“It’s hot.”
My throat went dry when I caught the look in Gage’s eyes. The green practically smoldered. In that moment I wanted nothing else than to explore this connection between us. We’d hardly had a minute alone since we’d reunited. My schedule was packed before Aurelia contacted my mom, but that was nothing compared to what it was like now. Practically every minute of my waking hours was filled with training, or classes, or even more training.
I ached to just have some time alone to be with Gage. To just be a girl hanging out with a guy she was into. To maybe do something utterly normal like to go on a date or watch a movie.
Gage angled his head down, smoothly lining his lips up with my own. Leaning forward, I brushed my lips across his, peppering him with a small kiss before pulling away. Skye could pop back at any moment and drag me away. I wasn’t up for starting something I couldn’t finish, so I kept our kiss brief. I was determined that the next big kiss between us wouldn’t be rushed, or interrupted, or born out of a near-death experience.
Heaving a sigh, I pulled out of Gage’s arms. “I’ve got to go train with my guardian, Aurum, now. That’s why Skye was here.”
“Aurum?” Gage asked, the seductive look slipping right off his face as concern flooded his gaze.
Right. Gage wasn’t there at the club. I didn’t even know if he knew who Aurum was.
I started to explain what happened the night he took off, but he stopped me again. “Oh yeah, at Wild Ones. Dash told me what happened. I didn’t know you would be training with the guardian though.”
A nervous laugh bubbled up my throat. “Neither did I.”
Of course, that was the exact moment Skye decided to poof back into the room. She held her hand over her eyes. “Is it okay to look? Everyone is dressed, right?”
I rolled my eyes at her antics.
“How long will you be gone,” Gage asked, unaware Skye had returned.
“A few hours. A few days. Who really knows,” Skye answered for me.
“A few days?” I shouted, jarring Gage. “You can’t mean that.”
“Days?” Gage echoed, his voice filled with the same amount of alarm as mine.
“Gotcha again,” Skye said with a laugh. “No, you won’t be gone more than an hour or two. Aurum is the leader of the guardians of Avalon. He doesn’t have days to waste with you.”
That was an insulting way of saying it, but it was good. I didn’t want to be gone for too long.
“Skye says an hour or two,” I said to Gage. “She was messing with me.”
He nodded, but his mouth was pressed into a straight line, clearly broadcasting his displeasure.
I knew why I was anxious about meeting with Aurum; the winged lion was intimidating. But I didn’t really understand Gage’s apprehension. Maybe he just didn’t like the idea of me jumping to another realm, especially when it was one he wouldn’t be able to reach? He was always so protective over me.
“Let’s go, Tatum.” Skye went to grab my arm and drag me out of the room, but her hand just went through my bicep. She smiled when I shivered from her ghosty touch. “If you don’t hop to it, I’ll do that again.”
“Okay, okay,” I said with my hands in the air as if that would ward her off.
Man, she was a bossy spirit.
“I gotta go,” I said to Gage.
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Sure. I’ll go find Dash. We have a sword training session. See you when you get back?”
I nodded, my gaze lingering on him before I turned to follow Skye out of the gym. He offered me a smile of encouragement, but it didn’t meet his eyes. Something told me my maybe-boyfriend didn’t like it when I went off doing potentially dangerous things.
Skye talked to me for the whole short walk from the academy to the sanctuary in the middle of the Lumen Compound.
As we approached the sanctuary steps, I waved to the two guards in front of the large wooden doors, and they nodded as I passed. Aurelia had given the order that I could enter any time I pleased.
The blue and white swirling portal still made my breath catch every time I saw it. I was so glad it had been restored when Gage had come back. Just like the first time I entered the sanctuary on the day of my Ascension, I could smell flowers and sunshine and hear a faint melody drifting through the air.
The portal to Avalon called to me.
