Harley nodded at them all but focused her gaze on Indigo and the bracelet on her wrist. “They just let you live here?”
Indigo cocked an eyebrow and smirked. “Lumens are cool. You’ll see.”
Harley chuckled as if she doubted that.
“Do you mind waiting with us in the courtyard for Gage to come back?” I asked, trying to break the tension.
Harley shrugged. “Sure. No sign of lover boy yet?”
I shook my head. “Not yet.”
I moved to walk toward the back door that led out into the courtyard when Indigo cleared her throat. The elevator dinged and Indigo moved toward it. “I have an appointment I have to get to. See you in a bit?”
“Everything okay?” I asked.
She gave me a genuine smile. “It’s great.”
Okay… she was definitely acting different, but Indigo was allowed her privacy.
“See you later, then,” I told her as the doors closed.
We stepped out into the courtyard where Gage had showed up last time. Picking a comfortable spot against the wall of the armory, I plopped onto the ground.
Marlow, Drea, and Harley sat next.
“We just wait?” Harley stared at the courtyard as a group of Lumens ran to the armory to gear up for a mission.
“Yep,” I said.
“So, Harley, tell us about yourself,” Drea offered.
Harley gave her a side-look and laughed. “Yeah, we’re not doing that. Want to play cards?”
I shrugged and the other two nodded. Drea got up to run to our dorm and grab a deck of cards. When she returned, we played a few hands before I looked up and saw Indigo walking across the courtyard toward us, all smiles.
“What’s up with you? Did you meet some hot guy or something?” I asked her.
She grinned even wider. “No, but I asked Aurelia if I could try to become a Lumen and she said yes. My Ascension Ceremony is next week.”
My jaw dropped, and then I shot up from where I was sitting and tackle-hugged her.
“Indigo, that’s wonderful! I didn’t know you were considering it,” I told her as we laughed and squeezed each other.
I noticed Harley was watching us intently, but I said nothing.
Indigo pulled back from me with a smirk. “Well, no one had any idea it was even possible for a Shade to travel to Avalon until you threw Gage into the portal half-dead.”
That made Harley’s spine go stiff. “You threw your Shade boyfriend into a portal to Avalon?”
I nodded, chuckling at the way she said it. At the time it had been anything but funny, and the memory of the portal breaking brought me back to reality. “But what about the portal…?” I hedged. “When Gage went through, he broke it.”
Cael had pretty much confirmed our assumption that the portal had broken because he was a Shade.
“Aurelia thinks that if I go in with my bracelet on, it will protect the portal,” Indigo said.
That made sense. It would dull her darkness until Cael could remove her Shade powers.
“She believes that since I’m willing to surrender my Shade powers, Cael will make me a Lumen.”
