Page 47 of Rebellious Royals

"And you," I went on, "are good. Not going to be good, or could be good, or even have talent. Yes, all of those are true, but you are already good, and you're what, nineteen years old?"

"Twenty," he corrected.

"Not even old enough to drink on Earth," I joked.

Which made him crack a smile. "Don't need that shit. But you think I'm doing ok?"

I nodded slowly. "I think you're a badass." And I let my head drop, finally relaxing now that we were back in our rooms. "I always thought I'd have to be the one to save her. Now I'm not so sure."

"Is that a good thing?" he asked.

"Yeah," I breathed.

Keir shifted, sitting up and turning to face me in a single smooth motion. "Tor, are you really that scared about the graffiti?"

"I'm that scared about someone trying to bash her head in," I admitted. "I'm that scared about the Summer Queen still being alive."

"Are you sure she is?" he asked. "I mean, couldn't someone have killed her over there?"

I shook my head. "No. I'd have a crown."

"Mm, yeah. There's that."

"And she has to know Aspen exists by now," I told him. "The Winter Crown is gone. The only way for that to happen is for someone to take it. Now, there's a chance she may not have looked at it in a while, but I doubt it. She knows. I'm sure she knows, and that means she wants my sister dead."

"Does she think it's you?" he offered.

I shook my head. "No."

"Care to clarify?"

Licking my lips, I fought the urge to say nothing. For so long, that had served me best. Keeping secrets was easy once I'd gotten used to it. Saying nothing meant I didn't have to lie. Being pissed about even being asked kept anyone from pushing. Sadly, none of those tricks worked on Keir.

Plus, heneededto know. This man wasn't an enemy. He wasn't even a potential problem. Keir was on our side. He was Rain's knight and protector. He was my...

Friend. I'd go with friend. That was a safe word to use, and one that was true. Keir was my friend, my sister's partner, and the Morrigan's boyfriend. He was one of us, even if I hadn't expected him to be. But that was enough to make me look up, meeting his strange violet-blue eyes.

"The Queen has enchanted me so that if I ever inherit the Winter Crown, the power of that season will be channeled directly to her. She might not be the queen of both seasons, but she will get the power of them."

"Shit," Keir breathed.

I nodded. "Yeah. And if that happens?"

His eyes shifted between mine. "We won't let it, Torian. I give you my word. No matter what, you will never inherit your sister's crown."

And as the ripples from his vow encircled us, a weight lifted from my shoulders.

Chapter Fourteen

RAIN

On Friday, the six of us settled into our new schedule. Wilder, Torian, and Aspen headed to the gym when they were done with their other magical classes in the Never. That meant they passed the rest of Bracken's students, who were headed to their dorms for the evening.

Then we got to work. Mostly, we tried to find a way to make this mess of abilities work for training. Naturally, they tried putting me with Aspen. I was doing pretty well with my weapons, but magic was still something I had to focus on. She was the other way. Together, we just kept thwarting each other. Whichever of us attacked first won.

Keir and Hawke worked with Wilder and Torian. Surprisingly, Wilder could hold his own with a blade. Torian didn't even bother. Instead, he wrenched magic around like it was a part of him. And yet, watching the way he worked made me realize I'd been doing this all wrong. I kept thinking of magic like spells instead of an extension of who I was.

And over the weekend, we rested. Mostly, that was because all of us hurt. I'd dodged in weird ways to avoid Aspen's lack of skill. The guys weren't any better. Oh, Torian was fine, but he had no problem with everyone hanging out in one of our roomsor another. It kept any assholes from sneaking up on us, or so he said.

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