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I flash my eyes open and turn to look at Darian. But he’s gone. I catch a glimpse of him over my shoulder, his silhouette disappearing into the trees beyond back to the outpost.

At least he’s a man of his word.

At sparring the next day, Carlisle hands Cole a scroll, prompting him to open it immediately. Cole skim reads the paper, his eyes widening and flicking up to me as he mutters some command to Carlisle.

I turn my focus back on practicing combination moves against Melaina. I keep faltering in the transitions or forgetting to block in between. Unlike Archie, Melaina doesn’t hold back. In a real battle, I would have already died at least five times.

“Good afternoon, squad!” a strong female voice rings out across the clearing.

All of us pause mid-spar and turn to the voice. A woman glides to the edge of the sparring circle, her dark glossy hair shining in long waves down to the bottom of her ribcage. A long, sweeping dress hugs her torso, falling at her waist in a cascade of rich blue fabric. A cluster of white pearls pin back sweeps of her hair, flaunting her high angled cheekbones. She’s gorgeous. And it’s obvious I’m not the only one who notices—everyone turns toward her with greeting smiles and wide eyes.

Cole breaks from the other side of the crowd and crosses the center of the sparring ring past me to her. My heart sinks at the way she beams at him, batting dark, thick lashes.

“Hello, captain,” she murmurs softly—considerably different than she addressed the squad. The two words alone are sensual and intimate.

Cole dips his head low in greeting. “Hello, Celeste. My apologies we hadn’t formed a proper welcome for your arrival. It seems we received your letter only moments ago.”

She smiles. “Proper welcome not needed. I’m just happy to see you.”

Cole breaks eye contact with her and addresses the squad. “Sparring is concluded. Let’s all get lunch and refreshments.”

Everyone around me scatters and floats over to Celeste’s vicinity like moths to a flame.

She must be Cole’s fiancée. And if not, we may have even more problems than I’m aware of, based on her unabashed admiration for him. My heart splinters at the thought of him with her, after I spent so many years yearning to be the one with his last name. And now, the closest I can get to that is pretending to be his sister.

I slip away from them, moving against the crowd.

“Kat!” Archie calls, standing with Cole and Celeste, ushering me over with an enthusiastic hand gesture.

Dammit. If only I could melt into the ground right here. I might be able to avoid Cole, but Archie I cannot. I swallow hard, struggling to mask my resentment as I drag myself over to where Archie is.

Archie closes the gap between us, looping an arm around my neck, and pulling me into his side. “Celeste said she wanted to meet you!”

Celeste’s eyes sparkle as she gawks at Cole when we approach. My stomach tumbles hard enough I might puke. Celeste finally drags her attention away from Cole to me, her eyes crinkling at the corners as her smile drags her cheeks upwards. The deep blue of her eyes are dazzling.

“Ahh, Katerina! I’m so happy to finally meet you. I’m Celeste, Cole’s fiancée.”

I can’t miss the obnoxiously cheerful emphasis on ‘fiancée.’ She holds out an open hand to me.

I panic, trying to casually wipe the sweat off my hand onto my sides before I meet her handshake. “Hi, nice to meet you too, Celeste.”

We break our handshake, and I notice the subtle wipe of her hand on the side of her dress.

“And averybig congratulations to the two of you. I wish the both of you nothing but happiness.” I dare a side glance at Cole.

His hands twitch, but his features are schooled into indifference.

“I’ve got to report back to the healer’s quadrant. It was nice meeting you, Celeste,” I excuse myself.

“Oh, of course! So lovely to meet you as well. I would love to talk to you about our plans at dinner,” Celeste says.

I bite my tongue not to say anything else. With a nod, I bow my head before I disappear off back into camp.

I don’t give a fuck about their plans.

thirty-three

THE ART OF STITCHING