine; however, the design is mine,I write.
He looks at me. “You know the Schattenblüte are for war; they’re battle suits?”
Yes, obviously, or I wouldn’t be asking you. It doesn’t mean we can’t go to war in style,I write, raising an eyebrow.
“Does it matter if someone else wears the same?”
It does,I write, folding my arms.
“Women,” he mutters as he takes the file and flips it open. I watch his face, his eyebrows rising even further as he flips through the three-page contract. “You’re smart. I’ll give you that. It’s always good to know how to protect yourself.”
I agree,I answer. He nods as he holds out his hand.
“The design elements you pointed out don’t seem to cross with something I’ve created already, so that’s fine. Pen.”
I hold out the one I had ready and summon my second file, waiting patiently as he signs it.
