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"There's nothing to tell." I lean back against the stack of pillows piled against my headboard and stretch my legs out in front of me, crossing at the ankles.
Eris rolls her eyes and huffs, "Fine. Keep your secrets."
"What secrets?" I laugh. "There's nothing going on between me and Atlas other than the occasional argument."
Another knock sounds against my door and before he says anything I already know who's standing on the other side. "I smell Treats," Nyx whispers loudly.
"Come on in, you bloodhound."
Nyx opens the door with a smile, notices the box, and stretches across the bed on his belly. "Am I interrupting something?" He snatches a pastry from the container Eris extends, tears a piece and pops the tiny morsel in his mouth.
"We were just talking about what's going on between Atlas and Shaye." Eris's eyebrows bounce playfully.
"Nothing is – "
"You mean the crazy sexual tension between them?" Nyx interrupts with food in his mouth. "Yeah, everyone has noticed, Kitarni. That carriage ride alone was brutal."
"I told you!" She points an accusatory finger at me, triumph written across her face.
"Eris!"
"Oh please!" She waves a dismissive hand. "Nyx caught you two sleeping together and saw you holding hands in the carriage to the castle. I'm just waiting for you to kiss."
Memory of our shared kiss in the Bavan Brothel District flashes in my mind, but I don't say anything. Instead, I take another bite of the raspberry pastry, wiping the jelly that squirts down my chin with the back of my hand. When I glance up at Nyx and Eris, I notice their mouths are agape. "Why are you two looking at me like that?"
"Oh my stars!" Eris squeals like a child on their birthday. "You've already kissed him, haven't you?"
"Wait! What? I didn't say that!" I attempt to divert the unwanted attention but fail.
"You didn't deny it either," Nyx chimes in, pointing his second pastry at me for emphasis.
"Whose side are you on?" I snarl at him.
"Honestly," he turns to his side, smacking his lips and licking his fingers, "I'm just here for the pastries. The drama is a bonus."
"Tell us everything!" Eris claps her hands together, abandoning her half-eaten treat. "I need details."
Rolling my eyes, I realize they're not going to let this go, so I surrender to their will. "Fine. It happened in Bava –"
"In Bava!?" Her eyes widen.
"Let her tell the story, Eris!" Nyx swats at her, just as invested as she is in my tale. "So, you kissed him in Bava. And?" He motions a hand for me to continue.
"Technically, he kissed me."
"Where?" Eris clutches my blanket in her white-knuckled grip, gaze pinned on me.
I finger through my drying hair, and nervously start braiding it. "When we were running from Vesper, we found ourselves in the Brothel District, and he pulled me into a dark alley and kissed me. It was just so we could blend in with everyone else. There is nothing more to it."
After a second's silence, Nyx asks, "Did you kiss him back?"
I open my mouth, a lie ready at the tip of my tongue, but nothing spills out. My words have once again abandoned me.
"Hot damn, you kissed him back!" Nyx smacks his hand against my mattress. "I didn't think you had it in you, Kitarni."
"How was the kiss? Was it good?" Eris speaks over him, clearly wanting more details than what I've already offered.
"I think you two are forgetting I'm engaged." What a flimsy excuse. Even though I no longer have any intention of going through with marrying Bastian, I still feel this sense of loyalty to him. After all, he's all I've ever known since I could even comprehend the idea of marriage. It was always supposed to be me and Bastian until the day we breathed our last. Now, there's a good possibility that we might end up on opposite sides of a war between realms.
