I hiss through my teeth and resist the strong urge to throttle him. “So, you’re going to just let people keep hurting others?”
“No.Iam going to go to sleep.”
“Gabriel!”
“Kyanite!” He rises enough to pull me against him, to feel his heat burning through my thin nightdress. Tingles raise goosebumps along my skin as I try to not think, to not feel drawn to the stubborn man lying next to me.
“Sol,” I say, my voice low, but loud enough for him to hear me.
There’s something I must know. “Do you care enough to protect Kassandra? Would you defend her?”
“Iwillprotect, Kassandra.”
If he’s not going to talk to the council, how does he intend to keep Kassandra safe?
“How?”
“By leaving this damn city,” he says bitterly. Revealingly.
My brow rises. “You hate Astarobane?”
“It ishiscity,” Gabriel says, his voice lined with resentment.
“Whose city?”
When Gabriel doesn’t reply, I decide to shift the subject back to my friend. “When will we leave Astarobane?”
“As soon as I can convince Luc and the others to leave.”
I’ll have to be content with that. After all, I didn’t come here to change their traditions. Olah knows, I don’t agree with all of the Kyanite’s traditions either.
If things were different, and I planned to stay, I’d try to alter this for Kassandra. I would rip those red circles away with my bare hands.
But I’m not here to stay.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
Sunlight spills through the cracks in the walls of the barn the following evening. The same damp, musty smell hits me as I enter.
My conversation with Gabriel last night hasn’t faded. Neither has my concern for Kassandra. As I went about my duties this morning, a hollow sensation settled in the pit of my stomach. No matter where I went or what I did, it never left.
As I take my third step into the barn, unease ripples down the back of my legs. I pause and dart my eyes around. Nothing seems out of place. The animals are in their pens. The tools are where I left them the day before. Yet, the feeling doesn’t ease.
I try to ignore it as I go about my duties: collecting eggs, feeding the animals, and petting Gabriel’s horse. I offer Hale a carrot and turn as I’m overwhelmed by a feeling of not being alone.
My fingers itch to reach for a weapon, but I haven’t carried one with me since Luc kidnapped me. He removed my daggers, and I never replaced them. Gabriel would have questions if he caught me with them. So, it was easier to go without.
Until now.
A thick-waisted man steps from around a large bale of hay, animosity blazing in his black eyes. My stomach squeezes as I dart a quick look around, making sure nobody else joins him.
“What do you need?” I ask curtly.
The man smiles, showing off even white teeth as he leans against a beam. “Hello, Kyanite,” he says, his words slurred.
“What do you need?” I repeat, my tone laced with edges sharp enough to pierce him.
He traces his gaze over me, his stare a lazy prowl over my body. “I heard a rumor.”
