Page 153 of Ashborne: Defiance

I thumped a hand to my chest in the way I’d seen them all do, and bowed my head once, then turned for the door. But Gil caught my arm again.

“Just wait a moment.” When I looked at him, my stomach sank. His smile was mischievous again. “One of the other things that’s very important in a squad is that we all offer to help each other whenever we can.”

I snapped to attention. “Yes, sir! If you have a job, or—”

“No, no,” he said with a low laugh again. “I’m saying, I want you to train me.”

I frowned. “What? But—”

“Grace, the day I can sneak up behind Voski without him sensing me, I win a very large wager. So, I will do everything I can to help you advance this week. And I hope you’ll do the same for me.”

“I… of course,” I said, nodding my head again, though I was scrambling. I didn’t know why Voski didn’t sense me, when he apparently sensed others. But I’d show him what I knew.

Gil smiled and rubbed his hands together. “Excellent.”

53. Hiding

SOUNDTRACK: Behind the Door by JFTheArtist

~ VOSKI ~

I was a fucking coward. Once I was dressed and had my things, I’d intended to head out. But Grace and Gil stood at the intersection of aisles, and I didn’t want to walk past them, or have Gil call me back if he saw me sneaking out. I figured they wouldn’t talk long. So, I busied myself for a few minutes refilling Kham’s water trough, and raking out some of the soiled straw. Usually the stableboys would do that, but it gave me a reason to be in an empty stable. A short time later, I was almost finished and began raking the straw into a pile out the door, surreptitiously checking the aisle to make sure they’d moved on. But I should have known. The boots ringing on the stone floor in the early-morning quiet were Gil’s. Marching toward me.

The only relief was that he hadn’t brought Grace with him.

I was just about finished when he reached my shoulder. Without a word he caught my arm and yanked me into the stable.

A bolt of panic shot through my chest and I whirled, breaking his grip and turning on the balls of my feet, before I caught myself, to find Gil staring, his head tipped and one brow arched.

“You knew it was me,” he growled, yanked the rake out of my hand, tossed it to the pile of straw, then shoved me into the stable in front of him. “What the hell is going on with you?”

I scowled at him. “It’s reflex—and don’t try to tell me your training’s never kicked in when someone touched you suddenly. You know better.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” he muttered, standing at my toes. “What the hell is going on with you and Grace?”

“Nothing!” That, at least, was true. “I’m trying to avoid her!”

“Is that before or after convincing her you make the call on whether her training progresses?”

“What? I never said—”

“She ran out of here, panicking, because she’s convinced if you get angry enough, you talk to someone and stop her reaching assessment. Now, I get that you’ve had a rough couple of weeks, bro. But what the actual fuck?”

“I didn’t tell her that!”

“Well, clearly you haven’t reassured her either!”

“I have! I just told her yesterday—again—that I was sure she would attain rank!”

“Then why was she running out of here, nearly in tears, convinced if she played a trick on you with me, that you’d stop her advancing?”

“I don’t know! She’s a fucking noble. Who knows how they think?”

Gil’s expression flattened. “This has nothing to do with her being noble.”

“Doesn’t it?”

“What is it with you and these people?”