Gates of Thread and Stone(65)

“I don’t know. I haven’t been told which matches I’m to oversee. But yours is at eleven.”

I beamed. He had figured out my alias. I never should have doubted him.

“I need you to meet me at noon behind the dorms. There’s a manhole where one of the Rider’s hollows will lead us out.”

Reev went still. I could only tell he was breathing because I was pressed to his chest.

“Reev?”

He nodded. “I know where that is.”

His hands slid to my waist, and he nudged me back. I let him, joy engulfing all the uncertainty. I had more things to tell him, but they could wait until we were safely out of Ninurta.

He peered down at me as if waiting for something.

“What did they do to you?” I reached behind his neck. “Why didn’t you tell me about—” Reev squeezed my wrist. I let out a small gasp.

Immediately, he loosened his grip. He brought my wrist to his lips to kiss away the hurt the way he used to when I was a kid. The action made me smile.

“Like I said. It’s complicated.” His voice was rough. “I’m sorry I kept it from you, but they’ve begun cleansing my memories. I can’t—” He looked pained. “The Kahl means to put a new collar on me afterward. It’s been . . . difficult.”

All the better that we were leaving tomorrow. I wished we could go now. I couldn’t stand letting them have my brother a moment longer.

“It’s just one more night,” I said, more to reassure myself than Reev.

He glanced over his shoulder, his hand tensing around my wrist. “I should go. They’ve probably noticed I’m missing.”

“Reev—” He cut me off by hugging me again, and I touched my forehead to his shoulder.

I wanted to catch the threads to stretch out our time together. How was I supposed to let him go? At least the separation would be brief.

“Please be safe,” I told him.

“Of course. Be careful in your match tomorrow. I’ll see you soon.”

“Are you sure you’ll be able to—”

“Yes,” Reev said, and gave me a nudge toward the stairs. He softened the action with a smile. “Now get back to your room before we both get in trouble.”



I couldn’t stop smiling. At my floor, I turned down the hallway and came up short. Avan stood outside his door with another boy. Neither of them noticed me.

It wasn’t the fact Avan had broken the lights-out rule that gave me pause, it was the body language of the boy with him. He was shorter than Avan, around my height, with sleek, well-groomed White Court hair and large eyes that watched Avan with enough interest to make me seethe. He rested a fine-boned hand against Avan’s arm. His body seemed to strain forward without actually moving.

I wouldn’t have minded if this boy was my opponent tomorrow.

Avan moved to open his door. His smile was practiced but still warm enough not to be entirely false.

When he turned to face the boy again, his back to me, the boy leaned in. I sucked in my breath, unbalanced, as if my feet had been knocked out from under me.

Avan pressed a hand to the boy’s shoulder. He must have said something, because the boy’s face went red and he seemed to shrink in on himself, averting his eyes. Then he awkwardly rubbed at his neck as his mouth formed what looked like the words good night. He hurried away. Avan stepped into his room.

“Savorn.”

His back stiffened. Then he relaxed and looked over his shoulder, a real smile on his face.

“What are you doing wandering around?” He opened his door wider and motioned for me to come in.

Once the door shut, I said, “I found Reev.”

Avan’s fingers paused in unbelting his tunic. “It occurred to me earlier that our rooms might be monitored.”

I glanced around at the blank walls. “How? Peepholes in the ceiling?”

“If Kahl Ninu can enslave mahjo, then I wouldn’t underestimate him.”

Drek. I rubbed my temple. Well, it was too late now. We’d already said more than enough to condemn us.

“Tell me anyway,” Avan said, probably thinking the same thing.

I grinned. “He’s agreed to the plan.”

Avan turned away and tugged off his tunic. I admired his back, the lean muscles and angular planes I now knew by heart. I did not, however, know about the fine scars scattered across his shoulder blades. They were pale against his skin. Had those been caused by his dad or maybe by a past lover? My happiness wilted.

Avan didn’t notice as he tossed the tunic into the hatch in the wall. He disappeared into the washroom.

“That’s great,” he said over the sound of splashing water. “Wasn’t expecting it to be that easy.”

Something in his tone made me feel defensive. “Reev recognized us during your match. He couldn’t say anything because he was being watched.”

“Okay,” he said, reappearing. He had dried his face with a towel, but wet strands of hair curled beneath his jaw. A bead of water splashed against his collarbone. “I trust you.”

I smiled. With those three words, he had put me at ease.

He crossed his arms over his chest, stomach muscles flexing as he leaned against the door frame. Just as I had imagined, his tattoo crawled across the side of his chest in jagged black branches. What I hadn’t imagined were the three brilliant-green leaves at the tip of the longest branch—the only leaves on the tree.