Hidden in Shadows- Paranormal Romance Series- Book 1

Chapter 8

Esi packed her bag slowly, with a kind of melancholy taking her over she hadn't expected. She'd left home before plenty of times with the knowledge that she might never return.

Her room would probably be considered stark to most, devoid of personal touches or mementos. She'd never been particularly sentimental, nor had she felt the urge to hold onto the pieces of her past as the years had slipped away. Instead, she's clung to people, and lost them anyways.

A knock at her door was followed almost immediately by Quon's entrance. He watched her carefully, looking for something. She wondered if he saw whatever he thought he might. He'd always been the one to read her best. From the very beginning, they'd understood each other, something she'd come to realize was a precious gift in this life.

"It's not too late to change your mind."

Esi shook her head. "I made a deal, and the course has been set."

"Fuck the course," he muttered. "Milli is taxing, I know this, but she's not wrong. Callen is just a child with little control. Far too little control really."

"Her gift is stronger than any I've encountered," Esi argued.

"That doesn't say much. How much trouble did the second sight get you into as an untried youth?"

She didn't answer.

"Would you have made the same decision if she hadn't told you what she saw?"

"I don't know," Esi offered honestly.

"You have no idea what it's going to be like out there."

"I've left Naxos far more than you," Esi argued.

Quon's eyes lit as he shook his head. "Not since the war. Kai did more damage than anyone could've imagined. Neither of us will find friends outside Naxos in our lifetime and you know it."

Esi paused in her packing, sitting on the bed to give him her full attention. "We lost."

The old friends were silent for a moment, considering the words they so rarely acknowledged.

Quon looked like he wanted to say something, but held himself back.

"What?" Esi asked.

"Do you ever find yourself wondering what Lexet would've done?"

Esi snorted. "Every day."

Quon smiled fondly. "She ruled... flawlessly."

"And made it look effortless."

"How did we fall so far?"

"Kai is a massive prick, killed a bunch of people, including a King and a Queen, and pissed off just about everyone everyone else in the Veil along the way."

Quon nodded. "He is a massive prick."

"Always was too."

"Agreed." Quon's brow rose as he watched Esi spin one of her knives on her knee. "I don't want you to go. Any reward that could come of this isn't worth the risk. You die and what's left of Naxos doesn't stand a chance."

Esi snorted. "That might be a bit overdramatic. You'd handle it well enough."

A calculating look entered his eyes. "Callen needs you."

"Low blow asshole."

"My training dictates I use whatever ammunition is available to me and emotional blackmail is particularly effective."

Esi twirled the knife faster as Quon tracked its speed. She wasn't one to fidget unless her mind was preoccupied elsewhere, something he wasn't use to dealing with when it came to Esi. She was always in control, always focused, always ready and looking ahead.