Noah frowned at the message. It was normal, wasn’t it? So why did it sound like Reign was challenging him?
Agitation replaced the fear within him, and Noah clicked his tongue.He’d been running on low sleep for months and it wasn’t like he would be able to getanysleepanyway,because he would be too busy mulling over the meeting. Besides, Reign’s insistence—or what seemed to be insistence masked as a taunt at least—had Noah’s urge to meet up as soon as possible overpower his fear of rejection.
Noah rolled over so he was now lying on his back, and texted Reign back.
Noah:No. What is your address?
Reign:I’ll send someone to pick you up.
Noah was meeting Reigntomorrow. In just a few hours from now. It was officially happening, his entire being tingling in that way stuck on the border between pleasant and unpleasant.
Inhaling to recenter himself, Noah typed his reply.
Noah:Okay.And…I should probably go to bed soon.
Reign:Then I better let you go. Good night, Noah.
After he wished Reign a good night as well, Noah dragged himself over to the bathroom. He thought of the red-haired diplomat in the candlelit darkness while he showered, and then again as he tossed and turned in bed until eventually his brain gave into blissful exhaustion.
14
Today was Noah’s first time on a plane. That in itself was an achievement, but it paled compared to the reality that he was leaving the Holy Christian Empire for the first time ever. Months in the making, it had cost him more than just hard work, but that didn’t matter now, it couldn’t, because this was Noah’s dream happening right now in this very moment as the plane started taxiing them away from the terminal of Florence Airport.
“Nervous?” Teresa asked with a smile from the other side of the aisle.
“Yes, a bit,” Noah confessed before tuning her out in favor of staring out of the window as the plane picked up speed.
A thrill surged through him, his insides clenching and his body pushing back into the seat. The speed of the fast train couldn’t even compare to that of the plane and when it tilted its nose up and lost traction with the ground, his breathing turned shallow under the rush of adrenaline. Noah was flying, leaving behind a spectacular view of Florence tilting to one side. He held onto the armrests, taking it all in, etching it into his memory as he envisionedthe demon Reign sitting on top of a dark storm cloud and gazing at the city’s sunlit skyline.
The urge to paint it rose within him, but he pushed it down with assurances that as soon as he found himself with some free time on his hands, he would replicate it on paper. His first ever painting done outside of the prison he called home.
After a while, the world below Noah shrank, losing its contours and shapes until only splotches of color remained. Eventually they disappeared behind clouds as the Earth played hide and seek with Noah, and he grew bored with the sameness, shifting his attention to the screen embedded in the seat’s backrest in front of him. Tasteless shows and Church propaganda made up his choices, and as much as neither appealed to him, it was still the better option when the alternative was conversation with Teresa. So, picking a random one, Noah relaxed in his seat in the mostly empty plane and stared absentmindedly at the moving images until the steady motion of the flying craft lulled him to sleep.
“Noah, dear,” a sweet voice rang around in Noah’s head, the first thing to stir his mind through the grogginess of sleep. A grip around his arm and gentle shaking followed, they too aimed at pulling him out of lingering dreams about wood and mountains ruled over by crows with ebony feathers and red eyes.
“We’ve arrived,” Teresa said more firmly, giving him another shake.
A spark of excitement traveled across Noah’s skin, coaxing him to open his eyes. Teresa and Agostino’s smilingfaces greeted him, both already standing in the middle of the aisle with their backpacks in hand.
“Got some good sleep, young man?” Agostino wiggled gray eyebrows and patted Noah lightly on the shoulder. “You were out cold and missed dinner.”
That would explain the slight churning Noah could feel in his stomach. “Yeah, I, uh, couldn’t sleep last night.” He smiled, clambering up from his seat. “I think I needed a nap more than food.”
Teresa clapped her hands together. “Now that you’ve had some rest, shall we get going? Everyone but us has already disembarked.”
A look around the empty cabin of the aircraft as he retrieved his backpack made Noah suddenly worry he might be running late for the arrangement he had with Reign. Whoever was picking Noah up from—Hold on,they didn’t agree on a location. So did that mean the taxi was coming to the embassy?
Noah narrowed his eyes, doing a quick calculation. Baggage and passport check were probably going to take at least thirty minutes and then… maybe another hour to get to the embassy and sneak out.
“What time is it?” he asked, following his two companions off the plane while his phone scanned for a network in range.
“Just past one in the morning,” Agostino tossed over his shoulder.
Okay, good. Noah was running late by fifteen minutes, which wasn’t so bad.
Border control and luggage collection took only ten minutes, their diplomatic status letting them jump the queues.
“Noah, dear, let’s get you something to eat,” Teresa chirped, pointing at an expensive-looking restaurant when they emerged into the Arrivals’ waiting area. “I could use a glass of wine myself.”
