Before I Let Go (Skyland #1)(28)

I lay against the ground and shielded the sun from my eyes.

“Take some deep breaths and get a drink of your water.” She was barely breathing hard. “This is going to seem like nothing once we begin training with your magic.”

“What?” I looked over at her and groaned as she smirked. She had her elbows resting on her knees and a cup of cold water in her hand, thanks to Mina. Mina who had said nothing to me about the night before, thankfully.

“What we just did is physically taxing.” She motioned to the small ring we had created. “But magic drains you from within. It takes so much concentration and skill, and it will drain you in a way you have never experienced before.”

“Way to sell it, Thalia.” Both of our heads jerked up at the sound of Sorin's voice. He was sitting on a low stone ledge that wrapped around the courtyard, and neither of us had noticed his presence. “I bet the girl can't wait to get started now.”

“Don't you have somewhere better to be, Sorin?” Thalia rolled her eyes at him. “Bashing someone's head or something?”

I looked back and forth between them, and I was so confused. They both claimed to be Evren's close friend, yet they looked at one another as if they were more than willing to kill the other.

“And miss this?” Sorin leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. His hair was pulled back at the nape of his neck, and he somehow looked more handsome than the night I met him. “I wouldn't dare.”

Thalia growled low and only loud enough for me to hear, but Sorin's handsome face lit up in a smirk that told me he knew exactly what he was doing.

“Are you two friends?” I motion back and forth between them, and Sorin laughed.

“The best of friends.” He grinned “Thalia just doesn't like to admit it.”

“I never denied we were friends.” Thalia pushed up off the ground and stood. “You can be my friend while I still think you're nothing but a brute.”

Sorin assessed her, his gaze roaming over every inch of her body before he stood with a large grin on his face. He dusted off his trousers nonchalantly, but I noted the dagger that was strapped to his thigh and two larger ones that were crossed along his back. “I could show you exactly what kind of brute I could be if only you given a chance.”

I blushed and quickly rolled over onto my stomach as I pushed up on trembling, tired arms.

“Be careful of this one, Adara. He’ll try to get in your pants any chance you let him.”

Sorin cocked his head to the side and studied her, but his grin never slipped from his face. “You do realize that’s a you and me thing, right?” He moved his hand back and forth between them. “You're the only one I've been pining after for all these years.”

I stood next to Thalia, and she tried to look so stubborn, but she couldn't hide the way her lips twitched at the side or how her shoulders relaxed. She may have been annoyed by Sorin, but she was comfortable with him. I wondered if the two of them had done far more than either were willing to admit.

“Do you mind, Sorin? We have training to get back to.”

“Of course.” Sorin bowed playfully with his hand resting over his heart. “I just came to relay some news about our prince.”

Everything stopped in that moment. I could feel my heart hammering away in my chest. He had news of Evren. News that he was waiting until now to deliver?

“What of Evren?” I clenched my hands into fists and tried to stop myself from fidgeting.

Sorin's gaze swung to meet my own before he answered. “He's made it back to the fae kingdom. From what Jorah has reported, things are tense, but the queen believes they were attacked near the border.” I heard his words, but they didn't calm me. The queen was no fool. She had to know the truth.

Evren had told me she would stop at nothing until she got me back, and I feared what that nothing would entail. What would she do to Evren if she found out? If she suspected? Would she kill the son of her husband, of her king, if she believed him a traitor?

I knew the answer deep in my gut, and my magic swirled and writhed inside of me, begging for me to let it out, to go after him, to save my mate. But I pushed it down inch by inch as I tried to control my breathing.

“When is he to return?”

“I don't know.” Sorin shook his head, and I noted the dark circles under his eyes.

“Any word for us?” Thalia crossed her arms as she studied the captain in front of her.

“Stay down. Stay quiet.” Sorin shrugged his shoulders as if that didn’t drive him mad, but he rubbed his hand over his eyebrows as he delivered Evren’s order. “Evren wants no movement that can tip the queen off on what is happening.”

“What is happening?” I looked back and forth between the two of them. I felt so lost, so far on the outside looking in.

“If the queen finds out, if she knows that Evren not only has you but knows of the prophecy, she shall kill us all.”

“The queen doesn't know that Evren knows of the prophecy?” As soon as they heard my question, they looked to one another and Thalia wrinkled her brow.

“No.” Sorin shook his head, and I watched as his hand tapped against his dagger mindlessly. “The queen thinks it's her best-kept secret. If she had any idea that Evren knew, she would destroy him before he was even able to open his mouth to defend himself. The son of her king be damned. The two of you are the key to the prophecy. The queen needs your hand or Evren’s head.”