Solan moves with far more grace, pulling on his leather kilt and strapping it in place.
I pause, my mouth going dry as I realise he’s going commando. Again.
“Do you have to?” I ask, gesturing vaguely at his kilt.
His golden eyes gleam with mischief. “Do I have to what?”
“Never mind,” I mutter, yanking on my jeans and shirt. It’s a little torn from yesterday’s scuffle, but it’s clean, so it’ll do.
When Solan straps on his leather chest harness and weapons, I feel a twinge of possessiveness. The way he looks is… distracting. And if anyone else notices, I might actually lose my mind.
“Jack,” Solan says, his voice low, pulling me from my thoughts. “You’re staring.”
“Am not,” I mumble, turning away to find my boots.
He chuckles, and I feel his amusement through the bond.
By the time we make it to the main room, Jamie is sitting at the table, looking far too awake for this early in the morning. Calythra is standing nearby, a plate of food in hand.
“Morning,” Jamie chirps, his smile wide.
I breathe a sigh of relief. He looks good—better than he has in days. “Morning, kid.”
Calythra passes me a plate, a smile aimed our way. “We need to move soon. The leader is expecting us so he can take us to the camp.”
I nod, glancing at Solan. “What do you think?”
He settles into a chair beside me, his tendrils brushing lightly against my arm. “I think we’ll need to be cautious. The rebels may need our help, but their priorities might not align with ours.”
I nod, taking a bite of the surprisingly decent food. “Our priority is keeping Jamie safe.”
“Agreed,” Solan says, his golden eyes serious.“And you,”he tags on in my mind.
Jamie looks between us, his expression a mix of curiosity and determination. “You think they’ll really trust us and want us here?”
Calythra snorts. “Trust is a luxury we can’t afford right now. Prove ourselves useful, and they’ll keep us around.”
“Awesome,” I mutter, earning a smirk from Calythra. I then glance at Solan and say to him through our link,“I think Jamie being human and our bond is enough to make them keep us around.”
He answers with a grunt in my mind, one of clear agreement but a whole lot pissed off. Solan glances at me and says aloud, “We need to find out more about their plans. A rebellion has a score, right?”
“Score?” It takes a beat. “Goal?” At his nod, I say, “Yes. They don’t seem to simply want to live out their days peacefully outside of the sovereign’s rule. You know, like a separate state or something”
“Agreed.” Calythra bobs his head. “From the maps and parchment I saw yesterday, they have a plan to take down the monarchy.”
“Shit, really?” Panic claws at my chest. I don’t want any of us to be in the thick of that.
“From what I can tell. I only saw a few sheets, but it doesn’t seem like they’re only looking for separation, nor is it just about saving those who came through the merges over the years.”
“They couldn’t possibly take down a whole monarchy, right?” I look at Calythra, then Solan. To do such a thing would be all-out war. Human history has taught me that. “Based on the headquarters alone, it doesn’t seem like they’d have the capacity or numbers to do that.”
Solan answers, “Remember, we only saw what they wanted us to see. We don’t know their true strength or numbers.”
“Maybe we should just leave.”
I startle at Jamie’s words, a pang of emotion smacking me in the chest that he’s listening and involved in such discussions. But he’s also not wrong.
“This is a big world, right?” I ask Solan. Hell, are there other continents or at least different land masses? Are there oceans? I could kick myself for not paying better attention to the maps littered around the rebel HQ yesterday. “We could go somewhere else, find a place to live, to be safe, away from… everything?”
