Page 57 of Shadow Weaver
He sounded pleased about it. Had he been lonely?
“I donotget lonely,” he snapped.
Shit. “Then what have you been up to since we all got shipped to the mist? No first years to boss around.”
He smirked. “While the mice are away, the cat will play.”
I stared at him, my brain fuzzy. “I’m sure it’s the other way around.”
“Nope.” He tapped his claws on the bedside table. “I also had a whole two seasons of Lunar Creek to catch up on.” He grew misty-eyed.
“You too?”
He frowned. “You don’t watch?”
I shrugged. “Not really. Not as religiously as everyone else.”
He blinked slowly. “It’s a window to another world, Justice. A window.”
“Uh-huh. Now you’re being weird.”
“You have a concussion.”
“I didn’t hit my head … did I?”
He shrugged. “Probably.”
We sat in silence for a while, and then a question popped into my head. “What are you?”
He gasped in mock horror. “How rude. Whatareyou?” He sniffed, acting offended, but there was a glint of satisfaction in his orange eyes.
I bit back a smile. “Has no one ever asked you?”
He held up his paws and unsheathed his claws. “Have you seen these? Most cadets know better than to be so intrusive.”
“I guess incapacity has made me bold.”
He smirked and leaned in. “Either that or you’ve simply lost your mind.”
His face wavered like he was looking at me through one of those fairground mirrors. I closed my eyes for a moment, and when I opened them, he was sitting back in his seat.
“Are you going to tell me?”
“Since you asked, and since it’s been such a long time since anyone has inquired, I believe I will. But not today, Justice. When the time is right. Sleep now.”
“Spoilsport.”
But my eyes were already closing as exhaustion washed over me in a wave. “Yeah. Yeah, I just need to …”
* * *
A hand smoothedover my forehead, and then a familiar cedar scent tingled my senses.
“Brady.” I reached for his hand that was cupping my cheek. “Hey.” I opened my eyes and smiled up at him.
His eyes were dark smudges of concern. “You almost died,” he said gruffly.
“I’m sorry.” I didn’t know why I was apologizing, but in that moment, I needed to take away the pain that was etched onto his face.
