Page 7 of Feathers of Ash and Hope

“Mom, I think it would be better for Ara to stay here with us,” Dar says, and Ian seconds that view.

“Darren, babe, I love your protectiveness,” Elena chimes in. “But don’t you think you’re taking it a bit too far? You can’t keep Ara locked up in this fortress all her life. She can take better care of herself than any other woman I know.”

“She is also better at getting into trouble,” Luc offers. My brothers exchange meaningful glances. Not even Elena knows about my curse since even hiding my existence is a death sentence, and Dar would never risk her like that.

“And who would accompany her?” Darren asks Mom. “You, Luc, and Ian are needed here. I can’t either, and Ben…” He shakes his head.

“Come on.” Ben throws his hands up. “I can look out for her.”

“The twins in Telos. That even sounds like the title of a drama,” Ian murmurs, and they all chuckle while I grin at Ben’s mockingly outraged expression.

“No one needs to look out for me because I can kick ass all by myself,” I throw in, which earns me Mom’s leveling gaze.

“Tamara Summer Blackstone,” she admonishes. “That is not something to feel smug about.” Then she turns back to my brothers. “She won’t be alone, and my brother and his family are capable of looking out for her, so I don’t think there is a need for one of you boys to accompany her. Sloan is such a reasonable girl.”

I do my best to hide my grin.

Chapter

Two

TATE

I leavethe small dark alley and head toward the big street leading us back to the academy. I’m glad I wear all black today instead of my uniform. It makes the bloodstains much less noticeable.

“What the fuck, Tate? Are we really not going to talk about the reason I’ll have to keep up this illusion until I’m back in my room?” Jared hurries after me. My best friend currently looks nothing like his tall, blond, and broad form but like a tiny redhead with killer curves, which makes hearing his deep voice out of her mouth even more bizarre, but that is not the only glitch. He matches my pace easily despite his seemingly shorter legs. Nobody’s illusion is perfect if you’re observant.

“You weren’t invited, so don’t whine if it bruised your sensibilities,” I tell him.

“You can be such an ass,” he grumbles. “How did you even know it was me?” he asks when he realizes I don’t intend to say anything else. Not that this should be news to him.

“You still walk like yourself,” I answer.

“And how do I walk?” he asks, exasperated.

I snort. “Not like a woman who looks like that,” I tell him, which has him grumbling again and me hoping I avoided that conversation.

“What the fuck are you doing, man? That was a fucking shit show,” he hisses, keeping his voice low since the street we just entered is much busier than the one before.

“I told you to stay away,” I say dryly.

“Oh, and that makes it better?”

“What should I have done, Jared?” I round on him, dragging him closer to the houses to let a horse cart pass without getting run over. “Should I have let him slip his dagger between my ribs like he planned to? Should I have let him walk away after that?”

“No, of course not, but I can’t believe you still won’t let me have your back.”

“It’s my plan and my questions that got me into this. I will not drag you down with me,” I hiss. A woman passes us and gives me a disapproving stare, probably because it looks like I tower over Jared’s fragile form.Fucking great.I release him and step back before someone calls the guards. The blood on me might not be obvious, but it’s still there, as well as its coppery scent.

“It pisses me off that you keep me out of this,” Jared grumbles. “It’s like you think you’re the only one affected by what happened back then.” He turns away from me, starting down the street. We’ve had more fights about this than I can count.

“Jared, you know that’s not true,” I say while I follow. “I just have to do that alone.”

“Why? Am I not allowed to be affected because I wasn’t there? Am I not allowed to want revenge?” He shakes his head. “Just stop fucking pushing me away.”

“That’s not what I’m doing. I …”

“Well, it feels like it. You hurt Mom by staying away, too. You know that, right?” he adds without any heat or accusation, and somehow, that makes it worse.

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