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“Thank you,” I said, gratefully, looking at the tray. He might have asked for a servant to bring everything up. Instead he’d done it himself, knowing I valued privacy and quiet after a long day.

Lysander set it all down on the large, low table in the middle of the seating area and began arranging things. I saw a plate of sliced cheese, grapes, and berries; a deep dish filled with pieces of herb-covered baked fish; a bottle of a rare vintage of bloodwine; and three cut crystal goblets. The wine was most certainly not from the school refectory. Orphos must have had its own cellar.

Lysander filled a glass and passed it to me. I took a small sip and sighed. It tasted amazing—and went straight to the tips of my toes where Kage’s hands were still massaging. Lysander’s eyes were on my feet. I realized his mouth was tight.

I sat up a little straighter. “What’s wrong?”

He frowned. “Nothing.”

Kage’s face split into another grin. “He’s jealous.”

My eyes widened. “Jealous?”

“That I’m getting to touch you,” Kage explained.

I flushed. “Oh.” I swung my feet quickly off his lap and slid off the couch onto the floor, setting my glass down on the table and reaching for a grape.

Kage made a sound of disappointment, but I ignored him. Lysander looked at Kage. I watched as the House Orphos man smiled ruefully. The way they looked at one another was beautiful, but it also made my chest feel strange. What they had was so certain. And here I was, an interloper in their midst. I swallowed and looked away before I did something stupid, like admit that my blood had been turning to fire under Kage’s hands.

“So how long have you two been together?” I asked, filling a small plate with some fish and rice. I realized that I was genuinely curious—and suddenly felt silly for not having asked them sooner.

Kage moved, standing up and coming to sit down on the other side of the low table. “We first met when we were teenagers.” He sat down on the floor beside Lysander, crossing his long legs beneath him.

I couldn’t help staring at them there, side by side. They looked so handsome next to one another. Kage always looked like he’d been carved for war with his strong, soldier’s build, all blunt strength, broad shoulders, and thick forearms. Tonight he wore a fitted black shirt with the Avari crest on it. Something like you might wear when working out in combat class. He grinned at me, and I felt like I’d been let in on a special secret. When he smiled, it was so boyish; it didn’t match the calm, composed, strong Avari exterior that he showed the rest of the world.

I glanced at Lysander. He was a different kind of dangerous. I’d seen him fight, watched him move with lethal grace. I knew anyone who underestimated this man or his house was pathetically misinformed. His blue eyes were beautiful. His cheekbones were a crime. But it was his mouth that captivated me. Wide, soft lips that could hide so much—or be filled with expression when he chose.

I quickly reached for a bread bun, tearing off a piece and shoving it into my mouth before I could say something idiotic. “You’ve been together since then?” I said, pausing midchew.

They glanced at each other. Like two parts of one sentence that together made a whole. “Pretty much,” Lysander said. “We met one summer by chance.”

“My grandmother had taken me to the Sable Isles,” Kage explained. “Diplomatic trip. Lysander was assigned to show me around. We were supposed to be polite, make small talk. We weren’t supposed to actually like each other and make friends. But … we did.”

Avari and Orphos weren’t supposed to mix, they were supposed to be rivals. They couldn’t be more different. Different loyalties. Different blood.

“So, you just … what? Didn’t tell anyone?”

Lysander shrugged. “Basically. Sometimes we’d both be visiting Veilmar at the same time. We’d sneak out to meet each other.”

“You’ve been together a long time, then,” I said slowly. That sounded like Blake and me, except a lot more romantic. “Two rival houses. Forbidden love.” I smiled awkwardly. “Doesn’t sound very highblood.”

“Well, we didn’t really have a choice,” Kage said. “It was just meant to be.”

They were looking at one another in a way that made me feel awkward. I quickly lifted my goblet and took another sip. “Right,” I said, like I knew what I was talking about. Like I’d ever felt anything similar. “So you’ve been a secret ever since? But you had to know it would come out sometime, right?”

Lysander nodded. “We knew when it came out that it wouldn’t go over well.” He glanced at Kage. “At least not with the Avaris.”

“I told my grandmother recently,” Kage confessed.

I stared at him. “She knows? Is that why she’s so pissed off at you?”

He shrugged. “Among other reasons.”

“Does she know about me?” I blurted out before I could stop myself.

Silence. Then Kage’s eyebrows rose, as if he were pleased. “Not yet.”

“Not yet?”