Page 117 of Fortress of Ambrose
When I clear the dorm wings, I spot Jordan passing the stairs and dash after him.
“Jordan!”
“Quell,thereyou are.” He hurries toward me but stops suddenly to keep some distance between us.
“You say that as if we don’t live in the same house. Why haven’t I seen you in two days?”
“I’ve been busy. So have you. But there’s something we need to talk about.” He reaches into his jacket and pulls an envelope addressed to him. “Ellery wants to see me.”
I go cold all over. Ellery Ambrose, Nore’s brother, who has their mother prisoner or something wild like that.
“He sent this two days ago. I needed to wrap my head around it and think before I brought it to you. I’m going to meet with him.”
“You’reabsolutelynot going to leave here and meet with him. I am breaking my brain trying to make this place safer for everyone, but mainlyyouand all magic. And you want to go waltzing out there? You already have a target on your back.”
“I understand it’s a risk. But he could have much-needed news about the Immortality Scroll. I have all this power inside me, Quell, if I have to, I will use it. He wants to meet tomorrow at Monument Park. I can take someone with me if that gives you peace of mind.”
“Jordan,no. I order it. As your Headmistress.”
“Oh, now you’re my Headmistress?” he asks, teasing me.
“I’ve always been yourheadmistress.”
He bites his lip, and it makes me want to kiss him.
“Ellery is working against your brother and Nore, which sort of makes him our enemy, too. You think the Dragunhead hasn’t figured that out?”
He strokes his chin. I grab the note from him, and our fingers brush, stealing the moment. His eyes are an odd shade of green today, more bluish than usual. There’s fatigue in his smile, tired lines hugging his eyes.
“That letter tells us everything we need to know. Ellery is desperate. He needs help. He has no allies. There’s no way the Dragunhead is telling him to set this up to trap you. He has been trying to draw you out of hiding all this time. If he thought a meeting with Ellery would do it, wouldn’t he have done that a long time ago? This is a cry for help from Ellery, which you’re not going to give him. You only risk getting into some kind of fight with him that risks magic.”
His silence lets me know I’ve convinced him.
“Fine, I won’t meet him. I don’t deserve you. Have I told you that lately?”
“Not nearly enough.”
He blows me an air-kiss, and I resist the urge to run my fingers along his jaw, to cup the back of his neck and pull his mouth down to mine. I stare at his lips, and it takes me a moment to realize he’s talking again.
“I did also write to Yagrin,” he says. “We have to update him and get an update. I won’t put that in a letter.”
My heart pumps harder. He is right.
“Did he say he’d meet?”
“I haven’t heard back yet.”
“We’ll have to plan it just right. Maybe late at night so that no one knows you’re gone. And you can be back before sunrise.No onecan know you’re leaving.”
“You speak as if you don’t trust some of these wonderfully kind and genuine safe house people we’ve brought here.”
“You’re mocking me.” My thoughts move to Ube. Then Yani. “I’m just being cautious.”
“I like that.” He closes most of the distance between us. His scent lathers me in a need to touch him. Tonight he smells pungent, like dirt, sweat, and something underneath. His finger finds my chin, and it takes my breath away.
He’s touching me.
There’s no fear in his eyes, only confidence. He slides his finger from my chin down my neck, painfully slow, stopping at my collarbone. Every place he touches turns to fire.
