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Waving a hand, Alex said, “I meant to say Commander.”

D.C. grinned. “No, I don’t think you did.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “You seem pretty comfortable with Kaiden’s aunt and sister. Anything you want to share?”

Shoving another candy into her mouth, Alex just shook her head in the negative. But D.C. was unwilling to let it go.

“Remember what I said when we first saw each other here in Vardaesia?”

Alex drew a blank. “Hello?”

Lips quirking, D.C. replied, “I said we were going to talk about you and Kaiden. This seems like the perfect time.”

Again, Alex’s eyes flicked towards his door, slightly more panicked now as she willed him to remain in his room.

D.C. snorted. “I’m kidding! I’m not that sadistic—I know that’s the last thing you probably want to talk about right now.”

Alex loosed a relieved breath.

“And just so you know,” the princess continued, “I’ve come to realise that we don’t need to talk about you and him at all anymore, so you can rest easy.”

Alex blinked, wondering about her friend’s turnaround. Ever since D.C. had found out about whatever might be brewing between Alex and Kaiden, she’d been loudly in favour of the two of them being together. For D.C. to forgo her interrogation was unexpected, to say the least.

Just as Alex was about to offer her gratitude, D.C.’s face turned devious as she said, “But that’s only because there’s nothing you can say that isn’t already obvious anytime you’re near him. You mightn’t be shouting declarations from the rooftops, but everything else you do is a dead giveaway.”

Even though her mouth was already full, Alex shoved in another candy and, with her voice muffled by the sweets, said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Sure, sure,” D.C. said, winking. But then she turned serious. “You know it’s okay to do something for yourself every once in a while, Alex. When it comes to this, the rest of the world can wait.”

Alex was about to argue, but then realised that, at least for the next few days, D.C. just might be right. They were all doing everything they could to save Medora, but until they finished the final three tests, there was nothing further they could do to defeat Aven—not until they returned home. Which meant…

“You’ve got time, Alex,” D.C. whispered, offering a soft, encouraging smile. Her eyes flitted pointedly to Kaiden’s door before they returned to Alex and she finished, “I suggest you use it wisely.”

And with that, she pulled Alex in for a quick hug and then rose and headed to her room, saying over her shoulder that she was going to have a ‘Princess Siesta’ for the next few hours and not to wake her unless the world was ending—a morbid attempt at humour, given everything.

Feeling unbalanced and unsure of herself, Alex stood and retreated into her own room, eager for some quiet time in thehope of regaining some equilibrium. But her peace lasted all of about two seconds, because with a bright flash of light, she was no longer alone.

Instead, she was being shoved up against the wall by the angriest Tia Auran she had ever seen.

Sixteen

Zaylin’s hands were pressed against Alex’s shoulders,pinning her to the solid wall beside her bed. With eyes like blazing quicksilver, the Tia Auran’s face was a mask of fury, her rage visible in every line of her body.

“What the hell!” Alex cried, struggling against her immovable grip. “Let me go!”

“You deceived me,” Zaylin hissed through her teeth in her native tongue. Her fiery eyes swept along Alex’s now glimmering skin. “With your bond, you’ve been able to understand me all along.” She pushed Alex deeper into the wall and leaned right into her face. “Haven’t you?”

“Like you’re one to talk,” Alex returned, still trying to break away from the immortal’s hold. She clenched her teeth against a surge of pain along her upper chest, a stark reminder of the bruising caused by the male Tia Auran. “You can understand me, too. Don’t try to deny it.”

Zaylin’s eyes narrowed even further. And then, between one breath and the next, she released Alex, but she didn’t step back. Instead, she continued looming threateningly over her.

“When did you realise?” Zaylin said, swapping over to the common tongue now that her guise was over.

“This morning,” Alex answered tersely. “The question is, why didn’t you want me to know?”

Zaylin did back up a step then. But only to cross her armsover her chest, her stance belligerent. “You have your secrets, mortal. And I have mine.”

A beat of silence passed between them, until Alex said, “Fine.”

Zaylin jerked slightly at the easy acceptance, enough for a startled expression to dissolve her rage. “Fine?”