FOURTEEN

Lark watched Ivy as she took a wary step back. He could practically see her walls going up brick by brick and told himself not to be disappointed. Rome wasn’t built in a day. After he finished dancing, he had spent the remainder of his cool-down time thinking over what Max had said. She’d made it sound as if Ivy was interested in him. He had never seen a hint of such a possibility, even with his ability to analyse even the tiniest nuances in a person’s expression.

At first, such a skill had come about purely for self-preservation; knowing when a sociopath was finally going to snap their leash and beat the holy hell out of you, sure came in handy. But over time, he had been able to refine it and he had since discovered that silence often exposed more than words. Thus, observing Ivy’s face – something he did ridiculously often – should have exposed her feelings to him, no matter how hard she was trying to hide them. So how had he missed her interest in him?

What’s more, listening to her divulge her motivation for being a ranger had shown him that she was far more sensitive and vulnerable than he had given her credit for. Once again, he wondered how he could have missed the signs before now. After all, he had noticed the exact same traits in Max almost immediately. But he didn’t need to think too long to have his answer – he had let his ego get in the way of his natural instincts.

His initial reaction to the lovely ranger had been attraction but that hadn’t been all. He had seen a distinct sadness and also compassion behind all that determination and grit. That was why, just minutes after sitting at the same table with her, he had resolved himself to making her smile. But over the weeks, he had allowed her derision and seeming distaste for him to prick his male ego. He thought he was above such primitive flaws but turns out he was just as susceptible as the rest of his species. Max would have a field day with that, he snickered.

But now he had seen the shining glimmer of the real Ivy and he was determined to peel back her layers. The woman wouldn’t know what hit her. But subtle – he had to be subtle. He had a feeling Ivy wasn’t the type to respond to brute strength. She would only push right back.

“So, if other rangers feel the same way you do, why hasn’t anyone spoken up before now? It would certainly go a long way in humanising you to the general population. To be honest, I always thought you guys liked the badass rep,” he said, trying to ease Ivy back into a conversation with him. He considered it a small success when she smirked;

“We do.”

He laughed out loud and this time he caught the small flicker in her dark eyes as they travelled over his tilted lips. Feeling another victory, he leant casually against the veranda railing, “Rep aside, it still might be nice to tear down some barriers. That’s what Max is all about, after all. I’ve no doubt she’d be willing to speak with the council about how isolated rangers are.”

Ivy frowned, “I’m not sure it would matter. The council and most of the wardens are very set in their ways.”

“One word: chades,” Lark pointed out.

Ivy nodded at that, “Good point. She has had success in convincing the council as far as recognising chades as being ill. But I guarantee you, they are falling back on old habits and doing their own testing to try and replicate what Max has successfully accomplished naturally and easily.”

He felt his good mood disappear upon hearing that news, “More experiments?”

Ivy merely shrugged and he knew he was looking at the ranger once more instead of the woman. He sighed;

“I wish we could speak openly with the council about the whole thing, share information, swap stories. But …” he trailed off.

“But, Max thinks there’s a conspiracy within the council,” Ivy filled in.

He nodded, cautiously. They were getting into dangerous territory now.

“What do you think?” she asked him, bluntly.

Lark chose his words carefully, wanting the opportunity to gauge her reactions. He knew Max trusted Ivy implicitly and he certainly wanted to do the same. Especially now, after he had seen those tantalising glimpses of the interesting woman hidden underneath those green robes. But at the same time, he couldn’t allow his attraction to her to impact his good sense. On the small chance they were wrong about her and she was indeed a plant from within the council itself, any comment he made in the affirmative could very well see him imprisoned for treason. Unfortunately, the only way to know for sure where she stood was to be honest – to a degree;

“I think there are a lot of things that don’t add up. Thousands of years of research and tests trying to determine the origins of the chades and yet no definitive answers. And that is despite the fact that chade numbers have been increasing and their behaviours seem to be changing. As far as I’m aware, there have been no new attempts before now. Why is that?”

“Because they already tried and failed? It was an expensive, time consuming, and resource-intensive endeavour over the span of literally hundreds of years. They weren’t getting any results and nothing was changing. Why would they invest in that again?” she asked her own question.

Although she offered a well-reasoned and rational response, he couldn’t help snorting, “Because their people were dying? Seems like a good enough reason to expend some more resources to me.”

She merely shrugged and he could see she was closing herself off even more. But not before he saw what he was hoping to see; agreement. However, he could also tell that although she agreed with what he was saying, she also still seemed to agree with the council. More curious than annoyed now, he questioned her further;

“You don’t really agree with the IDC and the way they do things, do you?”

Her dark gaze stayed on him for a moment before she spoke, “I believe in the institution of the council. In a world where everything is disposable, I believe it’s important to have something enduring. The council and their rules provide that stability.”

He agreed with her and liked he was finding more and more in common with the pretty, reticent ranger. But there was one important thing he felt she was missing; “But how stable and enduring can our foundations be if there are cracks? If there is rot at its core?”

She opened her mouth to answer but he didn’t get a chance to find out if she was about to admit there was decay within their society or if she was about to oppose him because a masculine throat cleared behind them. He instinctively reached for his absent scythe, his hand coming up empty. Ivy didn’t have the same problem however, and her sickle was up and ready to remove heads before he could even turn to see who the intruder was.

Leo and Lawson hastily stepping in front of Caspian with their own scythes at the ready, had Lark quickly invading Ivy’s personal space. He placed a light hand on her arm, “Easy. It’s just Cas.” He ignored the stiffness in her posture, turning to smile at his three friends, “Hey guys, sorry about that. You startled us. What brings you here?”

“It’s not a problem. We thought you heard us,” came Cas’s muffled reply. An indignant huff could be heard before Caspian pushed his two paladins out of the way, “Would you two move?”

“Just doing our jobs,” Leo pointed out.

“Whatever,” Caspian rolled his eyes.

The action was so reminiscent of his own liege, Lark couldn’t help laughing out loud, “I feel your pain, guys,” he said to the brothers.

Caspian looked pained when his paladins looked smug, “Don’t encourage them, Lark. I was hoping for an audience with Max. I know I don’t have an appointment …” he said.

Lark straightened, trying to look professional even though he was wearing holey clothes and was shoeless, “Of course, my Lord. After you …” he invited, sweeping his arm out and nodding his head in deference as was custom.

The Water Warden ruined the moment when he merely rolled his eyes at Lark before sweeping past. Lark stifled a snicker; he really did like the guy.