I wrap my arms around Nico’s back, pulling him closer, tighter; I’m on the cusp of tears. There’s a burning in my throat that extends up into my nose, toward my ears. I clear it, take a deep breath, and pull away only to be greeted by a letdown Nico.
“Nico—”
He places the tips of his fingers over my mouth.
“Please don’t mention it. Not now … Tomorrow … We’ll figure it out tomorrow.”
“But…” I pull the army agreement from my pocket. “Don’t you see? It is tomorrow. Sooner or later we’re going to have to face this.” If Nico joins the army? If we’d been caught two minutes earlier within each other’s arms—he an Imperi officer, me Basso—one of us would immediately be arrested for stepping over the line. For being so outrageously out of bounds. Bellonians have been executed over it: sabotaging an officer’s duty. And we both know which of us it’d be.
“No.” He yanks the paper from my hand, wads it up into a tiny ball, and throws it on the floor.
As I watch it land, roll underneath the lip of the cabinet, something I can’t believe didn’t occur to me before slaps me square in the face. “Wait.” I glance at the hourglass around my neck. The sand is quickly draining the top bulb, filling the bottom, and nearing the vesper bells line. When it reaches it, I’ll turn the thing over for the night. “How are you here right now?”
“What?” Nico nervously laughs under his breath, a sure sign I’ve caught him in something.
“How the hell are you able to be here with me? On the Basso side of the island? On Offering day? Shouldn’t you be at … something? Some Dogio event? Meeting? Feast? You’ve always got something, especially on Offering days.”
He’s thinking hard. Spinning a lie. I know him too well not to spot it. All he gets out is “Just trust me” before he’s saved by the shattering of glass from the other side of my house.
We rush to the scene to find Poppy’s accidentally knocked out an entire windowpane, glass and all.
Poppy’s not hurt. The window’s done for. And Nico’s temporarily off the hook.
“You’re avoiding cleaning your room,” Nico says as we make our way toward the front door. He knows me so well it’s almost frightening.
“Maybe,” I joke. He raises an eyebrow and I sigh. “All right. I can’t face it.” I’m exhausted after not sleeping all night, followed up by a particularly hard Offering, and then the hours of cleanup, Nico’s army agreement. “Honestly, all I want to do is curl up into a ball on that chair in front of the fire and sleep until I wake up.”
“You should.”
I laugh. “Right.” As if I could. As if napping’s a luxury I can afford.
“Why not?” He takes my hand. “You’ll feel better. Even if you only sleep an hour.” He leads me to the chair and I don’t even try to resist. I drop down into the old cushion, let my neck rest against the back.
He smiles and I laugh lightly. “Great. Are you happy now? I’ll never get back up.”
He flashes a crooked smile, his dimple showing spectacularly. “My evil plan worked, then.” He spreads a knit blanket over me. “I’ll be back in a few hours.” But he doesn’t leave, not right away. Instead Nico just stands there, hovering over me, gazing down at me, and I swear he wants to kiss me, or he’s going to kiss me, or in the least he’s thinking about kissing me, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about it too.
He leans closer. So close I can feel the warmth of his breath brush my forehead.
“Thanks for your help today,” I say, because the silence between us is drowning me.
He only nods, eyes unwavering, set on mine.
I swallow.
He leans in even closer.
And … kisses me on my cheek.
As he lingers there, breath warm against my face, my stomach dances and dips with both excitement and disappointment and What the hell were you thinking, you can’t kiss Nico, soon to be an Imperi officer!
Things are already complicated enough.
I turn to the side, shut my eyes, and wrap myself up in the blanket. “See you later?” I say, my insides a mess of tangles, my heart telling my mouth to shut up and kiss him already, my head snuffing that idea out before I do something I can’t take back.
“See you later,” he says. My eyes are closed, but I can tell he’s smiling. I keep them shut until I hear him walk away and then open and close the door behind him.
Once Nico’s gone, I jump up—as if I could actually take a nap—and rush to the front window.
I watch as he quickly walks toward the Hill. Before long he turns the corner, the flash of his red scarf disappearing behind some trees. In a matter of one mile or so, Nico will be back to his world. A magical place where candied lemons come by the handful, naps are taken at one’s leisure, and no one’s worrying themselves over mopping up paint-stained floors and boarding up broken windows because they can’t fathom affording a new pane of glass.
Honestly, I don’t blame him if he chooses not to return tonight.
But the thought leaves an aching in my throat.
CHAPTER 9
TAP-TAP-TAP.
I drop the scrub brush into the bucket of soapy water with a clunk that splashes my knees.
Slowly, I stand and make my way to the window, but once there, I hesitate, my fingers hovering at the frayed edge of the drapes. I figure it’s Nico … He’d said he’d be back. But it’s after dark now.
After. Dark.
What if it’s not him?
TAP-TAP-TAP.
A shiver travels the length of my spine as those lines from childhood bedtime stories fill my head … A bony finger upon pane of glass at first night’s nap. TAP-TAP-TAP.
“Veda!” Nico hisses from the other side of the thin glass.
I jump out of my skin.
“Nico!” I hiss right back. Then, throwing the curtains to the side, I lift the window open in one motion. A chilly breeze takes my breath and sucks any heat that filled my room right out with it.
“Hey.” Cast in shadows, Nico stands before me, his arms crossed over his chest, impish grin across his face. I assume if I were to peek out the window and downward, he’d also be tapping his toe against the ground. Nico squints at my thick sweater, the fingerless gloves covering my hands.
“What? It’s cold.”
“Veda…” He bends to his knees and leans forward so his head is inside my bedroom, elbows resting on the windowsill. “You promised.” Small clouds flow from his mouth with warm breath, and his dark hair, a mane of unruly waves, falls into his equally dark eyes. I resist the urge to brush it off his forehead and to the side for him, but my fingers itch for the contact all the same.
I wrap my sweater more tightly around me, hugging my middle for warmth. “Oh stop—I’m not going anywhere. It’s just cold.” I playfully glare at him. “You’re one to talk! Who’s out after dark right now?”
He worries his bottom lip like he’s working something out. “It’s easier for me, I guess … I’m not in danger, and if caught I won’t be in much trouble.” He says it like he’s just now realizing it. And maybe he is. Did he truly not know we Basso are always on guard? Whether it’s an Imperi soldier or the Night, someone’s always hovering over our shoulder, threatening to fine us or jail us or, worse, snatch us right up like shadows in the night.