the week. Because of his injury, Sev had feared he’d be sent away—that he’d be deemed unfit for service—but instead he was stationed at the estate as a general guard under the healer’s care until he recovered.
It was an easy, comfortable posting inside a walled, heavily defended property. His job would be standing in doorways or walking down halls. A perfect position for someone who needed to gather information.
That, at least, Sev knew how to do. What came after was harder. He needed to find evidence of Rolan’s attack on Pyra—he’d have to find letters, documents… anything that proved that Rolan had acted without the council’s permission. How Sev would manage that, he wasn’t sure, but he’d have to try.
A soft knocking reverberated through his room, and Sev sat bolt upright from where he’d been lying on his bed, staring at the lantern light as it danced across his ceiling. He was still living in the small chamber in the medical wing, despite the fact that Hestia had told him he could remove the sling for his first shift on duty.
Sev tilted his head—listening hard. It was too late for a visitor, and the knock hadn’t come from the doorway or even the windowsill. It had come from the wall in his sitting room.
Sliding off his bed, he tiptoed into the adjoining chamber. There was a tapestry hanging on the wall opposite the window, and Sev brushed it aside, running his fingertips along the wood paneling. He had checked every inch of this room as soon as he was back on his feet—it was how he’d found the loose tile under the rug—and had already been over this wall. He’d knocked on it himself, sensing that it was thinner than the rest—that there might be a hallway or a room beyond. He suspected it was for the servants to access the rooms for cleaning, or for the healer to use while attending a long-term patient, though whenever he was visited by Hestia, she used the front door.
So while Sev knew a passage was there, he’d been unable to find the latch or lock to open it.
Apparently, it was on the other side.
He had only just pressed his ear to its surface when something inside clicked, and the panel slid open. Sev leapt back, scrambling at his hip for a knife, but he’d already removed his padded vest and weapons belt.
Not that he needed them.
Kade materialized before him, stepping out of the darkness of the passage and into the glow of the lantern light.
Sev gaped at him, standing mere feet away. He had cleaned up since their last meeting: new tunic, shaved jaw, and the bruises on his face had turned from dark purple to faint green.
He still looked a little worse for wear, but he also looked like himself, like Kade. He looked… perfect.
Sev’s breath hitched, and he lurched forward, throwing his arms around him. Gods, he was alive, alive and unhurt—for the most part. He smelled of soap and freshly laundered clothes, and underneath that, the familiar scent of Kade—dark and rich, like honey fresh from the comb.
After a moment of apparent surprise, the tension left Kade’s body and he hugged back, the force of it squeezing the air from Sev’s lungs and jostling his stiff shoulder. Sev grimaced and flinched, and Kade stepped away at once, face apologetic.
“Right, your shoulder,” he said, obviously remembering their last meeting, when Sev’s arm had been bound in a sling. “What happened?” he demanded.
“Arrow,” Sev forced out through clenched teeth. While he was getting used to the constant, dull throb, when he moved his shoulder the wrong way, a stab of sharp pain lanced through all the way down to the joint. Certain movements were impossible altogether.
With a hesitant glance, Kade pulled aside the loose tunic Sev wore to reveal the bandaging on his shoulder. The wound itself was closed up, but Hestia liked to put a poultice on at night to help with inflammation. Sev was getting used to the scent of the crushed seed and poppy-flower paste, though he was self-conscious of the smell now that Kade was here.
Kade’s amber gaze was fixed on his shoulder, and Sev felt suddenly vulnerable, his tunic tugged low, revealing a large swath of his chest.
Heat swept Sev’s body, and he shifted the collar back into place. “I can’t believe you’re here,” he said at last, filling the silence between them.
“Thanks to you,” Kade said, smiling slightly as he turned to close the hidden