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They wanted to win. I saw it in their eyes. They wanted a whole week to rub this victory in our faces.
I took a running leap, feeling like I was flying. My face slammed into the ground, sand going up my nose and scraping my chest, stomach, and legs as I fell, but I felt the smooth surface of the ball fall into my hand.
“Oh, come on!” I heard Cameron scream.
I jumped to my feet, Neverra and Imogen piling onto me, cheering. I tossed the ball to Neverra and tried to wipe the sand from my face and torso.
Cameron paced with his hands on his hips. Logan sat laughing, holding his knee, and Xavier chuckled, his dark eyes sparkling in the sunshine.
“She cheated. I don’t know how, but she did,” Cameron said.
“You’re such a sore loser,” Xavier told him.
“Are you sure you don’t have your powers back?” Cameron accused, but I saw the humor in his eyes.
“You’re such a baby,” Imogen chided.
They sparred back and forth as Neverra and I headed toward the blanket she had laid out, a large umbrella providing welcome shade. A cool chest sat on one corner beside a small tray with glasses.
“Let’s go relax, shall we?”
I nodded but paused to cover the spot where I’d landed after my leap, making sure to obscure the shimmer of glass in the sand.
* * *
I sat on the large knitted blanket, the tassels at the edges blowing in the breeze. Neverra reached into the cooler for the sandwiches she’d brought, the brim of her hat bending back in the wind. My breath caught, my heart clenching, as she turned back and smiled at me, offering me a paper-wrapped sandwich. For a fleeting moment, I’d seen Gabby, but only for a second. I forced a smile, accepted the sandwich, and unwrapped it. The guys whooped and hollered behind us, continuing to play.
“I had yours made with extra mustard and no tomatoes.”
My eyes widened, my fingers tightening on the sandwich. “I hate tomatoes.”
“I know.” She didn’t say how she knew, but I knew. Logan and Neverra had lived with Gabby for months.
Neverra bit into hers, watching me, waiting for me to eat too. My system had become accustomed to a different type of sustenance, and food did not sit well, but there was no way I would not eat this sandwich. One bite, and for once, my stomach didn’t protest. Neverra grinned happily.
“It’s pretty here. I haven’t been before.”
“It is,” I said, looking out over the waves. “Samkiel brought me here the other day. The ocean, the beach, is still hard for me, but he’s—”
“Stubborn.”
I laughed and took another bite. “Very.”
“He was like that on Rashearim. The gods hated it because it meant he didn’t listen to them. Especially when he first found all of us. It’s like talking to a brick wall once he has his mind set on something,” she paused, “or his heart.”
I hummed behind my sandwich in response, not quite knowing what to say. The sand shifted next to us, and I half turned, surprised to see Imogen. She was half covered in sand and trying to brush it off without success.
“Cameron tackled me. I think he is still mad that they lost,” Imogen said. Her eyes darted toward the open basket of food, to Neverra, and then to me. She placed one arm behind her back and gave me a hesitant smile. “Can I sit with you guys?”
I blinked. How was it that one of the fiercest warriors known throughout my world and the next was asking nervously if she could sit with us? But then, I guess she had every reason to be hesitant around me. I hadn’t been nice to any of them and tried multiple times to kill them. More than that, I’d been mean to her because of her past relationship with Samkiel. Especially after finding out she’d been his betrothed. Logically, I knew it wasn’t her fault, or his, for that matter. It had all been due to my own jealous insecurities.
Shock must have registered on my face because her expression fell, and her gaze dropped. I heard the sand shuffling as she turned away, taking my silence as a refusal. I leaned forward and practically yelled, “Wait!”
She stopped, and it felt like everything had stopped with her. The boys’ laughter died as they looked toward us. The ocean no longer slapped against the shore, and the wind stilled as if holding its breath. They glanced at each other, everyone waiting as if my approval of her on my terms meant something to them all.
“Sit. Neverra made more than enough to feed an entire city. I can’t eat it all.”
The way her eyes lit up as she smiled made my chest ache. How cruel had I been?
