He keeps his eyes closed, overwhelmed and overtired. I don’t answer, instead looking up to find Ezra and Yri in the branches above us. Ezra is stretched out on a branch, lithe as a panther and resting her head on her folded arms. Yri sits at the base of the branch with a hand on her ankle, ready to grab her if she starts to fall.
I see guilt flash across Vyrian’s face that he doesn’t attempt to mask. But Ezra? She looks down at us with a combination of understanding and amusement.
“Maybe because she isn’t as shallow as you seem to think?” she purrs teasingly.
Cai’s eyes fly open and lock onto her hovering above him before turning an accusatory glare on me. “You knew she was there, didn’t you, you bastard?”
I grin, unrepentant. “Yep.”
He smacks a hand on the ground in frustration before getting to his feet. “You trying to add a broken leg to your collection?” he shouts up at her.
Her broad grin takes over her face, especially when she slips her ankle out from Yri’s grasp to stand up. “I think it’s been too long, newblood. You seem to have forgotten your epic defeat at my hands.”
She walks towards the end of the branch that starts to bow. My heart rate kicks up a notch, preparing myself to catch her when she slips. She’s completely right; it’s hard to remind myself that she’s been winning the gauntlets years before we came along.
It goes against everything in my nature; I just want to protect her. Hearing her ribs crack, seeing her coated in blood, made me want to lock her in the house where I could keep anything from hurting her again. I know logically that’s ridiculous and she’d resent me for it, but I can’t help the feeling.
“Good thing there’s another race in a couple of weeks,” she continues, and it just serves to agitate me further.
“You don’t need to sign up.” I know it’ll do as much good as talking to a brick wall, but I have to try. I don’t know if my heart can take a repeat of last time.
She snorts. “Nope, but I’m ‘gonna anyway.” I open my mouth, but she cuts me off before I can utter a single word. “And you don’t get to run this time.”
Yri doesn’t walk after her like I can see he wants to, not wanting to add any more weight to the branch. “Well now, that’s a bit hypocritical.”
She shakes her head, stepping off and catching herself. She swings from the branch before dropping, her hat going first and her fiery hair tumbling free. I catch her before she manages to break a leg like Cai claimed and she pats my shoulder condescendingly.
“Because, this, right here. It’d be cheating. You don’t want me to get hurt and you’d try to help me or let me win; I can’t have that. I’m not about to have people question my impeccable record and drag my name through the mud by calling me a cheater. I win on my own merit,” she declares.
I release my grip enough that she can slide to her feet, torturing myself with the friction. “What’s the point of being a bodyguard if you refuse to let me do my job?”
She smirks, bending down to pick up Yri’s hat from the ground and making me envy her jeans. “Because it’s fun?” At my narrowed look she rolls her eyes and adds, “If I end up getting mobbed by men that can’t keep the right head in the game, you can intervene. I doubt you’ll need to, because without you three or my beautiful books nearby at risk getting caught in the crossfire, I can go all out. But it’s been a heck of a lot easier letting you scare people off instead of having to deal with it day to day.”
Cai scoffs. “I’m running with you.”
She cracks her knuckles, looking thrilled at the idea, but trying to temper her reaction. “I mean, you can try to keep up, but don’t feel bad when you fail.”
His nostrils flare as he looks her over, but I interrupt. “Why does he get to run if I can’t?”
She doesn’t tear her eyes away from him. “Because he didn’t take so much as a single step to try and catch me just now. And by that look on his face, I’d say he wants to win nearly as bad as I do.”
He doesn’t deny it, sizing her up. One of his coworkers shouts for him and he curses, jerking the blade out of the tree trunk and getting ready to go back to work.
“You staying for dinner again tonight?” he asks her, cracking his neck.
She slips a knife from her pocket, rolling the still closed blade between her fingers. “You want me to?” she challenges.
Fates, she’s perfect for every part of us besides our sanity.
Cai bites the inside of his cheek. “Wouldn’t be the worst way to spend an evening.”
Her lip twitches as she fights a smile before schooling her face into a blasé mask of indifference. “I suppose I could stick around, give you a few pointers.”
He lets out an amused breath, shaking his head and turning to leave. “Then see you tonight.”
“It’s a date,” she winks, making him curse and walk faster. She turns to us and waggles her eyebrows. “Looks like we’ve gone from a threesome to a foursome; finishing off this date thing with a bang.”
Vyrian barks out a surprised laugh, throwing an arm over her shoulders to guide her back through the woods towards town.
