“Who?”
“Antithesis. They are the ones who tried to take you last night. The one Milgran has joined.”
Working my jaw, I puzzled out the name as I stared into the coffee. Finally, I looked up. “That’s a stupid name.”
Jallina burst out laughing. “Right?!”
“They also missed.”
Still chuckling, she gestured to me sitting there. “Clearly. What did they do? How did you get away?”
From that question alone, I knew that she had not had enough prior knowledge of the attempt. My stomach settled quickly. “Theydancedme out the door.”
Her face froze in a blank expression for just a moment, and then her whole countenance exploded in laughter.
“They did what?”
“Danced me off the floor.” I smirked. “Honest. They cut in on Elex and me, and I was slowly danced over to the opposite doors and then dragged from the room.”
I relayed the night’s excitement to my friend, the new knowledge of who they were shedding new light on the whole incident.
One of my own friends associated with these people.
“Are you all right now, though?” Jallina asked.
“I am. I was fine just moments after Elex and Master Dorian had me away from the carriage. I wasn’t really frightened, just confused. I mean, one minute I’m dancing and the next…”
A sigh left her lips. “You and Elex?”
My cheeks flamed red when I realized how obvious I’d made it to her that Elex and I weren’t merely friends. “Me and Elex.”
“I’ve heard he’s an animal in bed.”
“Oh, you havenoidea.”
She smiled. “I’m jealous, really. I’ve always had a soft spot for him… and I had hoped.”
I nodded. “I understand.”
She shook off her reverie. “So, let me continue. After Milgran lost his mind about you and joined up with Antithesis, Drez and I wanted to get away from him without actually losing contact in case he did have a big mouth. I do wish I had realized he was quite serious when he told us they were going to try to steal you.
“In any case, Drez and I found that, after some introspection, we preferred to trust that which we know well. The temple.
“Someone in the coffee shop we were just in overheard us and introduced us to this place and others like it around the city.”
“That’s why you wanted to get out of the shop.”
Jallina nodded. “Yes, because as he, Seforin, explained, both the Outlier Temples and Antithesis use the shop to recruit.”
“And if they knew I was there—”
“They might come after you. Here, they won’t. And if they do, there’s a door at the back where we can get you out.”
“This is too much intrigue for me.”
“And we are just at the tip of the iceberg. Infants.”
I inclined my head, realizing that the word was not so much an insult as a warning that we didn’t have enough experience to understand everything yet.
