my mind whirled until daylight streamed in from the balcony and it was nearly time to go to class. Sighing, I threw my covers aside and got ready for the day.
When I returned from the bathroom, Ione was awake. She came back from her party pretty late last night, stumbling inside the room, and practically falling into her bed. “You’re up early.” She yawned and stretched.
“Couldn’t sleep.” I wondered if I should mention the swordsmen or keep it to myself. Maybe I should wait until I spoke with Xander. “Have fun last night?”
She shrugged half-heartedly. “It was okay.”
“Did you get to see Peter?” I asked in a very obvious, pointed manner.
She stared at me for several long, intense seconds. This was followed by a roll of her eyes. “He told you, didn’t he?”
“Told me what?”
Her expression darkened. “Don’t toy with me, Sheridan.”
“He may have mentioned something about unrequited love.”
“I’m not surprised.” She stood up, still in her toga from the night before. “He thinks this will make a difference. Well, guess what? It doesn’t.” She went to her vanity, rifling through her drawers, waving off the subject as if that were the end of it.
“First of all, he barely told me anything.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Second, I’m a little hurt that you told me nothing.”
She looked back to arch a brow at me. “Hurt?”
“Um, yeah.” I spoke as if it were a duh moment. “We’re supposed to be friends. Boy talk was a given.”
Ione snorted and continued gathering her shower supplies. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
“You sure about that?”
She slid the strap of her bag over her shoulder, threw on some flip-flops, and grabbed a towel. “Peter is delusional.” She headed for the door. “But if there’s ever a boy to talk about, you’ll be the first to know. Promise.”
With that said, she slipped out into the hall before I could ask any more questions. I pressed my lips together, noticing how much effort she put into evading the conversation. Nothing going on, my ass. Whatever. If she wanted to be secretive, that was her prerogative.
I dragged through the morning, a paranoid zombie in a toga. Every shadow caught my eye. Every corner made me pause. Every Hades descendant made me do a double-take because their black togas reminded me of the swordsmen’s capes. Between classes, I ordered a large cup of coffee from the snack cart and tried to pull myself together.
Once I got to Weaponry, I was determined to speak to Xander. Leaving a few minutes early, I spotted him along the path to the Ares training field. “Hey.” I fell into step beside him. “Funny how we keep running into each other.”
He didn’t even crack a smile. Instead, he ran a hand through his hair, looking very distracted.
“What happened last night?” I cut straight to the chase.
He shook his head. “Now isn’t a good time.”
I clenched my hands into fists, boiling beneath the surface. He couldn’t keep doing this. Leaving me in the dark—it wasn’t fair.
“What’s going on, Xander? Stop avoiding me.”
“You asked for space, remember?” A twinge of resentment filled his tone.
Clearly, he was still upset about the mermaids. I’d done the same thing by shutting him out. But that was a totally different situation, one that affected me more than it did him. Even so, being on the other side of it wasn’t fun.
I let out a breath, instinctively knowing I needed to make this right. “Not this much space.” I reached out and touched his arm. “Xander, is everything okay?”
He nodded, still staring off into the distance. “Yeah, fine. Everything is fine.” Even his voice was far away.
“Then tell me who those men were, and don’t you dare try and ignore me again or avoid my questions.”
He stopped walking to look around, as if he were afraid of someone following him.
“Fine, but not here.” He grabbed my hand, guiding me off the sidewalk and well out of earshot of passersby.
The way he was acting, the edginess and distraction, wasn’t like him and it made me nervous. Once we found some privacy, Xander stopped, keeping his voice low. “The swordsmen were members of the Hollowed Guard.”
I nodded, having already put that much together. “I noticed their emblems. Why were they at Arcadia?”
His blue eyes, clouded with worry, struggled to focus. “I don’t know for sure…but I can guess.”
I wondered at his evasiveness. “Care to share it aloud for the class?”
He frowned; he obviously didn’t want to tell me, and that stung