Page 139 of Rite of Unity

He turned back to the window.“Are you coming or not?”

He climbed over the ledge and disappeared before I could answer.

I leaned forward, peering out.My heart was loud in my ears.A ledge rimmed the building several feet below—close enough, if I didn’t think about it too hard.Calden waited, jaw tight, one arm pressed against his side.

I climbed onto my sill, the night air cold against my bare arms.Don’t think.

I slid my feet over the edge and jumped.

His hand shot out, catching me.He winced, and I grabbed his arm instinctively.

“I’m fine,” he said before I could speak.

He wasn’t.But he was already tapping his tablet.

“I told you to grab a coat.”

“What about you?”I searched his face in the dark.

He lifted a shoulder, dropped to the ground and stepped back.

I followed, landing harder than I expected.The impact rattled up my knees.For a moment, I stood completely still, searching for a light in a window above us, someone coughing behind a wall, my pulse in my throat.

Nothing.

He was already moving toward the alley.

Calden stopped beside a dark car that screamed Elite.It was low to the ground, and as he approached, the door slid up, revealing a black interior with silver accents.

In the Middle, if you saw a car like this, you got out of the way.

I got in beside him, and the doors slid down, blocking out the outside world.

I glanced around as he leaned over, tugging down a strap and pulling it across my waist.I sucked in a sharp breath as his scent—whiskey and something darker, purely Calden—and his nearness, twisted my insides.I should have moved back, should have slapped his hand away, but I was frozen as a soft click sounded, and he sat up.

The smile he sometimes shared with only me was absent as he touched the car’s screen, illuminating the outside world in a soft green glow.

My gaze fixed on the formerly black window in front of us.

“Night vision,” he explained.

I nodded, but had no idea what that meant.

He touched a bar resting between us, and the car rolled forward silently, picking up speed.

I glanced over at Calden, but his eyes were fixed on the road.Buildings blurred by, and I leaned back in my seat.

“I’m surprised he took you outside the wall,” he said, not looking at me.

My gaze shot to him, still staring at the road.I studied his rigid posture, the set of his jaw.

“Were you worried for my safety?”

He scoffed, not answering.

“Rites end in marriage.You know that, right?”

Calden’s jaw flexed, but he said nothing else, and I stared out the window.On the horizon, a line of blue formed, so dark it was nearly black.I stilled as we approached a building.Calden touched the screen on his dashboard, and the metal doors swung open.