I’m definitely going to borrow a set (without permission) later.
Luckily, the tears in my dress are all hidden under the top layer of fabric.
“He was my dog first,” she notes with a shrug as she reaches my side.
The ground shakes as Cerberus immediately sits behind her, his tail thumping against still-damp grass. He still looks like he’s in rough shape, but some of his fur seems to be growing back. A thin layer of coarse black fur traces his spine. All three heads watch Arianna with rapt adoration, not acknowledging my attempts to coax him over.
I huff, “Traitor. He won’t even say hi to me. We were besties in prison.”
“Well, clearly, he respects me since he can sense I’m arealassassin. You know how dogs are, they respect that stuff.” Arianna smirks, and her shadows trail over to Cerberus.
I give a mock-horrified gasp. “How dare you! I asked you to come out here since I had a gift for you, but now I think I’ll keep it.”
Arianna looks positively giddy. “A gift! For me? Is it chocolate?”
Grinning, I motion for her to follow me closer to the wards. Unconsciously, my gaze drifts to Sin, tracing the lines of muscles along his back.
He’s standing at the edge of the wards, reinforcing them. He’s been at it for well over an hour now. My stomach twists over not helping.
It’s not that I didn’t try. After managing to warn off the titan without barbecuing anyone, I thought I might be able to control my power. But the moment I coaxed out a few more threads, pain seared through me.
My focus wavered, and the magic lashed out, reducing a nearby bush to nothing but a crater.
I’m thinking that’s the universe’s way of saying ‘maybe don’t.’
It has a point.
Sin looks over his shoulder, reassuring himself that I’m close. He’s been doing it every few seconds.
I think my love language is ‘unhealthy attachment disorder,’ because my pulse flutters every time he does it.
I have issues.
Several deeply soul-shattering issues.
Maybe I should try coconut water?
Arianna skips beside me, bouncing on the soles of her feet. “Ou! Do you need my help playing hooky? Do you need a testosterone timeout? Are we ditching Sin?”
Her grin is positively wicked as she says it, and I don’t doubt she means every word.
“You do know I can hear you, right?” Sin asks dryly, his attention back on the wards.
“You know I don’t care, right?” Arianna fires back.
I shake my head, grinning.
I love her antics.
She turns to me and whispers conspiratorially, “I’m thinking since he didn’t kill me for handing you over to Need, that means I’m untouchable.”
“You’re not,” Sin answers again.
“I am,” she mouths to me.
“No jailbreaks today, thanks though,” I laugh, even as I start carefully scanning the hedges. I know it was close to here.
Cerberus perks up and goes to sniff at a spot just a little farther ahead.
