Shadow Touched (Editing)

17. NAIMA

Finch leaves as quickly as he arrives, riding off on Aiolos like a thief in the night.

Whatever was in the letter he received, it couldn't have been good. Finch has always had a fairly epic poker face, but I saw how his eyes widened with alarm as he read the letter. His eyes shifted to me briefly. His mouth opened a fraction as though he wanted to say something but then thought better. Instead, he left with nothing but poorly veiled threats.

The thought makes me roll my eyes. Finch is such a do-gooder. It wouldn't bother me if he didn't spend his energy pissing on everyone else's good time. Whatever. I didn't agree to return to Varran for him. I'll go to honour my father and his legacy. That's what I keep telling myself.

I want to honour my father, I think, as I idly make my way through Onhama City Centre on my way home. If I'm being honest with myself, I also want to see Grey. His letters these past five years have been constant daggers to my heart. The amount of self-control I've had to exert not to run back to him—let alone simply write back—has been exhausting. I've drowned myself in drink, gambling and body after body in a vain attempt to forget him and all we've shared.

I'm so lost in my thoughts I don't realize I'm home until I feel the sticky pull of our magical wards. I head out of the early morning cold and into the manor's warmth.

It's dark inside. Vipes and Keaton are still asleep. All the better, really; I'd rather not have to explain why I ran out on them at the end of the night.

I get to my room and open the big bay window, letting in some fresh air. I take a deep breath and release the tension that's riddled my body since I first spied Finch yesterday afternoon. It's hard to believe it's been less than twenty-four hours since the Captain waltzed into my perfect life of vice and turned it upside down.

I have eight days. Well, 6 really. It's a four-day ride from Onhama to Varran unless you're an absolute sadist and go through Aspus—which I am. Though the idea of that hellhole fills me with dread, going through it is like a penance. The terror it instills in me is the price I pay for the pain I caused. For the danger I led those I love into and the loss I caused so many.

I have 6 days to prepare myself to return home to the place where my father built his legacy, and the love of my life sits on a throne on a mountaintop castle. It's only for two days. The visit. That's what I negotiated with Finch: two days, then leaving, never to be heard from again.

I need a bath. A long, luxurious bath to wash the stink of everything...of Finch fucking Stewart off me. And to clear my head. I need to be mentally prepared for what lies ahead because the wildlife of a thief is nothing compared to life in court.

~*~