Dance in Shadow and Whisper (Marionettes of Myth #1)

Chapter Fourteen

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Thinking about his mother and reincarnations and the world took its toll on him. I watched as, with each class, he deteriorated under the pressure. The doubt lingered in his eyes. He would never truly come to terms with what he was, not until circumstances gave him no choice.

Gym consisted of basketball practice first, and then the division and naming of teams. I was elected team captain, which backed me into the most uncomfortable political position I'd ever been in. My fellow team captains picked the best of the best girls—or their friends. I had no friends, and I could make up physically for not having the best of the best. So I ended up picking the girls who looked at me with marked defeat. I couldn't help but to think of yesterday, when I wandered the halls without a clan, when I felt the most vulnerable.

Afterward, as we packed into the hall after changing, Toivo pulled me aside by the crook of my arm, away from the crowd and away from wherever The Blonde might have been hiding.

He sucked in a deep breath of air, eclipsing me with the expansion of his chest. "I'm sorry. For yesterday. I shouldn't have said what I did, and you're right. I shouldn't be getting myself distracted either."

I rolled from my heels to my toes and back again. "I wish I could say I'm sorry for punching you, but I'm not."

"I might have deserved it. Could you at least be sorry for disappearing for several hours and giving Carmi and I a heart attack?"

"I didn't give Carmi a heart attack."

"Fine. Me a heart attack?"

"Fine. I'm sorry for giving you a heart attack."

"Good." His arms swooped around me and crushed me to his chest. My feet kicked and I made noises.

Yuuhi saluted us as we parted ways. We dropped Jason off back at his house and we went home. I accomplished my homework before bed for once, managed some combat practice with Toivo and Carmi, and we had dinner at the table, and all was as normal as it could be.

But I still had trouble looking Toivo in the eye. I still saw Rajy in him, and now I couldn't break the connection. It was engraved into my brain. I'd look up at him and see Rajy staring back.

And it didn't go without Toivo's notice either. I was glad he didn't decide to confront me about it, because there was nothing that could be said without me breaking promises. I was a terrible liar, and I was an even worse secret keeper.

Friday morning was a 'late start' morning, or something rather. It didn't mean that Toivo and I were allowed a break. Rajy saw the ample time as a perfect opportunity for us to start out our day with some physical training. That was my least favorite. Weight sets and repetitious movements were tedious enough to bore me to tears.

When we greeted Yuuhi at the truck, however, he extended his arms as if to embrace me. "Kali! You're glowing!"

I mmphed at him and climbed into the truck. At school, I located Jason with his clan before class began and inserted myself as if I belonged. Some of his nest members greeted me like a new recruit. One even high-fived me and then said, "Please, please, please rip off his pants and fuck him soon. It'll make him into a completely new man."

Both Jason and I turned scarlet. I had to pull him aside so we could chat alone, where it was safe. When he was away from his clan, he felt much freer to talk about the things that interested him, like proxy wars and military operations in the Middle East and market globalization. Stuff that made even me dizzy.