“Absolutely.” Jath glanced at me. “Did you have a nice time with Keltyr?”
I grimaced.
“That bad?”
“No, that good.” I shook my head. “Xae and Rath caught us kissing goodnight in front of the door to our suite. They were not pleased.”
He winced. “Rough.”
“Yeah. We got into a fight. So, as usual, I walked out.” I slapped the stone and cursed, “Fuck! Why do I keep doing that? I should have stayed and dealt with it like a man.”
“Were they being unreasonable?”
“No. I mean, a little, but they were hurt. I understand that.”
“Then it's best that you walked away. When people get unreasonable, you end up saying things that you regret, and then, when their reason returns, they remember those things and hold them against you.”
“You're right. Thank you.”
“Sure.”
I looked over at him. “So why are you up here?”
“I came for the view.”
“And the party. Don't forget the party.”
He snorted. Then he looked at me. “I don't like avoiding you. It feels unreasonable too.”
“It's not. If it was, I would walk away.” I grinned, then scowled. “Wait, I guess that's exactly what I've been doing. So maybe it is unreasonable.”
Jath chuckled. “You are a lovely person, Ember. I really wish you weren't.”
“So I'd be easier to hate?” I smirked at him. “Nope, sorry. You can't hate me forever. I'm a sweetheart.”
He laughed harder and looked away, over toward the icy mountain peaks on our right. “Do you wanna go flying?”
I blinked. “What?”
Jath turned back to me. “Flying. I know you can. I've heard the stories.”
“Yeah? Did you hear how I nearly died?”
“That was when you were learning. Now, you're a Master of Air. Come on. I need to stretch my wings.”
I looked over the wall and grimaced. “I haven't been flying since I became a master.”
“Then it's about time you did.” He climbed up onto the wall and held his hand down to me.
I stared at it, feeling that fluttering feeling rising in my chest again, and it had nothing to do with my fear of heights. Jath. Fuck, he was supposed to be out of my reach. And there he was, reaching for me.
I took his hand.
Holding my stare, Jath helped me up onto the wall, then he let go, pulled in his wings, and leapt. I watched him dive along the keep, then his wings whooshed open and caught the air, sending him into an upward curve that took him across the garden and over the curtain wall. Against the gray clouds in the chasm, he was a shadow and for a moment, he looked sinister. But even with an evil edge to him, Jath was beautiful.
I lifted my arms and summoned Air.
Instantly, the element came to my call, cradling my body as it took me from the keep's roof and carried me forward, toward Jath. It wasn't as bad as the lift I'd gone in with Kel. I was in control of this magic, not at the whim of an enchantment some unknown mage had cast. But it still made me cringe when I crossed over the curtain wall and saw the clouds beneath me. There were no springs down there to cushion my fall. Fuck, even if there had been, I wasn't in a steel box to protect me from the springs.
