Page 17 of Daughter of the Ninth Line: Part Two

I blinked at Viana. “No, he doesn’t.”

She gripped my chin and turned my face toward the other side of the training ring where Vox was shirtless, his pale skin flashing under the harsh sun as he downed water from a glass bottle. He’d been training one-on-one with one of the instructors. Not that he needed any instruction, as his fluid movements were graceful and mesmerizing.

Though, at this moment, he was watching me with eyes that made my skin tingle and my body feel hot. I tried to intellectualize the sensation away; it was probably the sun, combined with the fact that I was out of shape after resting for two weeks. It definitely didn’t have anything to do with the way his piercing blue gaze was burning against my skin.

Viana let go of my chin, but she stayed close. “See that expression? That is the look of a man who wants to lay you down in the sand right here, and fuck you where everyone can see.That’s the expression of a man who desperately wants to know what you look like as you orgasm.”

My mouth suddenly felt bone dry, and I wet my lips without dragging my eyes from his.

Acacia snorted. “He’s eyefucking you like you’re the last pussy on earth, Avalon Halhed, and I can’t believe you’ve never noticed. I bet you don’t even realize that him and Hayle Taeme are about to come to blows, because Taeme also wants to make the beast with two backs with you. I don’t know what kind of vagina magic you possess, but I’m here for it. It’s about time that some of the Upper Lines realize the quality of partners available in the Lower Six.”

At her words, my gaze shot to Hayle, who was lazily sparring with his cousin, Lucio, but mostly watching the intense interaction between Vox and I.

“What the fuck?” I breathed again, but I didn’t get a chance to think about it too hard because Vox was striding across the training ring toward me. I wanted to run away, like he was a mountain lion and not an Heir to the First Line. Honestly, I might be better off taking my chances with the mountain lion.

He stopped in front of me, and my two friends took up positions behind me. They had my back, and honestly, it felt kind of nice to know that someone would be there to witness my inevitable destruction at the hands of Vox Vylan.

“Your arm is better.” It was a statement, not a question, so I just stared up at him dumbly. “Your presence is required tonight in the First Line dorm.”

Honestly, I’d have been less surprised if he’d asked me to strip down and do a traditional Ebrian moon dance with him right out here in the open. “What?”

He didn’t repeat himself, just raised an eyebrow.

I cleared my throat, Viana’s words echoing around in my brain. The audacity of this guy to just order me to his dormroom, as if I was some kind of cheap prostitute. He hadn’t even tried to word it like it was a request. So I held his eyes as I said, “No, thank you.”

The look of shock on Vox’s face would have been amusing in any other situation. “Excuse me?”

“No.” I mimicked his eyebrow raise. “You do know the meaning of the word, right? It’s like the opposite of ‘Yes, Sir.’ I don’t like being ordered up to your ivory tower, Vox Vylan.” His incredulity was making me feel even more irate.

I heard Acacia gasp, and I suddenly remembered the guy who’d been hanging suspended in the courtyard of Boellium the day I arrived. I wondered what he’d done, and if it was remotely as bad as insulting the second in line to Ebrus’s throne of power.

He stepped closer, bending down until his nose was mere inches from mine. “My apologies, Avalon. Would you please accompany me in my dorm room on the First floor tonight? There is a meteor shower predicted, and I would like to share it with you, if you are at all interested?” How could he make such an innocent invitation sound like an all-access pass to a First Line orgy?

Did I want to go and see a meteor shower? Yes. It was common knowledge that Vox’s room was in the glass dome at the very top of the atrium’s tower.

Did I also want to have sex with Vox Vylan? Well, that was a secret I was even keeping from myself.

I licked my lips again, and he followed the action with his eyes. “Just the meteor shower? No sex?”

Viana snorted, but held her tongue. Vox’s gaze briefly flicked to the two women behind me, then back down to my face. “Your virtue is safe with me, Ninth.” He leaned closer, which seemed impossible, considering his breath was already misting against my lips. “But is my virtue safe with you?” he asked lightly. Straightening, he turned away and strode back acrossthe practice ring, falling into the fighter’s stance opposite the instructor once more.

I sucked in oxygen like he’d stolen it all. Looking over at Acacia and Viana, I gave them a wide-eyed look of panic. “That just happened, right? I didn’t have a fever dream?”

Acacia shook her head. “No, girl. You didn’t.” She tugged at my arm. “When we’re done here, we need to head down to the bowels. I have a sneaking suspicion that there’s not a single thing in your wardrobe that’s appropriate to wear ‘star watching’ with an Heir to the First Line.” She said “star watching” the way some people would say “flying pigs.” With a heavy dose of skepticism.

She was right, of course. I had my brother’s pants and my traveling skirt, which had as many holes as pockets. I needed to mend it, but there really hadn’t been time. Neither of those were respectable enough to even be in the First Line dorm, let alone Vox Vylan’s living quarters.

“I’d be grateful. Thank you.”

I’d been to the bowels of Boellium—the colloquial name for the Twelfth Line dorm, as it was at the very bottom of the main building—a few times now, and I envied the camaraderie they all had together. The community they’d somehow adopted me into.

When Acacia and Viana arrived with me in tow, I was greeted like a long-lost sibling. Someone thrust a bowl of stew in my hand, someone else grilled me about how my collarbone was healing, and others asked after my stolt. They all cared. It was like a bandage around my stone-cold heart, and I didn’t know what to do with the emotions it evoked.

“Our friend from the Ninth has a date with none other than Vox Vylan, and has a truly abysmal wardrobe. Does anyone have anything they’d think is appropriate?” Viana asked.

Someone whistled low, and there was a lot of elbow nudging and banter, but at least six people ran off into their dorm rooms, including Acacia. I sat in the middle of their common room, eating stew like a fool, while Viana gave them all a blow-by-blow of what had happened in the training ring.

“Then he leaned in, and I swear, I thought he was going to either headbutt her or kiss her, but instead, he said please. Vox Vylan saidplease.” They all went wide-eyed, like he’d fought and defeated a three-headed dragon, instead of using good manners.

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