Page 6 of The Shadow Sanctum

“Father doesn’t typically speak to initiates until they’ve passed their test. You don’t need to worry about Mr. Sanchez telling anyone he saw you here… I’ll have everything worked out by morning.”

Sawyer's eyes flick chaotically. I search his mouth, and—yes, his teeth are tapping. His lack of faith is … surprising?

Did I expect him to have faith in me? He wasn’t even sure I’d win the fight.

I go to him; put my hand on his shoulder. “Hey…”

“Is he staying here?”

I blink. “What?”

“The initiate. Is he staying in this house tonight?”

I hike my shoulders. Let them fall. “Yes. Father believes he has a lot to offer us. We keep initiates like him close until their membership is official.”

“I don’t want you staying in the same house as him.” Sawyer shifts so close, his jacket’s zipper grazes my stomach, and I have to bend my neck back to look at him. I’d think he wanted to kiss me if his face didn’t look so serious. “I don’t trust him.”

He doesn’t trust him…

Half a laugh lifts my chest. “Neither do I. But I assure you, I can care for myself.”

“Luna…”

My head tilts while I watch him wrangle with his thoughts. So many emotions seem to pass over his handsome face, he doesn’t even look like Sawyer until at last, he stills. Something lights up his eyes. But when he turns them to me, they’re narrowed.

“Luna… Are you attracted to him?”

I rear back with a grimace. “What?”

“I saw the way you looked at him. I’m not…” His hands lift. He doesn’t stop me when I distance myself. “I’m not trying to accuse you of anything. But I just threw away my freedom because I couldn’t bear the idea of leaving you behind. If there’s something I should know, some thing you have for new initiates⁠—”

“What are you talking about?” I try to laugh, but it comes out stilted. Confused, not nervous—until a moment later when, for some reason, I’m afraid it comes off as guilty.

There was a mild attraction for the initiate upon meeting him. More recognition than anything else. I⁠—

This is ridiculous even to analyze.

“He’s staying in your quarters. He’s staying in my old room.”

“Yes, the one he asked me to deliver a Seraph to, less than twenty minutes ago. He’s a parasite, Sawyer.” Handsomely repulsive. “Why are you acting jealous?”

“I’m not jealous,” he says with all the assurance of a sweating con artist. “I’m sensing a pattern and expressing concern. If you’re going to be sleeping down the hall from a conveniently handsome replacement initiate, handpicked by you, I think I’m justified in⁠—”

“I suggest you not finish that sentence.”

He holds up his hands, conceding, I think. But no. “If he sleeps here, I sleep here. That’s all I ask.”

My brows pull together, the skin of my forehead growing tight. I can’t tell whether to be insulted or … something else. For a man who claims to know me, his assessment of my ability to protect myself is wildly lacking.

Unless he actually is jealous…

Pitifully unlikely.

“This isn’t charming,” I say with a voice that must make my contempt clear. “Frankly, this is the worst acting I’ve ever seen from you. Whatever concern you⁠—”

The horn blares, turning my attention to the open window. It’s a siren really, long low notes that come one after the other. It means trouble.

The other Keepers know about the escape.