REDEMPTION

45

The following morning, it dawned on Aria that if she didn't arrive at the Academy that day, Luka would be sending out a search team for her. And the last thing she wanted was them wasting their time or resources on her account.

She felt a bit guilty, childish, probably having sent Taren into a frenzy of worry. Especially when they'd all arrived at the Academy the night before without her. But she'd needed to process her emotions—Evelyn's words—in her own way, in her own time.

Evelyn. The feeling of her soft lips still lingered on Aria's skin, so different than Luka's. And yet, so similar. Had they both lured her to their beds to confuse her? Torment her? Distract her?

She considered herself a good judge of character, and they'd both seemed earnest in their feelings—whatever those feelings might be. Surely they wouldn't have conspired against her…

But then again, maybe they had. Maybe this was all part of their plan—distract the princess of Allar and take the Zephyrs down at the same time as the Unifiers.

No , she thought. They wouldn't— couldn't —be so selfish, so heartless. She'd seen too much good from them to believe her own spiraling thoughts .

Still, even if they hadn't meant anything by omitting the truth, the trust they'd broken cut her like shards of glass. Even just thinking about Luka watching her from the trees, Evelyn prowling through her room, sent her hair on end in anger.

Sipping tea on her balcony, she took in a deep breath, centering herself in the moment. She took in every detail of her favorite view, committing it to memory, and prayed to Mallium it wouldn't be the last time. She would have to find a way to forgive them before the equinox, she realized, or regret would potentially follow her to her death. Or theirs.

Perhaps she'd let them grovel before she forgave them—hear them out, whatever excuses they gave her. She knew she would forgive them eventually. But they deserved to feel bad, at least for a little bit, about not coming clean with her sooner.

She returned to her room and set the tea cup on her desk, hoisted Evelyn's pack onto her back, and walked back out onto the balcony. Shutting the doors behind her, she inhaled that briny sea air one last time and took off for the Academy, soaring back over the river into Denover.

***

With no excuse to parade around the Academy walls, Luka snarled as he read through the list of troops, announcing their training assignments for the day.

Jil and Malachi, the head trainer at the Academy, had worked on the list the day before. Every single member of the Allarian Training Institute, plus extra reserve troops and members of noble court guards, had made the trip to Denover. The list was so terribly long Luka thought he might lose his mind reading every single name aloud .

Evelyn, Finn, and Taren had come to his room when they'd arrived last night after first searching for Aria and coming up empty handed. When he didn't find Aria's face among the group, his tail and wings had already sprouted—halfway out the door to begin looking for her—before Evelyn had asked him where Aria was.

He'd roared loud enough to shake the walls. "You don't know? Where the fuck is she? What happened?" He'd gone on a rampage.

Evelyn had gripped Luka's arm, a silent plea for him to breathe, to calm down. He couldn't afford to panic, but fear coursed through him like wildfire, spreading rapidly.

"I'm sure she's fine," Taren had assured them. "She likes to isolate sometimes when she's upset. She's probably just taking some time to—"

"Where. Is. She." He'd tasted flames, the ashy feeling burning against the back of his throat.

"We don't know," Evelyn had said softly. "She flew off before we could stop her. I tried to catch up to her, I—"

Luka had searched her face gravely. "What happened."

Taren was the one who'd responded. "She rightfully wanted to know how you all learned Vera was leading the Unifiers. And how you managed to figure out where she slept," Taren's head cocked defensively. "Evelyn told her the truth. And while I appreciate that, I fully support Aria's reaction. She feels betrayed, as she should. Give her space. She'll come back when she's ready."

Luka had stopped breathing. His heart had plummeted into a cavernous, bottomless pit. All that trust they'd worked to build with each other these past months, everything they'd confided to each other… Gone. In a moment. He should have told her that ni ght at the Sanctum when he'd had the chance. Luka felt his heart break for her and what she must think of them now.

"I didn't get a chance to explain," Evelyn had looked at Luka regretfully, apology in her voice.

"She knows why you did it, she's not stupid," Taren said, crossing their arms. "You don't need to explain anything to her except maybe why you didn't tell her until now. But I swear to the gods, new and old, if either of you are hiding anything else you need to cough up—"

"That's it," Luka had finally spoken, a mere whisper of his usual commanding presence. "There's nothing else." He'd buried his face in his hands and then ran them through his hair. "You really think she'll come back? I can leave right now and—"

"Don't," Taren said. "She'll come back. She always does."

Luka snapped himself back to the present as he flipped through page after page of fae and shifter names, cursing himself for not confessing to his actions sooner. For making her think he was innocent in the games between their realms, which he was certainly not. He'd done his fair share of lying and deceiving to put his people first. Who hadn't?

But that was then. Had he known then what he knew now… Well, things would be a lot different across the board. He just prayed she would hear him out when she returned. If she returned.

***

Aria spotted the Legion Academy in the distance as the sun sank low in the sky to her right, creating a captivating orange sheen across the horizon. She would have admired it had she not seen hordes of people moving around the grounds, all of whom she wanted to avoid .

Unoccupied by anything else during her flight, her mind had spun intricate webs, trying to connect the dots between Evelyn and Luka's actions which were so at odds from the words—and passion—they'd shared since they'd initially violated her privacy.

Aria landed in the courtyard and spotted the nearest staff, praying they could help her find her new room without anyone noticing she'd arrived. She thanked the gods when the young woman showed her to a door far from where she'd stayed the first time she visited the Academy. It struck her as odd, considering she was pretty sure she was being led to the dorms where most of the Academy soldiers stayed, not the guest rooms. But as the woman pointed to her door, she didn't let herself think about it further, her mind too preoccupied to care.

The room was similar to the guest chamber she'd stayed in before, but a bit larger and more luxuriously furnished. She didn't take time to notice much more than that before chucking the pack into the corner and sprawling onto the soft bed with a deep sigh. Maybe she would just take a short nap, clear her head…

"Aria!"

The shout startled her into an upright position.

Luka. Her heart pounded. She wasn't ready to talk to him yet, she wasn't—

"Aria, please ," he rasped from the other side of the door, his voice cracking on the last word. He must have sprinted here, somehow spotting her in the air when she'd arrived.

"Go away," she said firmly from the bed, staring at the dark wood where she pictured Luka leaning against the other side.

She heard the thump of his forehead hit the door, his words muffled by the barrier. "What can I say to convince you to let me in? "

Silence.

"Evelyn told me what happened," he said quietly.

There was enough of a lilt in his voice that he piqued Aria's interest. She stood and moved toward the door. "Everything?"

Luka released a breath at the sound of her voice. "Yes."

"Is that why you're here, then? Because you're jealous?" Aria swung the door open hastily, eager to see the look on his face. But whatever she was expecting was not what she found. And Luka was so surprised by the fact she'd opened the door, no longer supported by the surface, he stumbled forward and nearly knocked her over.

He righted himself with a mumbled apology and looked at her, clearly relieved to see her in one piece. But then his brow wrinkled.

"Why do you look surprised?" Aria commanded, her arms crossed tightly in front of her as she stared at him.

"Because I am surprised."

"So she didn't tell you everything?"

"Apparently not that part." He blinked. "Though I would love to hear about—"

"Oh, you absolutely do not get to be the one making demands right now," she glowered, unyielding. "I think we have more important things to talk about. Close the door."

Luka reached an obedient arm behind him to click the door shut, shielding them from passersby. "I suppose I don't need to explain to you why we did it. But I do want you to know that I regret not informing you sooner. I… I didn't want to hurt you. And instead, I've left you to find out the hard way, which is worse." His eyes danced across her still-stern face. "I'm sorry, Aria. Truly," he continued. "I can't honestly say that I regret what we did, because we were doing what we thought was best. But I should have told you long before now. You are right to be up set, and I will do anything I can to earn your forgiveness. Evelyn feels the same, for what it's worth. Neither of us ever wished to hurt you."

Aria looked him over intently, mostly satisfied by his words. She wasn't quite over the hurt that still lingered, but the anger she felt had subsided to a dull ache. "And you're not upset with me?"

Luka's eyes narrowed incredulously, taken aback. "Wh—What? Why would I be upset with you?"

She arched her brow. "For sleeping with Evelyn?"

He laughed, more of a scoff. " That's what you're worried about right now? Of all things?" He took a small step forward. "Does that mean you've forgiven me?"

Relief flooded her veins at his casual, dismissive response, but she matched his step backward. "I don't know. I need to think about it," she replied. "And you didn't answer my question."

"Aria…" Luka shook his head, his eyes clear. "You could sleep with everyone on the grounds right now and it wouldn't change a single thing about my feelings for you. You are…" He trailed off, struggling for the right words. "You are so much more than sex to me, Aria."

Her face softened a bit and he took the opportunity to close the distance between them again. He winced when she, again, wouldn't let him. Aria saw the pain in his face. The longing. She'd wanted him to grovel, and he was doing a damn good job at lowering her defenses. "What am I, then?"

Luka's eyes lingered on her, studied her, as if he couldn't figure out what he wanted to say. "You're my equal," he said finally. "My match in every way. You—You somehow fit into the spaces where I'm empty," his voice broke again. "And to lose you, even just your friendship, to my own stupidity…" His mo uth shifted into a grimace as he steeled himself. "I would never forgive myself, honestly. So I would understand if you can't forgive me, either."

A part of her wanted to rush to him, to comfort him. To confess to him that she felt exactly the same way, as if they'd been led to each other by the gods, by fate, to bring their worlds together. He'd forgiven her, absolved her, of so much—couldn't she let this go? But instead of letting him in, she looked away, overcome with emotion.

"I don't need you to say anything right now," he said softly, filling the silence that grated between them. "I just… I need you in my life, no matter what capacity that may be in. Now that I've had that luxury, I'm not willing to let it go."

She looked at him then, really looked at him. Dark circles hung beneath his eyes, the color drained from his beautiful brown skin. Normally so broad and confident, his body seemed caved inward. Cowered. Afraid.

"Let me think about it," she said. She'd told herself she'd hear him out, didn't she? But this was more emotion than she'd expected from him. They'd gotten too close, too fast. It overwhelmed her senses. Triggered her instinct to flee.

He nodded and backed away, a hand on the doorknob. "Of course."

She stopped him. "Why am I staying way over here, and not the guest dorms?"

Luka rubbed a hand on the back of his neck warily. "My room is just next door," he admitted. "These rooms are nicer, bigger. But mostly I wanted to be close…" He gave her an awkward grin, now obviously kicking himself for the decision. "That was before I knew—"

"It's okay," she said, the only comfort she was willing to give .

"You know where to find me." Luka shut the door behind him.

***

Luka hesitated at the door, not wanting to leave Aria behind.

He hadn't expected to unleash the feelings he carried for her—for this fae woman who had worked her way into his heart, his soul, and didn't balk at him. Didn't shy away at the darkness that had made its home there.

His words had poured out of him against his will.

What am I, then?

Everything , he'd wanted to say.

She was everything he'd ever wanted. Everything he'd ever dreamed about in a partner.

No, he hadn't wanted to scare her off with the enormity, the weight, of what he felt for her. But he had, anyway.

And now all he could do was hope it didn't backfire.