Rayne grew tired of waiting for Nox to return, so she went on an expedition of her own. The ethereal glow of the trees made the forest magical, as she wandered through the maze of tree bases. Flowers blossomed phosphorescent petals, yielding to persistent and luminescent bees. All around, leaves rained from the canopy, twinkling in their descent. Rayne picked them from her braids, smiling.

“No conduits,” she muttered to herself.

Bird song sounded from all around, and occasionally, one walloped. There wasn’t another word for the bizarre call, likely a mating one. Rayne giggled at the notion and silently wished the fella good luck on his mission.

Since they’d spent six months apart, this time alone wasn’t so hard on Rayne as were those first weeks. Before she’d spent lifetimes with Nox in her head, friends and family had fully enveloped her life. School stuff, hangouts, and training with…

Xelan.

Rayne was worried about her guardian. Heart heavy with concern, she strolled back to the treeloft, all the while thanking Xelan for letting her do this without him. For now.

One prick of her blood let Rayne through the door. It reminded her of so long ago when Xelan had asked Rayne to give her blood to a disc for the stronghold. Maybe it was an all-access pass?

Rayne froze in the doorway.

The shower was on.

Nox was in the shower.

Visuals filled her head, ones Rayne made herself shake away. Tucking her hair behind her ear, Rayne turned the first corner, calling, “I’m back!”

Through the splashing, Nox said, “Food is in the kitchen.”

Oh?

Curious and starving, Rayne rounded the next corner into the kitchen/bathroom space. She couldn’t help but reflect on a time when she’d suppressed her appetite—

Nox was in the shower.

Okay.

Rayne already knew that, but the sheet…

The light from the window above and the surrounding glowing wood cast a perfect silhouette of Nox against the white sheet, like a screen in a movie. A dirty movie.

Although Rayne’s cheeks blazed, she couldn’t tear her eyes away. Not from that.

Nox was running soap across his shoulders, chest, stomach—He paused before he went any lower and stared at the sheet. In the Icarean way, he gave an avian head tilt, peering. After another heartbeat, he started walking toward—

Toward Rayne.

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In a panic, she went to the vegetables and—was that a plucked bird?—on the counter and tried to look busy preparing dinner.

The sheet pulled back, and Nox called, “Did you need anything?”

Need.

Rayne bit her lip and hoped he couldn’t see her burning blush from over there. To control the breathy, shakiness of her voice, she kept her answer short. “No. Thanks.”

The sheet reseated, and the shower turned off after a few more minutes.

In those minutes, Rayne cut one parsnip-looking root. But it’s not like she could concentrate. Not while she kept seeing—

“The door works for my blood as well. It must be DNA based, but it seems rather clumsy of Xelan. Why not bio-lock it to keep me out?” Nox found a towel and squeezed his hair dry while he padded into the room wearing far more clothes than five minutes ago. A long-sleeved shirt held together with buckles, and soft pants Rayne would steal if they’d fit her. He set the towel aside and peered at her, eyes narrowed. “What do you make of it, your majesty?”

Oh, right. The door.

Rayne turned and tried to focus on the potato-thing while saying, “Uhm, I agree. It does seem curious, but convenient, so I don’t think we should worry about it much. Did you check out the files?”

Nox came up beside her and hauled the bird over to the kitchen island. There, he butchered it with the precision of one long accustomed to hunting. He said, “Yes. When do we begin?”

At least Rayne could speak to this with a clear head. “Tomorrow.”

“Then you should appraise the shower before bed. A spring supplies the water, but for the life of me, I can’t find the source. Another of my brother’s mysteries to solve.”

Ah, but that could wait. Rayne asked, “Can we talk about Xelan’s Verse now?”

Nox chopped harder, which didn’t bode well for the conversation. It hurt Rayne that so much had come between the three—Korac, Xelan, and Nox—but she mourned the brothers’ relationship especially.

Please. Say something.

“When Xelan left us for the Vacating, I never imagined he thought anything good of our childhood—our time as brothers. The story of the festival was unexpected, and it troubles me that he recalled any instance of mother’s abuse. No matter how heroic Xelan’s recollection made me seem, I never wanted the toddler he was at the time to remember those brawls with Umbra to protect Savis.”

There was a finality to the thunk of the knife in the butcher block, and the reverberation throbbed in Rayne’s heart. The emptiness which followed made her want to turn around and console Nox. Until he said, “I would’ve killed her sooner if I’d known she’d threatened my brother. Ever, let alone at such a young age. How cold she was. Telling him she would force him to kill Many Feet. Why did we deserve constant punishment—”

Nox stopped speaking abruptly, and Rayne whirled to reach out to him. “I’m sorry for bringing it up—”

“No, Rayne.” He kept his back to her, shoulders slumped, but his voice softened as he said, “You’re right for asking us to face it.” Nox gave a bitter laugh before admitting, “It doesn’t make it without complications though, does it?”

Rayne worried her lips with her teeth until an idea struck her. She put herself in Nox’s line of sight, and she saw her reflection in his Atramentous gaze. “Tell me one thing you liked about his Verse. Something which made you happy to read.”

A tiny frown wrinkled Nox’s dark brows as he considered her request. After a few seconds, the Atramentous dissipated and he listed on his fingers, “Everything involving Pax, Xelan’s confrontation with Abresson over the children of Gait, and…” His lips—full and soft—crooked into a smirk as he said, “Mercury Turbo.”

Could one groan and laugh at the same time? Because that’s the noise Rayne made. “What was Xelan thinking?!”

Nox turned, hands back-gripping the counter as he leaned his ass on it. “Indeed.”

Rayne’s grin softened into a smile the longer she stared at him until she said, “Tell me whatever you want about it when you’re ready. I won’t push anymore. Let’s cook this poor creature you slaughtered and eat it in thanks.”

They cooked a while in companionable silence before Nox interrupted another round of Rayne imagining him in the shower.

“There was one other aspect I liked. I only caught glimpses of it, of course.”

Rayne checked the vegetables roasting in the oven, calling over her shoulder, “Hmm?”

Nox confessed, “The way Xelan treats you.”