“What? You slept here. We both slept,” I croaked, suddenly feeling like the walls were closing in on me. As if I’d done something wrong by letting her rest comfortably. She’d yet to remember the circumstances which had brought her into this position, and she hadn’t felt me move her during the night. I did owe her an explanation. “You dozed off in an uncomfortable position,” I added. “All I did was let you lie down.”
“On top of you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Is that such a big problem? Do I repulse you?”
I kept my face straight. I didn’t want a smile to give the joke away. She blinked rapidly, suddenly realizing that there was no reason for her to be alarmed, in any case. “No. It’s not that. I…” Her voice trailed off, but her gaze was fixed on mine. Lots of things were said in this silence, things that neither of us would have the courage to say out loud. Not yet, anyway. “I forgot I was here.”
“I know. For the record, I was in no way disrespectful toward you.”
Her forehead smoothed. “I didn’t imply that—oh, for…” She got up, pulling her hair loose from its messy bun, then back into a smoother, tighter one. “I just got confused. I didn’t mean to suggest you’d done anything… I don’t know, improper.”
Her cheeks burst into delicate swirls of pink blush, and it became increasingly difficult to contain my impending laughter. She must’ve noticed the grin slitting my face from ear to ear, because she scoffed, then laughed lightly and gave me a playful slap on the shoulder.
“You’re such a clown,” she reprimanded me, still giggling.
“I do apologize, but you were a relatively easy target,” I said.
“That’s true. I guess I should work on my fierceness,” she replied, and exhaled sharply. “I’m still a lieutenant of the Cerixian army, after all.”
“There’s a soft core beneath the hardest shell.” I chuckled.
A hard knock on the door made the both of us jump. Amelia’s muffled voice came through. “Tae! You in there? Wake up! It’s time to get ready!”
I gave Eira an alarmed look, immediately realizing that no one knew she’d slept in my treehouse last night. But did it really matter to anyone? Nothing had happened, as opposed to the obvious three couples that had already been more or less established in our crew. I got up and pulled myself together. There was nothing to be worried about. Nothing at all.
Despite the agitation in my chest, I walked across the living room and opened the door. Amelia was already fully equipped and beaming, the spiraling staircase leading to the ground level right behind her. Above and below, other guest treehouses had been built in a similar style, all connected to the same set of stairs. The Shade’s redwoods were humongous, strong enough to hold multiple structures without suffering. The guesthouses were quite small compared to the personal residences, which had been constructed at the top of single, mature trees.
“You’re supposed to be the early bird in the—” Amelia stopped, noticing Eira behind me. “Oh…”
“No ‘oh,’” I replied. “She slept here. That’s all. We were talking, tired… Nothing more.”
“Okay…” Amelia muttered, nodding slowly. “Though you really don’t have to explain anything to me. It’s pretty obvious that there’s something going on between the two of you,” she added in a whisper.
I stepped forward, just to get myself out of Eira’s earshot. “Obvious? What’s obvious is that you and Raphael finally took things to the next level last night, judging by the glow on your face.”
That was enough to wipe the grin off her face. “It can’t be that obvious.”
“Oh, Brainy. You’re an open book, and you don’t even know it.” I laughed.
“That aside, we need to get crackin’,” she said, swiftly switching into her serious and professional mode. “The rest of the crew is expecting us in the Great Hall.”
Pleased that I’d dodged any potential conversations regarding Eira and me, I gave Amelia a friendly nod. “I’ll see you downstairs in a bit. We just need to grab our gear.”
Amelia pressed her lips into a thin line without saying anything else. I watched her glide down the stairs and turned around to face Eira, who’d kept to the sofa, watching, without hearing much.
“Time to go,” I said to her.
She seemed relieved to hear that. I didn’t take it to heart. I’d already figured out that Eira had not had any romantic involvements in the past, though I hadn’t suggested that anything of the sort would even happen between us—I’d only thought about it. Nevertheless, I understood her awkwardness when left alone with me. I felt the same way, though I was a lot less transparent. From a young age, I’d been taught to keep my emotions to myself.
Eira, on the other hand, was remarkably honest, even when she didn’t want to be. Goodness and honesty were in her nature, which I, for one, found endearing. She was a terrible liar. Her only relief in this instance had to do with her degree of comfort. She probably looked forward to getting out of here and back with the whole crew, where she could disappear in the group.
We had a hard day ahead of us. Eira was right to focus on that. Everything else could wait a little while longer. Death’s mission was the key to our future, whatever that implied. As much as I would’ve wanted, I knew we’d have to keep our minds on that and leave everything else aside, at least until we brought Thieron back.
Amelia
Twenty minutes later, my face had stopped burning, and we were all reunited in the meeting hall, close to the portal. Taeral had a sharp tongue and a keen eye—I should’ve known better than to poke him, out of all people, on romantic issues. But, then again, he and Eira had been orbiting around each other for quite a while now, and even though I understood he’d been into Inalia at first, the situation had obviously changed.
He deserved another shot at happiness, and I had a feeling that Eira was just the kind of girl for him. Physically and intellectually speaking, they were an interesting match, to say the least, though at first, it would’ve been difficult to see it. Once I got to know them both better, however, it had become obvious. They had military backgrounds, and they shared certain key traits—determination, discipline, and courage. They were smart and well educated, curious about the world and all of its dimensions, and they definitely seemed comfortable around each other.
Taeral had promised Inalia that he’d protect Eira, but that had already turned into more. His insistence on having the Cerixian Hermessi child by his side at all times wasn’t just about keeping her safe anymore, and I didn’t need Varga’s sentry abilities to figure that out—though the Nevertide prince had already shared his findings with us. He’d noticed the colors shift in their auras. He probably knew more about their feelings for each other than Taeral and Eira themselves.
The crew was reunited once more—Raphael and me, Eva and Varga, Taeral and Eira, Riza and Herakles, Lumi, Nethissis, Acantha, and Fallon. Derek and Sofia would lead the briefing, bringing us up to speed on what they’d discussed with Tebir last night. Our backpacks, weapons, and mission gear waited in a corner while we took our seats around the table.
One glance at the others, and I knew that certain relationships had changed, ever so slightly, aside from Raphael’s and mine. Riza and Herakles were stealing glances at each other, as usual, but there were faint smiles that followed, as if they were both anticipating something wonderful. Varga and Eva were practically glued to each other, their hands linked at all times. And, just as I’d thought, some of the ice had definitely thawed between Taeral and Eira. Without even realizing it, and no matter how they sat in their chairs, they tended to lean toward each other.
Lumi had her eyes on us, too. She measured each of us from head to toe, and I could almost hear the wheels in her head turning and making connections. Raphael gave me a soft nudge, prompting me to look at him.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“I think Lumi’s on to us,” I whispered.
He chuckled. “I think the most important aspect of this conversation is that we’re on to us.”
I gave him a soft smile, briefly remembering our kisses from last night. We’d stayed together till morning, and I’d slept in his arms, which had remained firmly wrapped around me. I’d basked in his summertime ocean scent, and I’d listened to the steady beats of his heart as he’d slept.
“I hope everyone got some rest last night,” Derek said. “You’ve got a difficult trip ahead of you.”
Fallon grinned. “I think that’s quite the understatement.”
