Page 132 of Serpent In White

She isn’t doing much to impress me right off the bat.

Abdiel steps nervously between us, eyes coming to mine first. “Um, Darian, this is Rhiannon.” Then he turns to the girl. “Rhi, this is our Head Priest, Darian. Leader of The Principality.”

Rhi?? A nickname already, and they just met?? What is this nonsense?

Rhiannon steps up to me, wearing a polite smile, though I can still hear how incredulous she is. But apparently, she’s willing to givemethe benefit of the doubt, for Abdiel.

Aw, how sweet.

“Very lovely to meet you, Head Priest.” She extends her hand. “I’ve heard only wonderful things about you from Abdiel.”

I glare at her small hand for a moment before Abdiel clears his throat and I reluctantly shake it.

“And yet you don’t believe any of them, do you, Rhiannon?” I call her out based on what she’s thinking at this exact moment.

Her eyes widen, and her mouth drops open, her hand slowly tugging out of mine. “Well, I…” she stutters, peeking at Abdiel, who appears equally uneasy. “I’ve just never encountered any sort of community like this before. You’re from the outside, right? I’m sure you can understand.”

She has a point.I nod, remaining suspicious as I feel her out. “Where are you from?”

“Portland. I’ve been going to the University of Washington. Living in Seattle…”

“And why have you decided to leave?”

She freezes for a moment, unpleasantness slinking through her thoughts. There’s something she doesn’t want to talk about, something she doesn’t wish to relive, and so she lies, “I couldn’t deal with school anymore. The people were unkind, as most people are out there. I’m really not a fan of how the world is going, so when I met Abdiel and he told me about your community—” I peer at Abdiel while she speaks, giving him a scolding look. His forehead lines with guilt. “—I thought it sounded amazing. I mean, you guys don’t use money.” She scoffs in disbelief. “Do you know how incredibly bizarre that sounds? But it’s awesome.”

“It is.” I wander to the desk and lean up against it. “I haven’t had money in twenty-five years. It’s entirely unnecessary.”

Rhiannon grins and looks to Abdiel. “That’s what he said.”

I can’t help giving him an appreciative look. “Alright, Rhiannon. I’ll be blunt. I don’t trust you.”

Abdiel mumbles, “Darian…”

But I hold up my hand to stop him. “Don’t take it personally. I don’t trust anyone from the outside. We’ve been scorned before. That said, I trust him with my life.” I nod in Abdiel’s direction. “So if he trusts you, then I’m happy to have you as our guest until we decide what to do with you.”

The girl pales. “What todo with me?”

“You’ll stay in Abdiel’s trailer.” I ignore her, glancing to him. “You’ll stay here.” His face flushes, the sight of which might make me rock hard if I’m not careful. “Abdiel will show you around the Expanse, and you can work with Gina on chore duty. Even our guests must contribute.”

“What doyoudo, Darian?” She asks in a stubborn, bratty tone that fills my limbs with rage.

My back straightens as I tower over her. “I’m in charge, tiny girl. This ismyland, my family…my prince.It’ll do you good to remember that.”

Much to my surprise, she doesn’t back down, aiming her angry little glare up at me.

“Alright, alright. Enough.” Abdiel comes in between us. “Thank you, baby.” He places a kiss on my cheek. “I’ll get her settled in my trailer and bring my things over. I’m sure Gina will want me to get back to work soon.”

I tear my burning eyes off the girl long enough to peek at him. “No work tonight, beautiful. I want to hear all about your journey.” He gives me a sweet grin, tugging his lip between his teeth.

The girl’s thoughts are distracting me, and I break my gaze on Abdiel to squint down at her. “Run along now.”

She’s practically seething as Abdiel drags her away, out of the room to go on with their business.

As soon as they’re out of hearing range, I grab Jeremy. “Let the Tribe know we have an Outsider staying with us. Top priority is watching her every move. She doesn’t take a breath without us knowing about it, understand?” He nods. “Does my brother know she’s here?”

“I don’t think so, sir.”

“Well, then… I suppose we’d better alert the Serpent.”