Ash takes my hand and lifts it. My fingers graze fabric that feels similar to the blackout curtains that hang on all the windows in this place. They must pull them across the doorways at night to prevent any light from showing when the guards go in and out.

We stand there for a few long seconds before Ash finally pushes aside the fabric. The soft glow of the moonlight shines through the tree branches and my tensed shoulders relax a bit. The air is cold, but the smell of trees is reassuringly familiar.

I have to run to keep up with Ash as he weaves around the low-hanging vines. He stops in front of an impressively large trunk on the opposite side of the courtyard and begins to climb one of the vines. I watch as he hoists himself onto a branch about twenty feet above me, and I can’t help but be impressed. I follow him up and he offers me his hand, but I shake my head and pull myself onto the branch next to him. He takes a good look at the trees around us, then back at me, and we climb again, up and up.

Ash stops at two branches that have grown so close together they’ve melded into a kind of bench. The bottom branch is wide enough that I can sit cross-legged on it, leaning my back against the trunk. Ash lets his legs dangle over the side and swings them, like he’s never been more comfortable. If I’d ever found a guy in Pembrook who could climb trees and shoot arrows the way he could, not to mention possessed the general elegant beautifulness he has going on, I would have proposed then and there. Why is it that all the good ones also have an Old-World-assassin-creepy-analysis thing about them? It’s one of those mysteries the world may never solve.

He speaks then, keeping his voice quiet. “The acoustics are very good here. We’re in the middle of the three courtyards, not near any rooms and far enough off the ground not to be heard as long as you don’t raise your voice. I sometimes think it’s the only truly private place on the entire campus.”

I smile, my heart still racing happily from the climb. “You were right. This is fun.” My breath billows out in a white cloud and I realize how much I needed this bit of adventure right now.

He watches me for a second. “You grew up near a forest?”

I hesitate. The moonlight reveals enough detail that he could probably see by my expression whether I was lying. And besides, telling him there was a forest near my home doesn’t really give anything away. There are a bazillion forests all around the world. “I did. It was right at the edge of my backyard.”

He nods. “Layla told me the only things on the tour you seemed to show an interest in were these courtyards.”

I figured she told him as much. “Yeah, but even growing up near a forest doesn’t mean I could make a climb like that. What made you think I could?”