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He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “Remember when I first courted Neverra, and I would take her to the plaza? They had muses that would play music or recite poetry during the evening. A lot of couples went there. A date is that. Something that couples do that is not work-related.” He made sure to enunciate the last part.
My head slammed to the table, and I lay there face down. “What if you’re wrong, and I am just seeing what I want to see? What if it isn’t real, Logan?” I mumbled against the table.
Logan’s laugh only made my nerves more erratic. “They wrote war songs about you. Men and beasts alike would piss themselves if you stepped on a battlefield, and now the great and fearsome World Ender is afraid of a date.”
“I am not fond of you right now,” I said.
“You should bring flowers.”
“Flowers?” I asked, lifting my head. “Why, so she can toss them in my face? Crush my heart further? We just got to the point where she can tolerate me once more. I do not wish to scare her. Sometimes she retreats so far inside her mind that even I cannot reach her.”
“Okay, well, how about this? You will know if it’s a date if you see her tomorrow and her hair and makeup are done. Nev always does that, plus the smell.”
“Smell?” I asked, more confused than when we’d begun this conversation.
Logan’s laugh reverberated off the council halls.
I really hated him.
Sixty-Nine
Camilla
I fiddled with the chains attached to the cuffs wrapped around my wrists. The buzz from whatever air conditioning they had stirred above my head. I sat back on the bench in my cell and tucked my legs under me with a sigh. I tried to keep track of how many days I had been locked up by counting the meals Vincent brought me, but my internal clock was just too messed up, and the grumpy celestial was no help.
My hands flexed, and I concentrated on my palm, willing just a flicker of emerald magic to form, but like every other time, nothing happened. Sighing, I leaned against the cool wall.
A door whooshed open, and I sat straight. Any distraction from my thoughts was welcome at this point. Light poured into the room, followed by voices. My heart quickened, thinking Vincent had returned, but I quickly snuffed that reaction. We barely tolerated each other, but at least when he was here, I didn’t feel so alone. Even if he just sat silently or complained.
I heard a deep laugh as two sets of feet headed my way. Logan. My hope and excitement deflated.
“I will suspend you if you do not cease.” Samkiel’s voice was a low growl filled with exasperation.
At the sound of his voice, I stood. I hadn’t seen Samkiel since they’d locked me away down here. My hand instinctively ran to my throat. I gulped, remembering the feeling of his power coursing through my veins, almost boiling my body alive. The dark thoughts just kept coming, and I couldn’t help but remember the stories I’d heard of Samkiel and Logan. How, when the two of them showed up together, their enemies fell. Was that to be my fate? Had my usefulness run its course? I couldn’t help how I began to tremble, terror twisting me in knots.
They came to a stop in front of me. The power radiating from them made my skin prickle and my magic sing. They were men-shaped forces of light, air, and pure raw power.
“Hello, Camilla. Are you enjoying your cell?” Samkiel asked. His voice always reminded me of the ocean. It sounded beautiful but could create a storm so dark and violent that it would drown you in seconds if you allowed it.
“It’s lovely.” I lifted my hands, the engraved silver cuffs rattling. “Celestial chains and all. Oh, and the company. Vincent is the best guard.”
Samkiel looked at Logan, his brow furrowing with confusion. “Peculiar, I only sent him for one watch. He’s been back?”
Logan shrugged. “I don’t know. He hasn’t said anything about it to me.”
That caught me off-guard, and I realized I probably should have kept my mouth shut. Vincent had come back regularly. He’d tell the others to leave, and then he would usually just sulk, barely speaking. But the nights he did, we talked about everything and nothing.
Samkiel brushed it off, placing one hand in his pocket. Even his council garbs screamed power, the silver a stark contrast to the unrelieved black of the celestials. I knew he was the protector and savior of every realm, but right now, he seemed every bit of a predator. Sheer power wafted off him. Maybe that was what Dianna loved most about him. Or maybe it was the ego she’d complained about, but I knew her and could tell she found his confidence sexy. I mean, in all fairness, he’d earned it. He needed no help, no armies. I had heard the stories, read the texts, and witnessed a small amount back in San Paulao. He had nearly ripped the room apart after Dianna was shot. I could easily picture him doing the same to Onuna if she had died in Yejedin. There would be nothing left in the wake of that destruction.
Samkiel was just a boy in love with a girl. I knew it, even if they hadn’t said it. Or, like her, denied it. I could feel it dancing across my skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake. Love was nothing but magic in its purest form.
“I’m assuming you’re here to tell me I’ll be executed soon?” I swallowed the growing lump in my throat.
Logan snickered, and Samkiel shot him a quelling glance before saying, “Actually, quite the opposite.”
I took a step, the chains at my feet rattling. “You’re letting me go?”
If Samkiel heard my racing heart, he didn’t mention it. “Temporarily,” he said.
