Alex knew that was a very real possibility—if she told them everything. “I don’t see any reason why they need to know about my journey through time. I can just as easily lead them to presume I found the book in the Meya of today. But they do need to hear about Aven’s hostile takeover and how the Meyarins who escaped are now hiding up in Draekora. We’re all in this mess together. They need to be warned.”
“Do you want company?” D.C. offered.
Taking in the way the princess was snuggled so closely to Jordan that Alex had trouble seeing where one of them began and the other ended, she couldn’t keep her lips from twitching. “Ah, no. You stay here and keep Jordan company. You’ve already heard what I’m going to tell them, anyway.”
“I can come, if you want?” Bear said, his lips also twitching as his eyes flicked towards the pair on Jordan’s bed.
“Really, I’ll be fine,” Alex promised. She couldn’t help herself and added, “I think these two need you to play chaperone more than I do.”
“Chaperone?” Jordan said with mock innocence. “What in the world are you implying, Alexandra Jennings?”
When D.C.’s skin flamed, Jordan couldn’t keep up his charade and instead chuckled, leaning in to kiss her blushing cheek. She groaned and moved to hide her face in his chest, mumbling something that sounded very much like, “Shut up, Jordan.”
Alex’s heart melted at the sight of her two friends. Not wanting to make either of them uncomfortable, she only said, “If I don’t get back until late, I’ll try not to wake you, Dix.” She turned to the boys. “I’ll see you both at breakfast. Hopefully I’ll have a better idea of what our next steps are after tonight’s meeting.”
“Good luck,” D.C. said as Alex left the room.
As soon as she was in the hallway with the door shut between them, Alex leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. She loved her friends. Adored them. But after spending weeks in the past, she felt as though she’d aged a thousand years while they’d been frozen in time. What she’d experienced—no words could help them understand everything she’d been through.
… Everything she’d done.
“You look like you need a holiday from your holiday.”
Alex snapped her eyes open to find Kaiden standing across from her, mirroring her position on the other side of the hallway. She had no idea how she’d missed him, especially with her Meyarin senses.
“Hey,” she said, acutely aware of how lame she sounded.
One side of his mouth curled up. “Hey, yourself.”
“Did you, uh, have a good break?” She gave herself a mental shake, wondering why-oh-why she was making small talk with him. Ignoring the warmth spreading through her body, she schooled her expression into what she hoped was nothing more than casual interest.
“Better than yours, I’d wager.”
Alex thought that was an odd response. “What makes you say that?”
Kaiden didn’t answer. Instead, he pushed off the wall. “Are you heading back to your room?”
“No, I—uh—” Alex stumbled for a reply and settled on the truth. “I have to go see the headmaster.”
Kaiden nodded. “I’ll walk you.”
His instant offer and lack of curiosity brought Alex up short. “What? No, really. Thanks, but I—”
“Call me paranoid,” he interrupted, “but it’s late. Nearly curfew. I don’t think you should be out wandering on your own.”
“Really, Kaiden, I—”
“Especially given everything that happened earlier today.”
Alex sucked in a breath. “Everything that… happened?”
Kaiden’s blue eyes captured her own, but again he didn’t answer. Instead, he turned and started down the hallway.
Alex scrambled after him. “What happened earlier today, Kaiden?”
“You’d know better than I would,” he said as they descended the stairs, with a warning glance indicating the students coming and going from the Rec Room and up to their dorms. Being the first night back after the holidays, more people were mingling in the public spaces than normal—too many listening ears.
As soon as they stepped outside into the blistery cold and were far enough away, Alex placed a hand on Kaiden’s arm and drew him to a halt.
He didn’t make her wait. “Is it true Aven Dalmarta now sits on the throne of Meya?”
Alex hugged her arms, chilled to the bone—and not just because she had changed from her wintery Meyarin outfit and was now being snowed on in clothes that weren’t insulated by Myrox. “Who told you that?”
“It’s true, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Alex whispered, unable to lie to him. “It’s true.”
Kaiden slowly closed his eyes before looking at her once more. “What are you going to do?”
Her voice still quiet, Alex asked, “What makes you think I’m going to do anything?”
“Because for whatever reason, you’re in the middle of all this,” he said without hesitation. “And even if you weren’t, I know you, Alex. When the people you care about are in trouble, you do whatever it takes to help them.”
Alex was unable to hold his gaze. “I think you’re giving me too much credit.”
Kaiden stepped closer until he was right in front of her, his fingers lightly tipping her chin up so she was looking at him again. He didn’t say anything, but she could hear his voice whisper across her mind; a memory from her time in the past when the Library had conjured up an image of him to be with her as she watched the devastating future that might occur if Aven remained in power. The imaginary Kaiden had explained his presence using only five words—five words that, try as she might, Alex couldn’t deny.
‘You feel safe with me.’
Swallowing, Alex struggled to look him in the eye, but he gently curled his fingers around her jaw, keeping her from turning away again.
“I disagree,” Kaiden finally whispered. “I think you’re worth all the credit I’m giving you—and much more.”
Heart pounding, Alex didn’t know how to react. She didn’t know what to say, she didn’t know what to do. Some kind of response was needed, but she could barely draw air into her lungs, let alone offer a coherent reply.
After what felt like an eternity of waiting, Kaiden dropped his arm, only to entwine his fingers with hers as he turned and began walking again.
“It’s freezing out here. Let’s get you to Marselle.”
Alex wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed as she followed him towards the Tower, so she focused on the feeling of his hand holding hers and ignored those five words repeating over and over in her mind.
After ascending the staircase and arriving in the antechamber outside Darrius’s office, Alex stared at the door and wondered, since Kaiden already knew about Aven’s takeover of Meya, if she should invite him to stay. But there was also so much he didn’t know. So much she couldn’t explain to him.
So much he wouldn’t believe.
Alex did the only thing she could. She untangled their hands and forced a smile onto her face.
“Thanks for escorting me here,” she said. “I’ll make sure someone walks me back once I’ve finished, um…”