“He's not,” Rath and Xae said together.
Simultaneously, I said, “I'm not.”
Nex leaned back, his eyebrows lifting, then snorted. “Sure. No one's interested in Jath.”
“Excuse me?”
We all went still. All except Nex, who turned to see who had spoken. It was, of course, Jathalion, who had been on his way to refill his plate at the buffet. Talk about bad timing.
“Hey, Jath!” Nex leaned out to smack the guy's shoulder. “Welcome home. You're looking good. I heard you've met our fated savior here, Ember.”
“Yes, I did,” Jath said, then nodded at me. “Ember.”
“Hey,” I said weakly. Then I saw the color in Jath's cheeks. Hold on, was he blushing? Oh, fuck. Itwashim who I saw in the corridor earlier. Or rather, who saw me. “Uh, how are you settling in?”
“Good,” Jath said. Then he remembered what had stopped him. “Were you talking about me?”
“Nah, not really,” Nex said. “Just discussing the way Xae overreacted to finding you with Ember.” He leaned out to dramatically whisper, “Wolves and their lovers, you know? They can get as territorial as a dragon.”
“Uh-huh,” Jath murmured with a frown. “I thought you were supposed to be searching for Wraith Lords to add to your . . . uh, group?”
“We are,” Rath said. “Or rather, we are trying our best to support Ember in his search. The magic will unify us when he settles on someone, but until then, we are normal men, jealous of the man we love. It cannot be helped.”
“I see,” Jath glanced at me. “Well, good luck to you.”
“Thank you,” Rath said. “And welcome home, Jathalion. You've been missed.”
Jath's smile returned and even looked genuine. “Thank you, Ratharin. I've missed all of you as well.” Then he headed to the buffet.
Xae tracked him like prey.
I elbowed Xae.
He looked at me. “What?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Nope,” Nex said. “Nobodyis intothatguy.”
Chapter Seven
I was staring into Rath's beautiful eyes—lavender gray with dark purple rings around them—when he smacked me in the head with a sword.
All right, I was wearing a helmet, and he was using a wooden sword. Still, I was aghast at his betrayal.
“I wasn't ready!” I flopped my arms in a huff, smacking my practice sword on the flagstones of the training yard.
“Don't hit the ground with your sword point,” Xae said.
I made a face at him.
“I warned you that we were beginning,” Rath reminded me.
“Yeah, but then you stood right in front of me and stared at me with those eyes.” I waved a hand at his face. “You can't do that. It's unfair!”
Rath's lips twitched. “Unfair? How? I use my eyes to see. I have to look at you with them.”
“But they're too pretty. I can't concentrate.”
