Marin’s short answer had Cassia clenching her fists again. Before she opened her mouth, Castor’s hand brushed her back.Stop, it told her.
She hated that she listened. And that her heart rate increased for an entirely different reason.
“Splendid.” Castor sighed, keeping his position beside her.
Glancing at everyone but Marin, Cassia asked, “What do we do?”
Delphine nodded at Cade. “We wait for him to wake up,” she said, like it was the most obvious answer in the world. Then she paused. “Although it could be a while. He lost a lot of blood.”
“I think it’s pertinent we find Quinn…. sooner rather than later,” Finn said. “It can’t be a coincidence she showed herself just a few days ago.”
“Do you have a plan?”Castor asked.
“I’ll think of something.” Finn glanced down at Cassia’s hand. “You should get that checked out.”
Her fingertips, red and swollen from when she’d tried to break through Cade’s barrier, stung every time she moved. But she’d honestly forgotten about the charred appendages since Marin’s revelation. The action had been so unlike her. She wasn’t like them… willing to leap in danger at a moment’s notice. “I’m fine.”
“It almost worked,” Delphine said.
The encouragement in her voice pierced through the ice in Cassia’s chest. Which made her want to throttle the girl who used to be her best friend. She was just sonice, it was hard not to be warmed by her positivity.
As the others began to strategize, Cassia leaned her head closer to Castor. She whispered, “I need to talk to you.”
Castor gazed down at her, surprise coloring his expression. Still, he nodded and indicated for her to follow him to the emptier part of the infirmary.
“I’ll stay until he wakes up,” Marin said. “He needs to hear it from me. I know the entire story. He’ll…”
Once they were far enough away that Marin’s voice was nothing but a whisper, Cassia stopped. For a moment, she struggled with what to say… her request to speak with him impulsive. Now that he stood in front of her, with beautiful, round chocolate eyes patiently zeroed on her, she lost all confidence. Hands trembling, she thought of Cade. This was for him. And the good of the realm. “I need your help. Now more than ever, I need to figure out how to use magic on my own.” Her throat tightened. “Will you?”
“Of course.”
Castor’s answer was quick, and confident, and everything she’d expected and hoped for. Behind him, Delphine watched them out of the corner of her eye. Cassia could tell she was trying to be subtle, but it was hard toignore the twisted, unsure posture of the other girl. And… Cassia couldn’t believe what she was about to say.
“But what happened earlier…” Flashes of them together in her room, just a few hours earlier, left her body aflame. Until then, she hadn’t realized how much shemissedhim. She swallowed back the ridiculous thought. “That can’t happen again.”
“I agree.”
An invisible whip slashed down Cassia’s spine. Why did acceptance hurt more than she thought it would? The only indication he’d been affected by her words at all was a brief tightening of his shoulders. For a second, she wondered if she imagined it. “Good.”
Messing with a button on his wrist, Castor cleared his throat. “Good.”
She was literally torturing herself standing in the infirmary any longer. Heat pooling in her cheeks, which she really hoped was mostly psychological and not at all obvious, Cassia stepped around him. “Find me tomorrow… and send someone to get me when Cade wakes up.”
Well, no one had come to get her when Cade had regained consciousness. The only reason Cassia knew he was awake was a whispered conversation she’d overheard between two servant girls about how he’d finally shaved. She gagged.Seriously? That was their hot topic of gossip? Rolling her eyes, Cassia pounded on his bedroom door.
Silence greeted her.
She rapped her knuckles even harder. “Open up. I know you’re in there.”
It’s not like he ever went anywhere anymore. When he still didn’t answer the door, Cassia twisted the handle. To her chagrin, it popped open with no resistance. She peeked inside, making sure he wasn’t indecent, before she slid inside completely.
“Cade?”
No one answered. The room was tidier than she expected it to be, especially since its occupant never seemed to leave. Only one fireplace crackled in the corner, the desk next to it stacked high with books and parchment. His paned windows were opaque with frost.
Where was he?
Cassia wandered over to the desk. She picked up Cade’s sketchbook, completely empty of papers, then glanced at the scattered mess beneath it. Drawing after drawing of Bridget lay stacked and discarded on top of each other, a puzzled mosaic of Cade’s mind. Some were torn, some scribbled over… each one slightly different. Like he tried over and over to get it right but couldn’t. For the first time, a rush of gratitude filled her veins that Bridgetwasalive. Maybe now her brother wouldn’t act like a ghost.
