Nightsworn | The Whispering Wall #2

Sixty Nine: Concealments

Jordan fidgeted at the tickling sensation on the back of his neck. "Grace."

"This one looks like a symbol," his sister said, undeterred by the irritation in his voice. "Is that what a rune looks like?"

It always took him a while to remember that not everyone else could see runes as he could. He sighed. "Yeah."

She shifted herself onto his stool with him, glancing over at his work. Not that he had done much, preoccupied as he was by the coming night. He had hoped it would distract him, but so far it had done a dismal job. Still, he couldn't kid himself that trying to sleep would work any better. Even though Yddris had found a couple of hours to spar with him in Kedrick's attic that day – also with an avid audience – he felt restless.

Soft footsteps alerted him to Nova's presence in the room. He wasn't surprised. If Grace showed up somewhere alone, it wasn't long before the Angel followed, as if she was afraid Grace would disappear if she left her sight for too long. Jordan could somewhat understand the sentiment. After the visit up to the castle, Nova's mood had seemed darker than usual. She hadn't even responded very enthusiastically to Grace's greeting, which usually brought a bit of a light to her eyes.

"Laurel's finished changing the sheets," she said. "I'm going to bed."

"You're early," Grace said. The teasing smile on her face faded when Nova's answering smile was only fleeting. "Is something wrong? Do you not feel well? I can ask Nika to..."

"No," Nova interrupted firmly. "There's nothing wrong. I'll be in bed if you need me."

She left, and Grace's brow furrowed as she watched her go. Jordan sighed and put down his pen after carefully wiping down the nib. "Go on," he said. "I don't think she'd have come down here if she wasn't hoping you'd go to bed with her. We spent all day together."

Grace hesitated, torn. "Are you going out tonight?"

"Yes."

"On patrol, or..."

He gave her a level stare. "You're doing a terrible job of pretending you don't know what's going on. Whichever will make you worry less, that's what I'm doing."

She scowled at him. "It all makes me worry. Just the fact that you're out at night makes me worry."

"I'm never out alone. Everyone I'm with knows what they're doing, no matter who it is." That at least was true.

She still looked unconvinced, but seemed to sense defeat. Jordan wished she wouldn't try – it only made it harder to go out, and it never changed how much choice he had in the matter. He would have liked nothing more than to stay here at the inn, warm and rune-protected with his sister nearby, but he couldn't ignore a summons from either of his teachers. And, he hesitated to admit to himself, he was starting to prefer sleeping in the daytime anyway. Silas never appeared during daylight hours, and he slept better when he knew that demons had mostly gone to ground. Yddris was most likely to be at the castle so he would be left alone, and Nictaven's current pulsed so loudly at night now that daytime was a respite. Some Unspoken habits he had always assumed were eccentricities or practicalities of the job, but he was fast discovering that a lot of them had a basis in much more day to day necessity.

"Okay," she finally mumbled, chewing on her lip. "Be careful, Joe. I love you."

They embraced. He held on for longer than he'd intended; he got hugged so infrequently while wearing the cloak. In the few days Grace had been staying at the inn, they had had a real chance to catch up, instead of snatching an hour of conversation when their schedules allowed. That, he thought, more than anything else, had helped his sister understand that he wasn't going to be able to get rid of the Gift. If the implications of that in any efforts they might make to get home had occurred to her at all, she hadn't voiced them. Her sudden curiosity about his training was a welcome change from the distance and suspicion she had previously kept reserved for it.