Page 55 of The Ways We Betray (The Path of Temptation 4)

Chapter 20

Nariana

At the bottom of the stairs, Amerlee was passing the pins from my hair to Jamik. Once Zeal vanished, I headed that way only for my dad to turn and give me a worried look. I smiled to show I was fine, but before I could even say something, the main door opened and Maela hurried in.

"Sorry I'm late!" she called out, then stopped hard. "Is everything ok?"

"It's fine," I called back. "I just about took a tumble down the stairs, so there was a little excitement. You basically just missed all the fun."

"Thought you were about to break your neck," Jamik grumbled, his voice low enough that it wouldn't carry.

"Me too." I clasped his arm. "But it's fine now. I'm ok, and I promise that's not a lie."

"Maybeyou'reok," Shalsa said, coming over to pick at my hair, "but I'm not yet, and your style was completely ruined. It looks good down, though."

"It really does," Maela said. "Nari, we can reschedule if you've had a fright."

"No," I said, raking my fingers through my hair because I didn't have a brush. "It's just that there was a girl, and she was being rude, so I stepped back, and the stairs were there..."

Which was when the guys made it to my side. Talin didn't say a word. He just laced his fingers through mine and pressed in close. I looked over to find his blue eyes waiting, filled with worry. Clearly, Maela saw it too.

"So she's full of it, huh?" she asked him.

He leaned in to kiss my cheek, then sighed. "Yes and no. See, Zeal gives us a bond to our desires. It's the romantic version of what a mother has to a child. I'm responsible for her, I love her, and for a split second, I was sure she was about to die. Never mind that little sniveling bitch who - "

"Talin!" I hissed, not wanting to drag Maela into my issues.

"What bitch?" Maela asked, proving she'd come a long way from the delicate lady I'd first met.

"A girl she grew up with," he grumbled. "Pretty, hates that Nari's prettier, and they're both Priestesses of the Body. Nari, however, has been spending time with the Baron's family." And he lifted a brow.

"Because we'refamily," Maela said.

Talin nodded slowly. "Yeah, and Ciella wants to crawl into your husband's bed so he'll tithe her a lot of money for sexual favors. Not all priests are the devoted kind, Maela. That's why our god has rules. It's also why we need the Baron to be involved, so the Temple and the citizens aren't completely isolated from each other."

"Which is part of what I wanted to talk about today, but it can wait," she assured me. "Nari, I'm serious. It's just lunch between friends. Don't feel obligated."

"You know that feeling when you go to sit in a chair and it's lower than you expect?" I asked. "How, for a second, you're sure you'll never stop going down and you think you're falling? That's what happened. I was startled, but I promise I'm ok. I'm also starving." Which completely left out Zeal catching me, but that was ok.

"Then," Amerlee said, taking over, "let's go across the street and get some food. Ladies? Gentlemen?"

That was all it took for everyone to head for the doors. Yes, on the way over, each one of them stopped to make sure I really was ok, but Zeal had helped. He'd also told me he loved me. Even thinking about that made me smile, and Talin noticed. He lifted a brow in question, but I shook my head, making it clear I'd tell him later.

Ela, Wraythe, and Anver all went out of their way to say they were sorry for not being faster. I promised them it wasn't their fault. I didn't need them to keep people from talking to me, and it was my own stupid fault for not paying attention to where the stairs were. No, I wasn't saying that Ciella was blameless, but if I'd just turned, she would've done nothing more than push me backwards.

And yet, she'd lost all of her lace. The temple rules said that if Zeal removed his favor, fading the lace from a person's body, then they were cast out with only what they owned outright, not what they'd earned from the temple. Often, that meant naked - or nearly so. In other words, while we would be eating lunch, Ciella would be gathering together her few possessions and leaving us forever. She was no longer a problem. She'd never try to bully me again. I wouldn't have to listen to her.

Which meant this was a good day.

But when we reached the restaurant, Maela decided to change things up. She immediately took charge and asked the staff if they could make a table for all of us. While that was moved together, a few smaller tables being pushed around to make a much bigger one, she turned to the rest of us.

"Maybe it's proper for you guardians to turn invisible when I'm around, but I hate it. If I'm supposed to be the main patron of this temple, then that means for all the Paths, right?"

"You could look at it that way," Talin agreed.

"Then I'm going to," she decided. "If Tath is leaving it up to me to interact with the temple, then the way I see it, that means he is fine with me doing it my way. If he wanted it done differently, then he should do it himself. I'm just not sure what exactly is expected of me."

Before any of us could answer, the server came over to say our table was ready. Like always, I ended up placed at Maela's left hand. Amerlee was at her right, but this time, our guardians got to sit beside us. Next to Talin was Ela, with Wraythe on his other side. Anver sat beside Jamik across from us, in the chair that should've been Saval's. Faylie, Quin, Shalsa, Irila, another woman I didn't know, and her guardian were further down.

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