Page 53 of The Verdant Cage
“What were you doing down there earlier?” he demands.
He sounds somewhere between confused and upset. I sit up and scoot back until I’m pressed against the wall. Goosebumps prickle where the backs of my arms meet cool plaster. “What do you mean?”
“Hanging off me,” he says. He strides over to the wardrobe and pulls out his bedding with such force that it sends feathers flying. Papers, too, but he shoves those quickly back in. “You werepretendingto care for me, correct? If I may be so bold, could I recommend you spend some private time practicing? You had the element of surprise on your side tonight, but your performance was otherwise lackluster.”
I lean forward, my heart thudding, suddenly seriously annoyed. Hadn’thebeen the one to lie to his parents that we were off messing around in the first place? I can’t get a read on him, and I’m tired of it. “Why’d you kiss me the other night, Gryphon?”
I don’t think he’s going to speak. And he doesn’t, for a while. Then, “You were all I used to think about, Rose,” he says, raw honesty in his voice.
The shock of his words yanks a strangled sound from my throat—embarrassingly close to a honk. I blink rapidly, wondering what in the Wall he’s talking about.
He drags in a breath. “I was ashamed to come to school with cuts and bruises, but you treated them like they weren’t my fault. You cleaned me up, and then you’d ask me about myself.” His back is still to me, his strong hand splayed out on the wardrobe. “Do you remember? You wanted to know what my favorite food was, if I liked the color blue, if I preferred reading over playing marbles.”
I blush. “I was a lonely kid.”
“No,” he says, shaking his head. His voice goes soft, and he sighs. “You were thoughtful and clever and a gifted healer. And you were selfless, Rose. Watching you made me better, when I could have easily grown up to be just like my father.”
I slide off the bed and stand on legs made of glass. “You’re nothing like him, Gryphon.” It’s important to me that he knows that. As much as I don’t think I’ll ever be free of the image of him putting my brother in that basket…I don’t want my old friend to torment himself, either.
He continues speaking as if he didn’t hear me. “Then you were betrothed to Nikola.” He pauses. “And I had no right to you. Not in the way I wanted. It became easier to be angry at you.”
My heart kicks up.What is he saying?
“It took everything in me to avoid you those first few months after the ceremony, but eventually I made it a habit. I came to accept my fate. Yours and Nikola’s, too.” Gryphon takes a breath before continuing, and the wait is almost painful for me. “But what you said on the roof…” He trails off, as if scared of where the thought might lead.
Instinctively, I reach toward him but pull my hand back. I feel like I’m vibrating, more emotion than human. Of course we couldn’t have beentogether, but why have we sacrificed our friendship for the past four years rather than simply talk about our hurt?
He turns, staring at my mouth with an intensity that gives me goosebumps. But instead of crushing my lips to his, his eyes return to mine. “That’s why I objected in chapel yesterday.” His eyes are blazing. “I don’t want you to be forced to marry me, Rose. When you came to me tonight, itwasn’tlackluster. For a moment, I believed you might feel about me the same way I feel about you. I’m sorry for embarrassing you, and I’m forever sorry for being a part of Jonas’s Harvest.”
I nod, tears pricking my eyes, because I think he’s telling the truth. “I believe you,” I say, but what I mean is,as much as I can forgive you, I do.But it’s too late. As soon as the tablet is charged, I must leave him behind forever.
32
I assume I’ll have better luck levitating basketless up the Wall than I will sleeping after that conversation, but the day catches up to me before long. When I wake, my first thought is that someone has tied me to the bed and beaten me with a stick.
I groan, my hand going to my face. Oscar hadn’t exaggerated about how sore I’d be. That’s when I spot the green-and-purple bruises blooming across my wrist from practice yesterday. I’ll have to make sure to keep my sleeves pulled low.
But then I notice something else, something wonderful: bright, yellow sunlight streaming in through the window!
I pop up. If it holds, that’ll be a full day of charging for the tablet. If tomorrow is also sunny against the Astronomer’s predictions, I’ll be able to steal the tablet and ride the basket to Jonas. If I were him, I’d be staying close to Eden’s Gate, either at the top of the Wall or just on the other side, if I were able to climb down.
Hang on, Jackrabbit.
I’m about to drag myself out of bed but see that, for the first time since I moved into the Tzu cottage, Gryphon is still sleeping on the floor beside me. I study him, my heart banging in my chest. His blanket is tangled around his legs. Did he have nightmares that I didn’t hear? A beam of sunlight caresses his face, following the curve of his eyes, the arch of his nose. His bare chest rises and falls easily, one hand sprawled across it.
He appears so innocent in sleep, just an arm’s length away from me. Without even thinking, I reach for his face. I don’t believe I mean to touch him, but I’ll never know, because he circles my wrist before I come close.
One yank, and I land with the elegance of a turtle, sprawled across the warm expanse of Gryphon’s chest. “What’re you doing?” I demand.
“What wereyoudoing?” His eyes are clear, his mouth curved in a smile.
“You had a bug on your face,” I lie.
He cocks an eyebrow. “And you were going to save me?”
I yank my hand back and stand slowly, groaning as I do.
“Sore?” he asks, rolling to his side to face me, resting his elbow on the floor.
