I jump as someone’s hand touches my shoulder.
“What’s taking so long?” Ellie leans in on my other side. “Where’s the food?”
“Shit.”Why do I keep forgetting things? I haven’t been hitting the leaf that hard.After mumbling an apology, I wave the bartender over again and order some honey chips.
“I’m going back before someone steals our booth.” Ellie squeezes my arm before slipping away.
The bartender pushes a bowl of honey chips toward me. I glance at Reid and Alexis, but they’re busy fawning all over Emmrich.
Who’sstillwatching me, but not in the same way others do. More… contemplative.
“Don’t worry, I got that.” He flashes a smile before digging through his pocket, then tosses a coin to the bartender.
Reid spins around, his jaw tight. “What are you doing?” He grabs the bowl of chips, forces it into my hands, and turns me away from the bar.
“Go back to Ellie.” He shoves me toward the booth where she sits, waiting for me.
Chapter 11
Ellie
Caeo slides into the booth next to me, sweeping the tousled locks of his raven hair out of his face, and puts a bowl of honey chips between us. I take one, munching politely as its sweet flavor fills my mouth, with only the slightest hint of salt. The tavern’s still uncomfortably loud, but the buzz of activity’s grown more tolerable in the weeks since I left home.
“Sorry that took so long,” he says. “My brain doesn’t seem to be working right. Must be that melon drink.”
I try a joke, hoping to get things back on track. “My brain’s still working, so it must be you.”
“Wonderful.” But his tone conflicts with the sentiment.
Should I try again? He said he liked my sass.“It’s alright. I didn’t like you for your brains, anyway.”
Instead of the laugh I hoped for, Caeo wilts. No smile, no witty retort. Is it possible to ruin everything with a single sentence?
“I’m sorry—I didn’t mean it that way.” I reach for his hand, praying he’ll squeeze it back.
He does, and my throat unclenches. “It’s fine, really. I’m only going to the Academy because I grew up here, and that’s what everyone does if they have nothing better to do. I’m not like Reid. He actually cares about it.”
A warmth spreads through my chest; I’m not the only one unenthusiastic about being here.Andhe gave me an easy way to change the subject, as if he knew I needed it.
“Heispretty dedicated,” I say, shifting closer to him.
Caeo slides his arm around me, and it’s as if my blunders never happened. “We saw one of the recruitment shows the Order does when we were kids. Once he saw what those incanters could do, that was all he wanted in life. Said it called to him. Lucky bastard.”
“Lucky?”
“He knows what he wants, and he’s actually good at it. Whereas Beckwith and Dewey have already threatened to fail me out before the end of the term.”
My stomach sinks. I barely see him already; it’ll be worse if he’s on campus even less. “It’s going that badly?”
Caeo rummages through his pocket and pulls out an aquamarine, placing it on the table. He traces an elementary focal around it with his finger while reciting one of the simplest water incantations I know—one my father had me mastering at six years old.
Nothing happens.
That’s impossible.
“What? How did that not…?” I pick up the stone as Caeo slumps back. The table’s completely dry, not even a drop of water. That should’ve been like emptying a bucket onto the table.
“But you said everything perfectly, and the focal was correct.”
