Seventh by Rachel White

Author:Rachel White [White, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Gay romance, Fantasy
Publisher: Less Than Three Press, LLC
Published: 2015-06-24T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

We were flirting.

It was the only thought in Hynd's mind, lingering long after Julius had left. He had planned on doing some work, but there was no hope of reading Walsh's journals, for he was far too distracted. More, the journals themselves only made things worse. They reminded him of Julius. Everything reminded him of Julius. Hynd was a hopeless case.

They had been flirting with one another; he was almost—almost!—certain of it. Cradle it at night, thinking of me, Julius had said. That hadn't been his standard pleasantry, the scattershot charm he turned on all those he met. It had been pointed, specific. He had meant for it to make an impact.

And it had. At supper, Alycia stared at Hynd until he couldn't concentrate on eating. "What?" he finally demanded, giving in to her pointed gaze.

"What happened today?"

"Happened?"

"You've been acting very strangely all evening," she said, her brow darkening. "I want to know what's going on."

"It's nothing," Hynd said, pushing lukewarm steak and potatoes around on his plate. "I had an encounter with someone, and then I spent an hour or so with Julius Ocere. That's all."

He had hoped the mention of Julius would placate her, but it only seemed to make her more suspicious. "Did he have something to do with the encounter? And what encounter, exactly?"

There was no help for it. Quickly, he told her of all that had transpired: the duel, Magier Dent, Julius' defense of Hynd in front of an entire crowd of people. As he spoke, he watched the emotions pass over her face: interest, first, and then deep anger, and then a pleasure that bordered unbecomingly on smugness.

"He's mad about you," she said, singsong, when he finished, and for the first time no protest jumped at once to Hynd's lips. It was an absurd idea, and yet… Cradle it at night, and before that, I slapped him for you.

"I don't know about that," he settled on saying, "but he's very nice. I'm grateful you introduced us."

"You see? I know what I'm doing."

"Not that the way things are now makes up for how they began," he reminded her, and some of her self-satisfied air dissipated.

"I know," she said, "and I won't do it again. But, Hynd…"

"Yes?"

"Why don't you let him duel for you? Perhaps then it will get people to leave you alone."

"I very much doubt that. At most, it will get Magier Dent to leave me alone, and that's not worth risking Julius' life over. I can handle the like of Magier Dent. He's all thunder and no lightning."

Alycia crossed her arms over her bosom. "I think it might do men like Magier Dent a bit of good to get a bullet or two in the shoulder. It would teach him a lesson."

"It would only make him angry," Hynd pointed out, but it didn't seem to do much good.

"Tomorrow," she said instead, "come with me to Renay's. Eloise told me they have a new rosewater tea that I'm desperate to try."

Renay's was a café with outdoor tables.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.