Page 68 of The Freedom You Seek

“I’m not sharing a bed with you.”

“Sleep on the floor then.”

“I want a room to myself.”

“No.”

Of course, I could let her know that the double bed was composed of two single frames I could separate with ease, but I was currently having too much fun poking and prodding her.

“In that case, I cannot promise I won’t use a pillow to smother you in your sleep.”

“Thanks for the warning. Means I’ll just tie you up before going to bed.”

I observed Nayana as she opened her mouth, then closed it with a frustrated expression and glowered at me once more. I stalked toward her, smirking, and she frowned.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Gods, Jama, don’t you realize that every time you say that, it’s like a direct challenge for me to do exactly what you dared me not to do?”

“Itrulyloathe you.”

“You’ve said so before. In fact, you always say something like that or call me a bastard when you run out of arguments.”

If deadly stares were a real thing, I would have been six feet under by now. With a barely concealed scowl, Nayana fell into an angry silence and unpacked her bag.

After I’d briefly observed her, I resumed emptying my luggage as well and contemplated whether or not to separate the bed.

Gods, I was so tired. Because of Fig’s desire for secrecy, he’d chosen the early morning hours as the best time to act, even though—at least in my opinion—Dion could have just used his shadow power to conceal us. Fig, however, pointed out that darkness was a lot more conspicuous during daylight hours than at dusk.

Sadly, their reasoning made sense, but it didn’t change the fact that Dion woke me up at half past three in the night after only a few hours of sleep. Thankfully, he’d split the bed in our room, although he hadn’t positioned the two frames as far apart as I’d asked.

Nonetheless, there had been at least a slight distance between us.

We silently moved through the gardens, searching for the entrance to the secret tunnel to the Library of Kalcas, concealed in Dion’s magical darkness and the veil of the night. Even after I’d granted my eyes enough time to adjust, I stumbled over every stray stick and stone while the men were as graceful as dancers.

After my second near-fall, Dion grabbed my hand, and even though I couldn’t see it, it was clear that he had to be smirking. The smug energy radiating from him told me as much.

“Here.” Antas’ voice became audible, and I heard the faint noise of a trapdoor opening before all of us descended into the dark mouth of the tunnel. Had we already encountered guards, and I’d missed them? Or had we been able to circumvent them?

It was pitch dark in the tunnel, and—on top of worrying about the potential absence of guards—I wondered how anyone could find and disarm traps in this light.

Suddenly, a sharp pain seared through my chest, and I gasped, clutching my upper body in panic until I recognized the sensation: Thain was pulling from my Potential without even so much as a warning.He created a small flame in his hand, and I glowered at him for involving me in something so trivial.

Fuck, I hated how being an Amplifier hurt.

“Everything all right, Nayana?” Dion’s whisper was a gentle, worried caress in my ear, and because I didn’t trust my voice to stay steady, I nodded as I gritted my teeth.

Right in the beginning, when I’d started to train with Thain, I promised myself that I’d keep Dion from knowing that amplifying hurt me. Otherwise, he’d move heaven and earth to stop me from doing it, and since I’d rather have my spleen removed than engage in that discussion any day soon, I swallowed my discomfort.

Did Thain have to draw from me? Sure, both of us could use the training, but this was a rather dangerous situation, and who knew if my Potential was needed later? But again, I kept my mouth shut.

With cautious steps, Fig ventured further into the tunnel, on the lookout for any triggers that might activate the traps he and Antas presumed to be hidden.

“Found one,” he said and crouched down. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but after a while, he got up and nodded. “Nasty trap. If someone had activated it, gas would have been released, and everyone in the vicinity would’ve been sedated within seconds.”

I shuddered. The thought of falling unconscious here and potentially waking up in the local dungeons had my stomach in knots.

“Don’t worry, Jama. This isn’t our first time breaking and entering.” Dion whispered again, his lipsso close to my ear that I was almost able to feel them touching my skin, and I flinched, which made him chuckle.