The men around me went from surprised to moving. Swords rang as they came out of sheaths, and the air lit up with colorful energy. Cayden started drawing a rune.
Brit brushed my elbow. “Trust her.”
“I won’t force you.” Ravana reached forward and took my hand. “But you need to know you’re yourself. If you choose the Architect, the choice must be yours. Your heart, not his mind.”
Like Brit, little scars nicked Ravan’s face. Her skin was surprisingly tan for the gray climate, and soft wrinkles pinched her edges. Ezra turned with his sword drawn. Ravana’s eyes glowed once more, and she took a deep breath and held it. The world slowed until everyone except the two of us froze.
Ravana could stop time.
Despite the sudden realization, her words echoed in my mind. I wanted the same thing. Cayden and I had clung to one another since day one. Rowan caught my eye immediately, but like Xan, he’d tethered me. And Ezra? The mage melted my insides with just a glance, but everything else was a tangled mess of emotions and bad decisions.
I was stuck in my own loop. Swore I wouldn’t sleep with XanRa, then did. Swore I wanted all four, then let them pass me around like a toy. Did I want that? With Ravana, I’d get space. Alone, I might stop feeling like the ball I accused Xan of kicking.
I glanced at my guys, moments away from attacking Ravana and seemingly unaware of the weapons now being drawn and aimed at them. It wasn’t just me needing space to figure out what I wanted.
Nerves prickled my skin as an uneasy confidence fell over my shoulders.
We needed this.
“Let’s go.” Two simple words to drown the storm inside me.
Ravana nodded, though she still held her breath, and tugged me forward. We wove around Rowan, inches from pulling me into his chest. I stopped to run my hand through Cayden’s rune so he couldn’t hurt anyone with it. To my surprise, Brit had an arm out, keeping Joe back and creating a path for us to the door as if she already knew my answer.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” I told my guys, and then Ravana was tugging me out the door. The moment we crossed into theoutside, Ravana let out a puff of air. The sound of clattering swords and surprised shouts hit my ears.
“Be ready to run again; I can only stop time as long as I can hold my breath,” Ravana said before taking another deep breath and holding it.
Sounds cut off. The world around me went unnaturally still.
With my hand still in hers, we bolted. After slipping through the narrow walls, a sharp right took us past a few run-down buildings. We cut left down a small alley, and I was instantly lost. Ravana let out her breath, and we slowed to an easy walk.
“You’re going to want to lose the white cloak, kid. You stick out like a sore thumb,” Ravana said.
I wasn’t a big fan of ‘kid.’ I hadn’t been a kid in a while, but at the same time I knew so little. Following her directions, I shoved the white cloak into my pocket-void and pulled out a leather jacket.
“They’ll target you for the leather. A wool layer?” Ravana asked.
I narrowed my eyes, uncertain who “they” were. I wasn’t behind the Architect’s walls anymore. Out here, leather wasn’t fashion—it was a target. Violence was real, and I had to be ready.
“No, in my time,” I explained. “Wool was super expensive, while you could get a fake leather jacket for like twenty bucks.”
Ravana whistled. “My time. So, you really are a time traveler. Fuck me.” She laughed. “No wonder the families are losing their minds.” She pursed her lips. “So, you only have what you brought with you? You have four men surrounding you, yet not a single wool layer… Did they give you anything?”
I jerked back, feeling simultaneously offended for them and hurt that they hadn’t given me anything, which was stupid. “Rowan gave me a book and Xan the cloak… and a necklace, though I lost that. It’s really complicated.”
“Bullshit.” Ravana stopped walking and gripped my arm. “Contracts put the weight in your hands. Without one, all the weight’s on theirs. Simple math.”
I bit my lips shut. Erick said the same thing when he explained Intentions to me, except he made it sound like a bad thing. Which, I guess, if he were trying to control me, would be.
Ravana nodded at whatever she saw on my face and kept walking.
“Cayden’s family doesn’t use contracts.” I hurried to catch up with her, still needing to defend my guys. “And Xan and Ezra are both orphans, so I don’t know how that would even work. And Rowan’s working on it.”
Ravana shook her head. “Excuses. Tell me straight, are you knocked up yet?”
I blushed. “Ah, no, we haven’t, um.”
Ravana nodded sharply. “At least you're smart enough to wait for that.”
