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Like Deks.

Or Rogues.

I’d been itching to see One’s armory, to get my hands on a gun and target practice. But it didn’t feel right to ask. It felt peaceful here, and I wasn’t going to disturb it with firing bullets.

This wasn’t Six.

If I decided to stay here, I would need to learn how to use the weapons that were common here; what would be readily at my disposal.

But I hadn’t quite yet decided what to do.

I’d been spending most nights on the castle’s rooftop under the stars, hoping for a sign from the universe of where my presence would be better served, where I would make the largest impact when the next battle came. But night after night, the universe had failed to offer any advice.

I took my seat next to Sigrid, across from Adrian and Cal, and clasped my hands, bowing my head as Adrian’s father left us to our meal and Cal said grace. Like the evenings before, his voice cracked when he spoke of Simon and the absence he felt that his friend was no longer there.

“To One,” Cal said, ending his prayer.

“To One,” Adrian and Sigrid whispered in unison.

I’d learned there were no religions on One. No civilizations waging war on each other over whose god was greater. And not because the Esmereldean people didn’t have the right to believe, but because there wasn’t a need for belief. On One, the Earth was the almighty power. Tangible. Her existence indisputable. The existence of magic bringing the people closer to each other.

The only divide between the Esmereldean people was the tried-and-true separation of good versus evil. People like the Rogues versus the innocent. Human nature standing in the way of a supercontinent of peace. Like it stood in the way on my Earth.

Sigrid had mentioned the Rogues were getting braver in their attacks during our time together at the stables. The unprovoked attack on us in the woods was proof of their insolence to the Crown. She’d also confirmed my earlier suspicions: had the Rogues known the king was among us that morning, they would’ve never attacked us. They would’ve never risked losing their men so easily to Leo’s magic.

According to her, they hadn’t attacked the Crown directly since the death of Leo’s parents; though, they’d been trying their hardest to make things chaotic for the continent. They were best known for attacks that disrupted trade routes and promoted terror within the smaller towns that were outliers to the major cities, where armed forces were scarcer. But their organization still lacked the numbers to start a direct war with the king.

For now, it seemed the Deks were the biggest threat to Leo and his people.

I thought about this while I ate my dinner.

There was more peace here than on my Earth. More quiet moments and the feeling of life. The grass hummed with it, the sun sparkled brighter from it. You could feel the earth breathing on a wind. It spoke to me. Rooting itself in me.

And then there was him—Leo. The gorgeous man who was mine for the taking, if I chose it. But should I choose it?

Could I truly see myself here, by his side, acting as if I didn’t have an entire life back in Gray? I could still visit Six, couldn’t I? Still see the people I loved, yet live a life of fantasy here . . .

“Bryn, are you in?”

“Er—sorry, in what?” I focused back to the conversation in front of me, to Sigrid’s eyes lit up with mischief.

“I said, we’re going to the lake for a night swim, are you in?”

A lake.

I’d conquered the bath easily enough, and I hadn’t had a nightmare since Leo had held me right before the Rogues attacked us. But I wasn’t sure I wanted to tempt fate with drowning by panic attack.

And I’d yet to fully submerge myself underwater.

I gulped.

Adrian’s eyes caught mine, and he lifted one corner of his lips, giving me an asshole smirk, quietly calling me out.

I didn’t think he knew about the incident, but he knew something made me uncomfortable about Sigrid’s invitation, and he loved to watch me squirm.

“I’m in,” I said, setting my shoulders back, not breaking eye contact with Adrian.

He grabbed the goblet in front of him, draining the remnants of his wine, his smirk turning into a grin as he stood. “Let’s go, then, shall we?”