Page 176 of Infernal Bonds

“Yeah.” She put her items on the counter. “We were all in our late teens when it happened, so we’ve had time to process it. Jax and Xael moved in with Van right afterward. They practically lived with him anyway since their parents weren’t the nicest people to begin with.”

Once she finished paying, we headed out of the store and toward what looked to be a massive food court.

I didn’t bring up Jax, Xael, or Van again, not wanting to upset her.

This world was dangerous, and it seemed that anytime someone went outside Elyrdin’s walls, the risk of death increased to an alarming degree. How often did missions outside of Elyrdin take place? I wasn’t sure I wanted to ask. It wasn’t as if I could prepare for the anxiety that I knew would settle over me.

Even though the guys were meant to take over the council, they’d told me they’d gone on missions to Moicae. Which meant Cornaith overlooked—or accepted—the fact that they might die. Hell, Cornaith had almost lost his life outside of Elyrdin. If it weren’t for the slipstream and the help of his friend, he’d be dead too.

“What do you want to eat?”

“I didn’t bring any money with me.” I’d yet to use the card the guys had given me, and I didn’t know its balance. I wanted to do something to earn my own money, not be a leech.

“I didn’t say anything about paying. I asked, what do you want to eat? I’m paying you for keeping me company.”

“I don’t know. What’s good?”

“Pizza or subs. Maybe the wrap place over there if you want something healthy. I recommend the gornak burrito if you go there. Their niphi is always overcooked. Oh wait. No, you need to try the marinated niphi strip meal. Come on.”

She grabbed my wrist and dragged me over to the counter of a restaurant that didn’t serve pizza, subs, or wraps, and ordered us a plate of niphi strips with noodles and mixed vegetables. It looked like a classic beef stir-fry.

Once seated, she said, “I’ll be right back. The shake shop over there has the best fruit-infused iced teas. What’s your favorite fruit?”

“Peaches.”

“Oh, you’re going to love this.”

Before I could say anything, she took off across the food court in a flash of copper hair.

The last time we’d seen each other at the palace, she seemed off. Not as upbeat as today. I wondered what had changed.

“Didn’t think I’d see you here,” a deep, teasing voice called from behind me.

I looked up as Kairian approached the table.

He laughed as my gaze snapped to where Kavina had disappeared. “Relax. I’m not going to hurt you. Besides, we’re in the middle of a food court.”

“What do you want?”

“To apologize.”

I slowly set my fork down and cleared my throat, waiting for a woman pushing a stroller to pass. Inside sat a toddler with tiny horns, playing with a plushie. “You wanna apologize? For what?”

“Upsetting you.” He took the empty seat next to me and sat back, shaking his head a bit to get his hair out of his eyes. “I probably could have done a better job of introducing myself at the ball. My bad.”

“And you’ve been thinking about it all this time?”

Even I’d forgotten about it.

“I meant what I said. You shouldn’t be here, but I didn’t mean to scare you. It stuck with me. I don’t take pleasure in scaring women.” He put his ankle over his knee, the leg of his jeans riding up to show off polished combat boots with chains on them.

He didn’t resemble the polished nobleman from the ball anymore. Not with the loose black T-shirt beneath an unbuttoned long-sleeved overshirt and a few necklaces and rings on his fingers. His fashion sense vibed with Cyn’s, but Kairian seemed edgier. The whole outfit made him look younger than he had at the ball.

“You didn’t scare me.”

He hummed but didn’t call me out.

I wasn’t afraid because I thought I’d die, but he made me uneasy, and I didn’t know if I should have been scared of him. That was what made it worse. Even now, I couldn’t find his angle.