‘Sounds like the damned trial bell,’ I mutter.
I can’t help but hope it is Kay, even though I still have no idea what to say to her.
‘Damn sound gave me flashbacks,’ my friend says as I push my chair back to stand.
I can hear Summer answering the door.
‘Lady Rose?’ the maid calls. A moment later she enters the room. ‘Sorry to interrupt, m’lady.’ She dips her head slightly in a sign of deference that I really do not need. ‘There’s a gentleman here to see you? He says he knows you.’
‘A gentleman?’ My stomach clenches. If it were the prince, I’m sure she would have said as much, and she already knows who Jonas is. What other man could be calling?
Not one I want to see, is the immediate thought that enters my head.
‘What’s his name?’ I ask.
‘He wouldn’t give it. He said you’d be unlikely to believe it.’
‘Sounds like a weirdo,’ Benny remarks. ‘You’ll get them all the time now that you’re the gifted. Best send him on his way.’
Benny knows more about this shit than I do, so I nod. ‘Just tell him to go.’
Summer starts to leave, only to hesitate and turn back. ‘M’lady … he did say something else. It was a little … odd.’
‘Yes?’
‘He said he hoped you weren’t too cold without him these last moons.’
‘Sorry?’
‘He said he hoped you weren’t too cold,’ she repeats, but I don’t actually need her to say it again as I realise who is here.
My heart leaps in my chest.
There is only one person who would say that to me, but there is absolutely no way in hell that Ruben – myRuben from the slums – could ever make it past all the guards on all of the rings and into the High Hold itself. And yet …
I run out of the room. As I approach the front door, I freeze at the figure standing before me. Benny was like a breath of air after coming up from the kraken, and Ruben is the warm hug I so desperately need.
‘Hey, Rosey,’ he says, his face lifting into what is possibly the warmest, most welcome smile I have ever seen. ‘Did you miss me?’
Chapter 4
The warmth of Ruben’s hug is everything I remembered and a thousand times better besides.
It doesn’t matter that we’re now in a fully heated home, with no need for his power to stop my extremities from freezing. I cling to him, and I don’t want to let go. From the way his entire body relaxes as he holds me, he feels the same way.
It’s only when a throat clears behind us that I realise how long we’ve been holding each other.
‘So … any chance of some introductions?’ Benny asks, sounding amused.
Reluctantly, Ruben and I break apart. The comparative rush of cold is almost instantaneous, and Ruben’s eyes linger on me with a warmth that isn’t purely platonic, making me flush.
‘Benny, this is Ruben, a good friend of mine. From before the Retterheld.’ I lay just a little extra emphasis on the wordfriend.
‘Ruben?’ Benny says with a smirk as he takes in Ruben’s tousled good looks. ‘You’d think I’d have heard your name before, but I suspect there’s a reason she kept you secret. Not wanting to share, Rose?’
‘Shut up,’ I say, but I can’t stop grinning. After everythingthat’s happened over the past twenty-four hours, having Ruben here feels like a blessing I didn’t know I needed.
And I’ll take every blessing I can get.
