I don’t even have to consider it. “He’s protective, I can admit that much. But I’ve never gotten any kind of … infatuated vibe from him.”

She nods solemnly. “Yes, that would be hard to notice when his lips are on yours.”

I shoot her a look, and she bursts out laughing. It’s the most carefree expression I’ve seen from her.

Regardless, I still repeat what I said to her earlier. “This isn’t funny.”

“Love triangles never are,” she replies seriously, still chuckling.

I splutter, “I am not in a love triangle.”

“I’m just calling it how I see it.”

“Look,” I say, brushing my wet hair off my face and up into a messy bun. “For the record, I don’t have those kind of feelings toward Kael. Ergo, no love triangle.”

“So just Ward, then. A love line.”

It takes me half a second longer to respond than it should, enough for her to smirk knowingly at me.

All I can do is repeat what I said earlier. “It’s complicated.”

Miraculously, she lets it go, instead leading the way toward the cavern exit and saying, “Complicated or not, are you ready to get him back to his old self?”

The Ward who I first met, yes. The Ward who was patient and kind when I was too terrified to utter a single word, yes. The Ward who came to help Cami, Keeda, and me escape Vanik’s lab, yes. The Ward who sacrificed himself so that we could get away, yes.

But the Ward in between those times? The one who betrayed me, who hurt me?

No.

If that’s his “old self,” then I don’t want that Ward back.

I just have to hope that he was telling the truth when he said that everything he did was to protect me. I have to believe that, because if he hurts me again …

Complicated. Yes, things are definitely complicated between us.

But despite that, I still answer Arryn with conviction when I say, “I’m ready.”

Chapter Sixteen

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I wasn’t lying.

When I told Arryn I was ready to free Ward, I meant it.

The thermal springs offered me more rest than any nap could have provided. Energy is thrumming through my veins as I climb down the ladder to the holding cell with Kael, Arryn, and Cami.

Ward is right where we left him, as promised. Still unconscious, he hasn’t moved an inch.

I walk straight over to the glass barrier. “Can anyone open this?” I ask Kael.

“Anyone on this side,” he confirms.

I place my hand against the glass, just as Arryn did earlier, and the same door panel slides open. I don’t hesitate to step into the white cell, but I do turn back when I hear Kael say to Cami and Arryn, “We don’t all need to go in. You two should stay out here, just in case.”