“Of course,” Iannis said, sounding calmer now. “I did not mean to imply anything to the contrary. It’s just that…” He glanced sideways at me, and I softened a little at the conflicted look in his violet eyes.

“You’re protective of Sunaya,” Fenris said, smiling. “I would be very worried if you were not beating on your chest like an enraged gorilla at the thought of her being separated from you again.”

“I resent that comparison,” Iannis said as I snickered, though he didn’t sound too mad about it.

“All right. Well, I can agree to those terms,” I said, the anger in my chest falling away. I couldn’t bring myself to be mad at Iannis for caring about me, even if his possessiveness was becoming a bit of a nuisance. “What about you?”

Iannis found my hand under the table, gave it a light squeeze. “Very well,” he said, his eyes softening for just a moment before he turned back to Fenris. “You promise that you’ll send me daily reports if you and Sunaya do end up going off without me?”

“Of course.” Fenris picked up his fork, then stabbed at a piece of steak. “Now let’s enjoy our meal, shall we? I have a feeling this may be one of the last we’ll share together for a while.”

No kidding, I thought as we dug into our food. I only hoped that when all of this was said and done, things would return to normal. Or whatever ‘normal’ would be, in the aftermath of this disaster.

7

After dinner, I made my way toward the gardens, figuring a walk and some fresh air would help clear my thoughts. I wasn’t mad at Iannis anymore—in fact, dinner with him and Fenris had been very pleasant—but I was still a little unsettled over this new change in plans. Was I doing the right thing, by agreeing to go to Dara instead of holding myself ready to go after Elnos and Annia the moment I learned their location? Or would circumstances prevent me from helping them? I would never forgive myself if this delay contributed to their deaths.

You shouldn’t worry so much, I told myself. Annia was a competent enforcer, and Elnos a trained mage, even if he was on the young side. Truthfully, he was probably older than I was, but mages were long-lived, and his youthful personality made me think of him as younger, closer to my age. It was likely that the two of them could manage to get out of whatever trouble they fell into, even if the Resistance did discover who they were.