Alethea has always been awkward - eccentric, even. On a typical day she spends her time cloistered inside a tiny apartment hiding from the world she doesn't really understand. When her therapist encourages her to push herself outside her comfort zon...
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Roran's apartment was nicer than I expected. Whatever job he had must have been paying him well. As we made our way into the living room it took all the willpower I had not to take off my sandals and dig my toes into what looked to be the softest carpet I'd ever seen.
"Are you hungry?" his deep voice rumbled from my right. I turned my attention away from the plush grey carpet and noticed he was already digging through cabinets and drawers in his immaculately clean kitchen. I wandered over and took a seat at the table to watch him.
"Can you cook?" I asked, wondering when he would have had time to learn.
Roran shrugged and said, "A few things. I'm not a master chef, but I get by. Is parmesan chicken okay?"
I raised my eyebrows. "Sure. I would have been good with anything though. Don't go to any trouble just to impress me."
He gave me that toe-curling grin and I felt my cheeks flush. "How else am I supposed to make you fall in love with me?" he teased.
"I'm pretty sure the saying is 'the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.' I don't think that applies to me," I replied with a laugh.
Roran said nothing in response, but the grin never left his face. Peering at him out of the corner of my eye, I watched as he moved around in the small kitchen. He looked happier than I had ever seen him - not that I had known him for long, but he hadn't had any reason to be happy in purgatory.
Laying my head down on the table, I realized how right this all felt. Afternoon sunlight streamed in through the window next to me and I felt warm and happy. Safe. I never wanted to leave.
That thought startled me. It was strange how comfortable I felt with Roran, as if I had known him my whole life. There was no doubt in my mind that we would be good together. But there was no way I was going to stress myself out over a relationship when we would be leaving soon to find a way to stop Moroi and one or both of us might be killed. Again.
"What are you thinking about that's got you looking like your dog just died?"
I looked up from the table to see Roran leaning against the counter with his arms crossed. His shirt was pulled tight across his muscled chest and I might have stared – a bit.
"I'm just worried things are going to go badly with Moroi. Our luck hasn't been so good in the past."
He walked over and kneeled next to my chair so that we were nearly eye to eye. Taking my hand in his he said, "I need you to trust me, Thea. I have a plan and it's going to work. I won't let you get hurt."
"And you are going to explain the details of this plan to me soon, right? I don't want to be kept in the dark like I was about you sacrificing your phoenix powers."
I give him a glare after I finish the sentence, just so he knows I mean business. But it only seems to amuse him.
"Of course I'm going to explain it to you. But not now. First let's just have a nice dinner together without worrying about Moroi or purgatory."
