a moment, standing mere inches from me. A smile fluttered across his lips as his eyes searched my face, as if he was trying to ascertain whether I was being truthful. I was, so I held his gaze for as long as I could, wanting him to understand that I meant every word.
My heart struggled, as the night seemed to envelop us both in a warm and pleasant kind of darkness. The narrow alleyway began to disappear. Time slowed down. Nothing else could be heard, other than our breathing.
We had sparred. We had fought vicious attackers, and he’d saved my ass more than once. We had laughed, and we had tiptoed around one another, wondering where the limits were. Whether there was enough trust between us for this dynamic to work. So far, it had not disappointed, but part of me was still slightly wary. My instincts were sharp as razors, compelling me to keep my head clear at all times.
That was becoming a challenge, because Kalon’s eyes had an almost hypnotic effect on me. We were drawn to each other, whether we admitted it or not. Even now, the space between us was shrinking, as if we were both leaning in closer and closer… and closer. He didn’t stop, and neither did I. The idea of “what if” persisted at the forefront of my consciousness, as my gaze dropped for barely a second, catching the precise instant in which his lips parted ever so slightly. Another breath or two, and our lips might meet. What then?
My answer never came.
Footsteps jolted us both apart and back into the reality of tonight. We turned our heads and exhaled at the sight of a cloaked figure coming toward us from the darker end of the alley. I was already gearing up for a fight, my muscles tightening, when the stranger’s hood came off, and Trev Blayne’s face came into focus.
“You are late,” Kalon said, his tone flat.
“No, you are early,” Trev replied, somewhat amused.
They both chuckled and firmly shook hands. Trev shot me a friendly smile. I returned it, still staying close to the wall, as I realized that my knees had softened from what had to have been an almost-kiss. Since my combat anticipation had already faded away, I was left with the aftermath of the closeness between Kalon and I. It was an intense thing to get over.
“What news do you bring?” I asked.
“I made it. The Darklings have accepted me as an apprentice,” Trev said. “I passed the first tests, and… well, they call them conversations, but they’re like mild torture sessions, really.”
“Torture?” Kalon replied, his eyebrows arched in surprise. “What kind of torture?”
“Oh, they deprive you of blood and your senses. They taunt you. They poke and prod and even beat the daylights out of you, while you’re handcuffed and blindfolded,” Trev muttered. “It’s a way for them to test your resolve, apparently. Naturally, I aced it. They failed to break me, so… here I am, about to meet one of the Scholars. That’s what they call their ringleaders. Scholars. It’s the last stage of my induction.”
Kalon and I exchanged excited glances. “When are you meeting this Scholar?” I asked, my pulse already racing, as I made plans to follow Trev using my invisibility potion. Once I had the identity of at least one of the ringleaders, I’d be one step closer to solving Nethissis’s murder and maybe even preventing more attacks on Valaine.
“Tonight. In about an hour,” Trev said. “It will be somewhere in the palace. They’ve asked me to wait in the garden, near the fountain.” His expression shifted into one of concern as he looked at us. “You two had better not follow me. I’ll be in touch again after I meet with the Scholar. I can’t risk any of the Darklings spotting a tail on me. I only told you where I’m meeting the others because I trust you. Okay?”
Kalon nodded. “Absolutely. It’s your operation, Trev. I’m not going to interfere until you give me the green light. I’m sure Esme feels the same way.”
He gave me a look that suggested quite the opposite, as if he already knew what I was planning. But he couldn’t have known, since I’d kept the invisibility gimmick to myself. Nevertheless, I offered a smile. “I most certainly do,” I said, and took out a small lead medallion with Druid inscriptions, which I’d borrowed from Draven prior to leaving The Shade. “But I want you to hold on