Maeve

I watched Kalon go with trepidation, my heart going out to whatever it was this city had brought up for her. Kalon was a fantastic liar most of the time, but it was obvious everything about this city was bothering her and I could only figure it had something to do with her life before The Mariposa, whatever that had looked like for her.

“Do you know.... Where she came from before The Mariposa?” Elyas asked, his voice gentle.

I shook my head, my eyes finally returning to him. “The Mariposa almost never share their background before joining. It’s basically an unspoken rule not to. She told me she had reasons to hate the monarchy and that was all I was allowed to know.”

Elyas’ gaze lowered, his hand closing over the table. “Should you go after her?”

“No. It’s sweet of you to ask, but Kalon means what she says. If she wants to be alone, I better listen.”

He sighed, looking out the window. “I’m sorry this day has only seemed to cause you two distress. I know the circumstances are.... Bad. Weird. But I wanted to make something positive of it, and I can see that I’m horribly failing at that mission.”

I shrugged, impulsively reaching over the table to take his hand in a motion I told myself was a friendly way of reaching out. “I’ve kind of been enjoying it. It beats what I normally did every day.”

He looked at me, smiling, his hand turning over to take mine, sending shivers down my spine I tried to ignore. “I promised you two a trip to the rooftop. Would you like to go take a look?”

I grinned, nodding excitedly. The sky was where I felt most at home and the idea of returning comforted me. Besides, despite how gorgeous the dining area was, it still felt stifling. Like everyone in there was performing, every move and every word carefully chosen.

He stood with me, leading me through the room to the middle where a huge staircase divided the dining area, light streaming in from the rooftop. He held my hand the entire way up the staircase and out onto the rooftop, leading me around.

The rooftop had a huge garden with bright green grass and gorgeous red roses that were freshly watered, water drops still glistening on the delicate red petals. Huge lavenders outlined a trail through the garden, and I leaned down to smell one, my head filling with peaceful euphoria at the smell. The entire time I was enjoying the garden, Elyas was watching me with a proud, warm grin on his face.

“I could stare at this all day,” he said at one point, as I twirled happily under a stunning hedge archway.

I laughed, looking at him. “I can imagine. I’d come here every day if I lived here.”

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His smile was intimate, his gaze warm and slightly shy as he spoke, his voice low and warm: “I wasn’t entirely talking about the garden but believe as you wish.”

I froze, my face and ears going bright red, suddenly unable to meet his gaze. I cleared my throat, leaving the garden to go to the edge of the rooftop, resting my arms on the railing. I looked down, seeing all the people flying in the clouds and city below us. They looked like tiny little butterflies, filling the white sky with flecks of all of the colors of the rainbow. I smiled widely, sighing happily.

Elyas came up behind me, a respectful but small distance between us as he rested his arms on either side of mine.

“It’s so pretty that it kind of makes me sad.”

He only hummed, knowing I was speaking of the darkness it hid. “Now you can see why I want to do something to change it. It holds so much potential for beauty, as much as it holds for danger.”

I chewed on my lip, suddenly feeling like we weren’t entirely just talking about the kingdom. “Maybe the two can’t exist without the other, though. Have you considered that? Something has to protect the beauty. Like every rose having thorns, the two can’t exist without one another.”

My breath hitched, flinching as his head settled on my shoulder, his breath and his scruffy chin tickling my skin. “I have to try, Maeve,” he whispered, his eyes looking into mine, our faces inches apart.

An invisible force was pulling us together, his gaze on my mouth, mine on his hooded eyes that held emotions that scared the daylights out of me.

The distance between us was almost closed when he suddenly tackled me to the ground, a dagger whizzing over our heads. Elyas was covering every inch of me.

“I think your friends found us.”

I nodded, my eyes wide. “No duh. We need to get inside. They can and will kill us out here, on this rooftop for anyone to find us. Nothing would stop them.”

He swallowed, silent a moment. “I’m going to get up. And you’re going to take off running. I’ll be right behind you. Got it?”

I nodded once more, the fear seizing my heart not allowing for words.

Elyas jumped to his feet, and I did the same. I took off running as immediately a volley of daggers flew our way. There was no way of telling just how many Mariposa were in the clouds. It could be one. It could have been ten.

I was almost to the staircase when I heard Elyas shout in pain. I looked over my shoulder to see one had scraped his arm. I ran back to him, ignoring his protest as the daggers continued flying at us. I grabbed his arm, yanking him with me to the staircase, shoving him down the stairs. I followed after him, the both of us running down the steps, despite the fact that the daggers were no longer being fired our way.

Once we were back in the dining area, we stopped, recovering from the run and the panic of the moment. We ignored the concerned and confused stares we were getting from the people in the dining area.

“We’re safe now, it’s alright,” Elyas said through breaths.

I shook my head, standing to my full height. I grabbed his arm, pulling him with me to a secluded corner of the restaurant. I grabbed some napkins off a nearby empty table, pressing it to the wound on his arm that was spotting blood on the carpet. His hand replaced mine, holding the napkins there as he waited for me to speak.

“As long as they know where we are and are actively hunting us, we are not safe, Elyas. They will come in here and kill us. We’re assassins. We do this stuff all the time in public areas. We need to leave. It’s our only option.”

He frowned, searching my eyes. “Won’t we be in danger while we’re leaving though?”

I let out a hollow laugh, void of humor. “Of course. But like I said, we don’t have another option at this point.”

He nodded slowly, his gaze leaving mine. I watched another level of worry pass over his expression. "Where is Kalon?” he said quietly.

My blood ran cold as I realized just how long she had been gone.