Trial By Fire (Going Down in Flames #3)(34)

She stopped wide-eyed. Valmont held out his stubby sword. “I think you won.”

The crowd around the ring drifted away. Jaxon caught her eye and gave a nod of approval. She reined in the instinct to roll her eyes or flip him off. Instead, she gave a curt nod back.

When she made eye contact with Valmont, his jaw muscle was clenched. “What’s wrong?”

“I hate that Jaxon was right.”

Bryn laughed. If that didn’t prove they were meant for each other, nothing would.

Ivy bounded over toward Bryn as she and Valmont climbed out of the ring. Clint trailed along behind his girlfriend with a sappy grin on his face.

“Are you going to stagecraft tonight?” Ivy asked.

Stagecraft meant Nola and Zavien. She couldn’t let Valmont think Zavien still bothered, her, because he didn’t. She was over him, romantically, but Nola and her flowing flowery dresses still annoyed the crap out of her.

“Of course I’m going. I can’t leave Rhianna to paint substandard scenery by herself.” Unless Rhianna wasn’t coming back. Scenery falling from the rafters had injured Rhianna’s spinal cord, which resulted in the limp, which had ended her marriage contract to Jaxon. “If she’s coming back…should I ask her if she’s going?”

“You’re going whether she does or not, right?” Clint said.

Bryn nodded.

“Then I wouldn’t call her out on it in front of Jaxon. You know he’ll have a strong opinion one way or another.”

“And he does love to hear himself talk,” Valmont said. “If Rhianna isn’t there tonight, I can help you paint.”

“Cool.” It might be immature, but Bryn couldn’t wait to see the look on Zavien’s face when she walked in with Valmont.



When they reached the theater, there was a sign taped across the door.

Clint flicked the piece of paper with his finger. “No more stagecraft until the theater is repaired? Couldn’t they let us know before tonight?”

“Maybe they thought it would be ready in time,” Bryn said.

“It’s weird.” Clint ruffled his Mohawk. “Why didn’t someone send out an email explaining it was canceled?”

Not having to deal with Nola was a relief, so Bryn wasn’t complaining. “Want to come back to my room and hang out?”

“It’s not nearly as much fun now that Jaxon won’t be there to irritate,” Clint said.

“We could call and invite Rhianna to join us. I’d bet anything Jaxon would insist on coming with her,” Valmont said.

“Please, an evening without Jaxon is fine with me.” Bryn grabbed her knight’s hand. “Let’s go.”

Back in her room, Clint and Ivy sprawled out on the floor while she and Valmont sat on the couch.

“So, everything is good between you two now?” Clint pointed at Bryn and Valmont.

Ivy whacked her boyfriend on the shoulder. “We had a plan. What part of, ‘don’t badger Bryn for answers’ did you not understand?”

“That’s such a girl way of doing things. Guys straight-out ask.” He grinned at Valmont. “Fill us in.”

“Do you mind?” Valmont asked.

“Go ahead.” Better for him to fill in the blanks, because she wasn’t sure what to say. Something, like, “Valmont will stick by my side no matter what, because he doesn’t want to kill me.” That wasn’t fair.

Valmont scratched his chin. “You know that old saying ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me?’ It turns out, if you’re bonded to someone, words can hurt worse than any weapon. We found that out the hard way.”

Rather than comforting her, his words piled on the guilt.

“So you guys are stuck together now, like forever?” Clint asked.

Ivy whacked him harder on the shoulder. “Why would you say that? They aren’t stuck together. They like each other. They want to be together.”

Time to jump in with both feet, because at this point there was no turning back. “Ivy’s right. This is a good thing. Kind of like when your marriage contract to Ivy is approved, you’ll be together forever, but you won’t feel like you’re stuck. Right?”

“That’s what I meant in the first place.” Clint leaned back on his elbows. “Girls are so sensitive. Back me up here, Valmont.”

Valmont moved closer and put his arm around Bryn’s shoulders. “Clint, it might be time to change the subject.”

“Good idea.” Ivy pointed at the stack of black leather books on the table. “Have you made any progress discovering a secret map?

“No.” Bryn glared at the books. “Every time I line them up differently it seems like I’m on the verge of finding something, but it never comes together.”

…

The rest of the week flew by without any incidents, but by Friday night at dinner Bryn felt claustrophobic. “I realize we didn’t go to Dragon’s Bluff every weekend before the attacks, but knowing we can’t leave the campus makes me feel caged in.”

Valmont’s mouth set in a thin line. “Believe me, the shopkeepers in Dragon’s Bluff aren’t happy about the situation, either. Last I heard, revenue had dropped by 40 percent.”