My admission hangs between us, a little too raw to be casual.
I wish I hadn’t gone there, but it’s too late to take it back.
“Why do you enjoy fighting?” Riven’s changeof topic surprises me. I open my mouth to answer him and realize I’m not sure how to explain that either. I consider it for a full minute before landing on an answer that’s close to accurate.
“Power,” I admit. “If I can’t be beaten into submission, I don’t risk losing...”
“Losing what?”
“Myself.”
The word lands between us and rolls around, a lit stick of dynamite hissing and popping. In the span of two minutes, I’ve revealed things about myself that make me feel more naked than I’ve ever been in the Fang. Deeper than blood and bone, it’s as if I reached inside myself, carved out a piece of my soul, and presented it to Riven for inspection.
Moments ago, I was hovering on the edge of exhaustion, longing for a soft place to lie down and rest. Now, I’m too raw to do anything but exist.
“The North Star,” Riven says. “Tell me about that.”
What? Why does he care?I run a hand through my hair, working out a tangle before it can turn into a knot, and clear my throat.
“It’s a star. A big one. Bright, I think, which makes it easier to find.” I glance through the windshield at the canopy of stars winking down at us. I can’t tell one from another, but I think they’re watching. “Humans have used it to navigate for thousands of years.”
I shiver, unable to shake the unwelcome vulnerability.
Riven hums, accepting my flimsy explanation as if it makes perfect sense.
“You won’t lose yourself,” he says, changing the subject so quickly I get mental whiplash. “I know few things with absolute certainty, but Iknow that.”
I drop my head against the seat and sigh. There’s no reason for me to believe him and a million reasons I shouldn’t, but gods help me, I want to.
SIXTEEN
Excerpt from the Veydran Code of Conduct:
Weakness admitted is weakness exploitable.
RIVEN
Celine parks the van outside the dingy motel. Two greasy bags of fast food are perched on the center console. My stomach rumbles, but I won’t eat until I know we’re secure for the night.
“I’ll go book a room,” Celine says. “You wait here.”
I snort. “No chance. Look at this place!”
She narrows her eyes. “You think some random human could take me?”
“Take you? Certainly not, but it would cause a scene, and I need sleep.”
Celine opens her mouth, then closes it again before nodding briskly and unbuckling her seatbelt. The mechanism retracts with a whir, and the metal end smacks against the window. “Fine. But let me do the talking.”
I instigate a shift, choosing Luca this time. Besides a small frown, Celine doesn’t react. Doesn’t she realize I’m doing this forher comfort? Surely, she wouldn’t prefer my prowling behind her wearing a stranger’s face.
We leave the van behind and head for the entrance to the motel. “What’s our strategy?” I ask, eyeing the dubious two-story building.
“We don’t need a strategy.” She narrows her eyes at me. “We’re renting a room, Riven, not robbing the place.”
Celine opens the front door. A bell rings, and I flinch as she walks over to the desk, smiling brightly. There’s an older woman sitting there, a paperback novel propped on the scuffed counter in front of her. Perched on the tip of her nose, her glasses are secured to her neck by two thin chains that quiver every time she breathes.
She doesn’t look up.
