Page 37 of Shadow Weaver
* * *
“And how has it been going?”Payne asked from his perch on his lab stool.
“Which part?”
He laughed. “Yes, I suppose there’s a lot for you to deal with.”
“Shadow cadet stuff and then the weaver lessons.” I watched him adjust the microscope he was using and peer into it. “Why didn’t you become a shadow cadet?”
He pushed the microscope aside and smiled at me. “I knew this was coming.”
“And?”
“And there’s no deep, dark reason. I just didn’t want to be a knight. I wanted to be a weaver, and not being able to weave … Well, it was awful. Being a shadow knight was a consolation prize, and I didn’t want it. So, I turned to science and alchemy; it was the closest I could get to wielding some kind of magic.”
“Do you think I should be a weaver? I mean, do you want me to be one?”
He smiled warmly. “Oh, Indigo, it doesn’t work that way. Not with me. I want you to be happy, no matter what path you choose. I’ll support you in your choice. But it has to be your choice.”
My choice. All my life, others had pushed their ideals and decisions on me. All my life, I’d tried to conform and then rebelled when I realized nothing I did would make them happy, and now someone was here to cheer me on no matter what. My choice. One that would makemehappy.
“And what if I don’t want to be either?”
He smiled conspiratorially and leaned in. “Then we’ll pack our bags and hit the road. You and me, road trip for two. Father-daughter bonding time.”
My throat tightened with longing. “Can we do that anyway? Can we … Can we take a trip sometime?”
Shit, I sounded like a kid asking for a cookie from the cookie jar, but in that moment, I didn’t care. Everything inside me yearned for this.
His expression sobered. “Indigo. I would love to take a trip with you. We’ll plan one for end of term. You and me and the open road.”
Excitement bubbled up inside me. But I shrugged and made a nonchalant face. “Cool. Yeah. Whatever.” I grabbed my hoodie. “I got to get to class.”
“You want to go get some food later?” He looked hopeful and then winced. “I know you don’t technically eat, but …”
He was so adorable that my cool façade slipped. “Yeah … I’d love that.”
* * *
I stoodoutside the archway that would port me to the weaver class and rubbed the cuffs on my wrists. This would hurt. Damn cuffs. They were designed not to let me off Academy grounds but reacted to this port too. I’d had a one-on-one with Madam Latrou a couple of days ago, and I’d been zapped then too. I ran my gaze over the fractures in the arch. Were they wider?
“Are you just going to stand there, or are you going in?” Kash’s breath tickled the back of my neck.
I tensed but didn’t jump forward like he’d probably expected.
I shrugged. “In a minute, maybe. I was thinking.”
“About how pathetic you are?” he drawled.
“No, about what a lackeyyouare.” I turned slowly to face him and canted my head as if pondering something. “Don’t your lips get tired of kissing Fiona’s ass?”
His honey eyes raked over my face, and his pink tongue peeked out to touch his top lip.
“Why? Do you wish I was kissing yours?”
He leaned in, uncaring of violating my personal space, and a frisson of awareness skimmed over my skin. I smelled peaches. Ripe, juicy peaches. Was it him, wait, was he wearing peach-flavored lip balm?
His gaze dropped to my mouth, thick dark lashes casting shadows on his cheeks. “I wouldn’t mind. It’s a very nice ass.”
