Page 50 of Legacy Ascended

“So are you.”

I run my thumb across the fourth mark. “He keeps coming over to sit with us. He brought Freya those maps and stayed to argue about them. But then we’re alone for thirty seconds and he turns back into Prince Ardent.”

“He doesn’t know what you’ll let him be.”

“I’ve kissed him, Luke.”

“And then he spent months being an ass.”

“He did.”

“I told him so.”

That makes me smile. “How did he take it?”

“He agreed.” Luke shifts onto his side to face me. “He thinks he behaved badly enough that wanting you doesn’t give him the right to ask for anything. And he won’t treat the mark as permission.”

“So he’s waiting for me to make the first move.”

“Yes.”

“I want him.”

“I know.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“You don’t need my permission.” His fingers close around mine beneath the blanket. “But if you want to know whether I trust him with you, I do. Ander can be cold when he’s trying to get everything exactly right. He’ll stand there thinking through every possible consequence while everyone else assumes he doesn’t care.”

“That sounds exhausting.”

“It is. He’s one of my closest friends. I’m allowed to say that.”

Torres lifts his head on my other side. “For the record, I’m also awake, and I support anything that makes Prince Ardent lose control of his vocabulary.”

“Nobody asked you.”

“I know. I’m being generous.”

Behind me, Soren shifts closer. “Do you want Ander, or do you want the mark finished?”

“Ander,” I say. I don’t have to think about it. “I want to know who he is when he isn’t trying to be a prince. I want him to be ordinary with me.”

“Then make sure he knows that,” Soren says.

“How much clearer do I have to be?”

Torres drops back onto the pillow. “Use small words. He’s pretty, but nervous.”

Luke laughs quietly. “Ask him to walk with you. Somewhere with no Council, no records, and nothing he can fix for you. He’ll understand.”

“And then Sophia will develop another theory.”

“She already has one,” Torres says. “It has several parts and at least one diagram.”

Luke turns down the lamp. Soren’s arm settles over my ribs, and Torres keeps hold of my hand beneath the blanket.

Chapter nine