Page 23 of Insolence
Bibi babbles severalgood birds of her own, doing her silly little shuffle dance.
Elodie raises her arm, whistling the ascending signal. With a greatwhoosh, the raven climbs into the air on mighty wings.
The high priestess hasn’t lifted her eyes from me for longer than a second.
Chapter 7
Itissa
Although I’m fully clothed, I can’t help feeling exposed.
Elodie’s heated stare rakes over me in a way that feels invasive and far too familiar; I’m vulnerable beneath its intensity.
“This attraction between us. It’s powerful,” she murmurs. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”
“Oh, gods. Trust me, I’m aware younoticed.” I blush furiously, my fingers going to the end of my braid. “I was fairly forward the other day. But you can’t deny… d-don’t tell me you're not interested, High Priestess. I can tell that you are.”
“Oh, Tiss.” She glances around before moving closer and pulling my hand from my hair. “I won’t deny it. In all honesty, I’ve been struggling to make sense of some things since your gorgeous ass showed up. But it’s not that simple.”
The rude compliment paired with the gravity in her tone stuns me to silence. I’m thrown completely off my axis.
“Let’s find somewhere safe to talk. Come on.” She drops my hand and takes off again, the hem of her cloak skimming the ground.
I hesitate before the shock wears off, then trot to catch up. But she’s too fast, disappearing around the tower and forcing me to pick up speed.
Jogging, I trail her through the interstice between the Orrery Tower and the craggy rock wall. The Observatory looms overhead, casting a shadow so deep the fissure is all but invisible as we approach it.
I don’t see the chasm entrance angled into the jagged stone until we’re nearly on top of it. Elodie spins around, grabbing my hands to pull me into the tiny cave.
It extends back four, maybe five feet before terminating in a blunt dead end cloaked in darkness. Once inside, we’re almost completely hidden.
“Gods,” I murmur, “I wouldn’t have known this was here if I hadn’t been following you.”
“That’s the idea.” She lets me go, her breath clouding the frigid air. “We should be safe for a short while.”
“Now that we’reconcealedto your liking, what do you want?” I fire off with more boldness than I feel.
“All right,” she snorts. “Did you think that wascuteback there?”
“What?”
She flashes a dark, exasperated look that says, Pleasebe fucking serious. “Dropping a book at my feet? Sound familiar?”
My eyes flare wide. “I seem to be having some issues with my memory of late. You’ll have to forgive me.”
“Pity.” She blinks. “So long as we’re being open about our attraction to each other, we need to discuss your behavior before things go further.”
“There’s nothing wrong with mybehavior,” I say, equal parts flustered and strangely excited by this turn of the conversation.
“Mm-hmm. Don’t think I’m intimidated orimpressedby the tantrum you threw when I’d done nothing but show concern for your well-being.”
“Oh, please. ‘Tantrum’ is a… a strong word. And maybe I didn’t want your concern. But I suppose that didn’t occur to you, now did it?” I turn aside and brush past her, venturing further into the dim chamber.
Elodie seizes my shoulder without missing a beat, spinning me back to face her. She gives an ironic sort of chuckle, as if she can’t wait to do something about my feigned indifference. Gods help me, it thrills me to the very bottom of my soul.
“If you didn’t want it, then you should’ve said so. You don’t get to push my buttons whenever you feel like it. Not without my permission.”
“Yourpermission?”
