Andrea Cremer - Bloodrose

“I’ll consider it,” Anika said.

“Don’t bother,” Ansel said without turning his face from the window.

Tess didn’t react to his dead voice, but Bryn twined her fingers in his. “Come on, An. You should go with Tess. Doing stuff will take your mind off…” Her words trailed away.

“I should just stay in here,” Ansel said, pulling his hand out of Bryn’s grasp.

Her lip trembled. I wanted to grab my brother and shake him for treating her with such carelessness.

Anika frowned, peering at my brother. “You’d prefer to stay confined?”

“I’m where I belong,” he said.

Anika beckoned to Tess. “Let’s discuss this elsewhere.”

The two of them left the room. Bryn was still trying to coax Ansel into conversation. When he finally pushed her away after several attempts, she got up and went to Mason’s open arms. He hugged her while she quietly cried.

Ren came to my side, which made Shay growl. He quieted when I cast a warning glance in his direction. I wished I could do more. I hadn’t had a chance to speak to Shay alone since Ren had returned, and the longer I had to wait to steal away with him, the more I worried that Shay would misinterpret all of this.

“I think I might be able to do something here,” Ren murmured in a low voice so only I could hear him.

“Like what?” I asked.

“He needs to know you can make the wrong choice and still deserve a second chance.” A painful lump formed in my throat at Ren’s words. The alpha was the only one who could relate to Ansel’s betrayal. Maybe he could make a difference.

I nodded, raising my voice to address the others. “Let’s give Ansel some time to think about it.”

“Actually, that would be great,” Adne said, smiling at me. “’Cause I’m here to give you an official tour of our digs. You haven’t seen how awesome it is here. You’ve pretty much just seen the dining room and your quarters, right?”

“I went to the healers’ place with Ethan and Sabine,” Nev said. “The Sanctuary?”

Adne nodded. “So Nev knows where to find Band-Aids, but not much else. How about it? You guys wanna see the place so you don’t get lost?”

“I’d say yes,” Shay said, meeting my eyes. “Considering the fight we’re going to provoke tomorrow morning, this might be your last chance.”

HAVING SEEN PARTS OF ITfrom the inside, as well as approaching it from the outside, I’d known the Academy was huge. Still, its enormity was overwhelming as we followed Adne through the sparkling halls. She started at the top, the floor where we’d spent most of our time since arriving. The third level of the Academy held most of the residences plus the areas unique to each wing: Haldis Tactical, Tordis Archives, Eydis Sanctuary, and Pyralis Apothecary. Fortunately, Adne had remembered that it was better to describe the Apothecary to my packmates than subject them to its discomforts. The second floor housed the Academy’s training rooms: scholarly, mystical, and combat, plus a few more residences. The first floor offered plenty of storage for weapons and gear. It also featured the dining hall, kitchens, and baths for each wing of the Academy.

“Why are they so far away from our rooms?” Bryn had asked. She’d always been concerned about access to bathrooms. It made sense as she spent more time in bathrooms than any person I knew “putting on her face,” as she’d say. I wondered if Bryn was already experiencing separation anxiety from her extensive makeup collection.

Adne was still explaining about how the kitchens and baths were on the lowest level because it offered the easiest links to water and geothermal energy as we returned to the dining hall for the evening meal. The large room was already buzzing with activity. I spotted Tess, Connor, and Sabine gathered at a table. Ren was also with them, though I noticed he’d left a couple chairs empty between himself and Sabine. Apparently they hadn’t cleared the air about Vail yet. I stopped in my tracks when I saw that Ansel was sitting beside him.

“Oh!” Bryn’s hand flew to her mouth when she followed my gaze. Her eyes brimmed.

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. Ren had been right. Ansel was fidgeting, but there was more color in his face now than I’d seen since he first showed up in Denver.

Tess saw us and waved. My stomach was growling when we settled around the table. Within minutes tureens of spicy fish soup and heaping bowls of pasta were being passed around the table, as well as a bottle of lemon liquor Connor produced with a flourish. One sip of the bright yellow concoction had enough fresh lemon to bite into your tongue, followed by a kick that almost knocked me out of my chair.

“What is this?” Mason’s face was scrunched up.

“Limoncello.” Connor laughed. “Local specialty.”

“Wow.” Sabine licked her lips with a shiver. “That’s… something else.”

“Something good,” Nev said, dishing up another plate of pasta.

“Corrupting the kids already?” Ethan had approached the table. I looked up at him in surprise. I’d been so busy scarfing down food that I hadn’t noticed he was missing from our group.

“What I do best,” Connor said, passing the bottle around again. “Wanna pull up a chair? Really good eats tonight. We should advocate for a longer stay in Italy.”

The addition of Guardians to the Haldis team made for a crowded table, even with the number of Searchers we’d lost in the past several days.

“Taking into account what’s about to go down, I’d hope the food is good,” Ethan said. “Every meal could be our last.”

“Thanks for ruining my appetite.” Bryn stuck out her tongue at him and then smiled at Ansel.

Seeing him briefly smile back at her had more of an effect on me than the limoncello. I crossed my fingers, wishing with every ounce of my being that Ansel really was coming back to us.

Sabine scooted her chair over, making space for Ethan beside her. “Here you go.”

Ethan looked at her and then away. “Actually, I’m not hungry. Just saying hello.”

Without another word, he turned around and left the dining hall.

“Is he always so grumpy?” Mason asked with noodles dangling from the side of his mouth.

Nev elbowed him with a chuckle. “You have no manners whatsoever, huh?”

“I’m a fierce beast, man,” Mason said, wiping tomato sauce from his chin. “What can I say?”

“Ethan’s still a little uneasy around Guardians,” Adne said. “Don’t take it personally.” She was slurping her soup with abandon. It looked like everyone had been getting tired of whatever the Iowan menu had been. What she’d said about Ethan wasn’t clicking in my mind. Ethan had certainly been open with his hatred when I’d first shown up, but lots had changed since then-including his attitude. Even this morning he’d defended us to Silas. So why would he say that and then refuse to eat with us? It didn’t make any sense. My questions vanished when Bryn passed a bowl of luscious fresh fruit.

While the rest of us continued to stuff ourselves, Sabine was picking at her food. She spent about ten minutes making patterns with her pasta before she stood up, mumbling something about being tired, and hurried out of the room.

Watching her go, Connor laughed and shook his head.

“What is it?” Adne frowned.

“Nothing,” Connor said, but he was grinning like a fool.

Suspicion buzzed in my ear like a gnat. Unable to quell my curiosity, I excused myself from the table. I wasn’t sure why I was following her, but something irresistible pulled me after Sabine’s jasmine trail. Plus if I’d tried to eat another bite, I probably would have passed out.