Page 41 of Infernal Bonds

“I saw a map in the palace. Elyrdin is big. Is there only one gate in?”

“There’s another on the eastern side of Elyrdin, but there’s no reason for anyone outside the sanctum to go beyond the gates. The other gate is only there in case we have to fend off creatures from Moicae without traveling too far through Feranzis. Feranzis is larger on the western side.”

I rubbed my arms, finally cooling off enough to feel chilled by the night air, so I stepped inside.

Zeke followed. “Cyn should be back with dinner by now, so we should head downstairs.”

“What’d he get?”

“After he showered, he went back to the palace to get something from the kitchen there. We’ll do that if training runs late. It’s easier than going into Alonia and dealing with the public.” He froze in the doorway, and I almost ran into his back. He turned around. “Not that I don’t like the people,” he said quickly. “We’re just tired and dirty and—”

“I understand. You don’t have to explain.”

I couldn’t imagine constantly having to worry about appearances the way they did. It was hard enough pretending to be cheerful at work on bad days when all I wanted was to go home, crawl into bed, and sleep for twelve hours. But faking your way through a shift at a boutique in the mall probably didn’t compare to the pressure that came with being royalty.

He exhaled as if relieved I understood him and turned, but paused again, glancing back at me. “Did you already eat?”

“No. Why?”

He glanced back inside my room, then at me, clearing his throat. “It’s nothing. Let’s go.” He smiled and led me downstairs to the kitchen, where Cyn and Ezra waited at the table.

Ezra looked up and tilted his head a fraction, studying me. It was the same look he used to give me back on Earth—the one that made me feel like he could see beneath my skin and read everything about me with a single glance.

I looked away first, not wanting to unpack whatever that was, and rounded the table.

A pasta dish with chunks of meat in a creamy white sauce waited at my place setting. I took a seat across from Cyn, and Zeke dropped into the chair next to me and immediately dug in.

Cyn looked between us and narrowed his eyes. “Did you two fuck?”

Zeke dropped his fork and stared at him with wide eyes.

I glared at him. “What the hell? Why would you ask something like that?”

“Well?” He sniffed. “Did you?”

“No! What is wrong with you?”

He glanced at Zeke, who still looked like a spooked deer that might dart away at any second, then shook his head. “Never mind. Eat your dinner.”

I’d been around Cyn for a little over two months now, and I still hadn’t gotten used to his crude way of speaking.

The table grew quiet, leaving only the clinking of forks on bowls as I focused on my food. With Zeke obviously embarrassed by Cyn’s question and Ash missing as a buffer, dinner felt awkward.

I wondered why Cyn and Ezra wanted to eat dinner together if they weren’t interested in my presence.

“How is the air conditioning controlled here? Is there air conditioning?”

“Yeah,” Zeke said, pointing with his fork toward the door that led out back. “We have a climate-control system beneath the deck.”

Ezra wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Is there something wrong?”

“It’s hot.”

Cyn shifted in his seat, biting on the bar of his tongue piercing.

Zeke got up, went over to a console on the wall, and pressed a few buttons. “I lowered the temperature. Should get cooler.”

I finished my drink and reached for the pitcher of water, refilling the glass and downing that one too.