The Midnight Watch

Chapter 35

"I'd quite like an explanation," Nate murmured. He was crouched in the undergrowth, his shoulder resting against mine, while Kai kept watch for guards on the towering, immense walls of Evarlin.

Everyone was on edge, and it showed. Rhys had disappeared to — as he put it — 'scout.' I didn't know if that was code for any lone ranger type activity, but he'd been gone twenty minutes already and it was getting harder to sit still.

"So would I," I piped up.

Kai's jaw clenched shut. He had to force it open: he knew as well as we did that talking was dangerous here. Any shifter had the senses to hear if we raised our voices even a little and, a stone's throw from Evarlin, there were plenty of shifters around. "You want an explanation of what, exactly?"

"What we're doing here," Nate elaborated, and I nodded along.

"Well, that's an easy one." He huffed out a breath, his chest hitching on the undersized black harness. "Don't either of you remember why I was at Evarlin in the first place?"

"Safety," I recalled.

"Politics," Nate added.

"Loneliness."

"Boredom."

"To show off."

"That's enough, thanks," Kai snorted. His eyes flicked between us. "All of that, yes. But the main motive was far less noble. To win the support of the Moon Guard. Months spent making friends and smiling at people. Today I'm going to collect on that."

"Is that why we're going in broad daylight?" Nate asked.

I nodded again. "When night-time would be so much safer and easier?"

"You two... I don't even..." He shook his head. "Yes. The answer's yes. It has to look legitimate."

I readjusted my position so my weight was on my elbows and stretched my cramped legs. "You really are a conniving bastard, aren't you?"

"Savannah Fairborne" — Kai flicked my ear brutally— "that's no way to speak to your King, is it?"

I flipped him off, and we both fell about laughing. Even Nate allowed himself a grudging smile. Until someone whistled from behind the wall, and I snapped to attention, assuming the noise had alerted the guards. But it was just Rhys, his eyebrows raised.

"All things considered, it's a miracle you pups are still alive. That racket could have woken the dead."

I fell into another giggling fit. Breathless as I was, the laughter seemed to be healing cracks I hadn't even noticed. It had been so long since we'd been able to act our ages, even for a second. And I fully intended to make the most of it.

"Shush, Sav," Nate insisted. I reckoned he was teasing, and that only made laugh harder, of course. He put a hand over my mouth, and I tried to lick it instinctively. It always worked on Alex, but Nate ignored me, although it looked like he was holding back laughter of his own.

Then fingers prodded at my side, just underneath my ribcage — a cruel form of tickling. Kai, of course. They seemed to be thoroughly enjoying my torture, until I started writhing and the whole thing descended into an unseemly tussle which ended with all three of us sprawled breathless on our backs, staring at blue sky.

The rogue rolled his eyes at us. "Move your asses. We ain't got all day."

"Five more minutes?" Kai suggested wheezily.

"Three. I'm feeling excluded."

It was seven minutes, all told, before we began the trek to the tunnel entrance. We had to be stealthy about it, so I crept from shadow to shadow and tried my darn best not to step on any twigs. If we had been in any real danger, we all would have died. It proved impossible to walk silently on dried leaves, for everyone except the rogue. If it weren't for his heartbeat, I wouldn't have known he was there at all, and more than once we lost track of him altogether.