Page 57

"Why?"

His brow pulled together as though the answer should have been obvious. "Because it's yours."

That shut me up.

Corian watched me for a moment before continuing. "You're not a weapon the Citadel issued to me. You're a member of my squad. I need to know what you can offer Nephrite, but I also need to know where your lines are so I don't cross them by accident."

Something uncomfortable twisted low in my chest.

Not bad.

Just unfamiliar.

Down the hall, something clattered, followed by Alex's muffled apology to nobody in particular. The house carrying on without us, ordinary and unconcerned.

I looked at him properly then.

The blond hair tied into that ridiculous knot, loose strands falling near his face because even Corian couldn't bully his own hair into obedience. Broad shoulders beneath the black shirt, arms folded now as he waited for me to decide whether I believed him. His face was generally too serious, although I'd learned the slight lift of one eyebrow usually meant he was amused and trying not to encourage whichever one of us had caused it.

I still thought the man-bun was questionable.

The man underneath it was becoming considerably harder to criticize.

Not because he was nice.

Alex was nice.

Corian was fair.

There was a difference.

He listened when someone disagreed with him. He changed plans when new information made the old one useless. He apologized when he realized he'd been unfair and somehow managed to command four extremely different people without making any of them smaller in the process.

I respected him.

That realization arrived quietly enough that I couldn't immediately argue with it.

Annoying.

"Fine," I said.

Corian's eyebrow rose. "Fine?"

"Yes."

Neither of us moved for a moment. I'd just told him the one thing I'd spent years making sure stayed inside locked rooms and Council files, and the room hadn't changed at all. No file being opened. No assessment scheduled. Just Corian, leaning against the same table, waiting to see whether I was actually finished before he let the conversation end.

I was. Mostly.

I moved toward the door, then stopped with my hand on the latch.

"For Estarith Bay, treat me as a healer."

"I will."

"If something comes up where Biomancy can help, I'll tell you."

"I know."