“I can’t. Adira asked me to go check on Ashlyn. Liaison duty, I guess.” And, it was an official duty that I knew needed to be done. Since Ashlyn’s uncle had killed himself, leaving her alone in Uttira, I’d wanted to talk to her. To make sure she was okay with her decision to stay.
“Okay. I’ll drop you off there,” Oanen said.
When we reached the student parking lot, Eliana’s car was already gone.
“Are you sure Eliana isn’t mad?” I asked, looking at Oanen.
“I told her not to wait. I drove a different car today.”
“Oh, the hardships of your life. Not only do you need to decide what to wear each morning, you need to decide which car to drive.” I rolled my eyes and followed him as he walked toward the back of the parking lot.
Amidst the gleaming reds, blues, and blacks sat a small orange car. Although new and shiny, it lacked the pompous display of the sports cars that dominated the lot. I grinned when he went right to it.
“Slumming?” I asked.
His lips twitched, and he opened the door for me without a word.
Alone with Oanen for the first time since I’d woken up half sprawled on him, I wasn’t sure what to do or say. Why did liking him have to feel so damn awkward?
Thankfully, it didn’t take long for us to get to Ashlyn’s house.
“I’m not sure how long I’ll be,” I said as he parked.
“Doesn’t matter.” He turned off the car.
“Are you sure you want to wait?” I asked.
“I don’t plan to. I’ll fly from here, and you can take your car home.” He opened the door and got out.
Frowning, I hurried to do the same. He met me on the sidewalk near the front of the car.
“Wait. What do you mean? You’re loaning me this car?”
“Sure.”
I narrowed my eyes at Oanen, real annoyance rising.
“Half-truths and pacifying answers are just as good as lies. I don’t do lies,” I said.
“Fair enough. I don’t do lies either. I do, however, like to do things that will likely annoy you.”
“Such as?”
“Such as asking my parents to get you a car so you’re not stuck waiting for a ride from someone. Especially when you’re so far out of town.”
“So your parents bought me a car?”
He remained silent while just looking at me, his arms crossed.
“I’m about to hit you,” I warned.
“I purchased the car; they retrieved it.”
“Boyfriends don’t buy girlfriends cars,” I said.
“The good ones do.”
I breathed deeply, trying not to get angry with him.
“Since I fly and you don’t, you need a car. Unless you’re saying you like riding me?”
My mouth dropped open, and my heart started hammering again.
This time he flashed a grin large enough to show teeth.
“You’re adorable,” he said. “I could stand here and watch you blush all day, but neither of us will get anything done then.”
He whipped off his shirt and tossed it to me. I caught it by reflex.
“What are you doing?” I demanded when he reached for his pants.
“Flying home. Keep the clothes in the car. It never hurts to have spares handy.” He unzipped his fly, and I glanced at the houses lining the street.
“You can’t be serious right now. You’re standing on the sidewalk in the middle of the afternoon about to drop your pants for the world so you can turn into a griffin and fly away. What happened to keeping our presence secret?” I would have asked what happened to his modesty, but he’d never really had any from the start.
“If there was anyone new in Uttira, we would know. Anyone watching already knows about us. They’ll just have to close their eyes if they don’t want to see something.”
I wondered if I should close my eyes, too. The problem was that I wanted to see Oanen in all his glory again. Badly. But that would likely result in more blushing. So, I compromised with myself and averted my gaze to the side. I could tell he was stepping out of his pants but couldn’t see the details.
“Call me when you finish with your visit if you want some company,” he said as he folded his clothes and set them on the car.
I nodded but didn’t look at him until I heard the sound of his wings beating the air. With a deep calming breath, I turned and went to the house. I couldn’t believe it had only been a few days since I’d last been there.
Ashlyn opened the door after my third knock, her hazel eyes bloodshot and puffy. The mottled complexion of her pale skin made her neatly brushed, strawberry-blonde hair seem even more red.
“Ashlyn, I’m so sorry,” I said. Anger and regret welled up inside me. The normal, non-fury kind. “I know we don’t know each other well, but would you like some company for a while?”
She nodded. “Adira mentioned you’d probably stop by.”
I stepped into her house. Her home seemed so oddly normal given what her uncle, Trammer, had done.
“Can I get you something to drink?” she asked politely as she closed the door.
“No, thank you.”
She led the way to the living room and took a seat on the couch. I wasn’t sure what to say or do, so I looked around the room while I gave myself a moment to think. The book I’d last seen her reading sat on the nearby coffee table.
“It’s a good book,” she said, catching the direction of my gaze. “You can borrow it if you want. I’ve already read it several times.”
“I’m not much of a book person, especially after today. I was stuck in the Academy’s super-secret library the whole day, reading stuff that made no sense.”
“A library? I haven’t been to a library in years.”
The wistful way she said it gave me pause.
“Why years?”
She shot me an odd look. “Once a human says yes to Uttira, they don’t leave.”
“Trammer left all the time.”
She looked away, swallowed hard, and nodded.
“He did. Only him, though, because of a spell that prevented him from saying anything once he left the barrier.”
“So you’re stuck here like me?”
She met my gaze again, frowning this time.
“Not like you. You can go wherever you want in Uttira. Attend school, make friends. Definitely not like you.”
“Wait. You don’t have to go to the Academy?”
“Have to? I’m not allowed to go to the Academy. I’m enrolled but complete all my work online. The groceries are delivered. With the exception of my other duties, I’m not supposed to leave the house.”
My envy over her not needing to attend school disappeared as I understood what she was telling me. She was a prisoner in this house, locked in with her grief and as desperate to escape her confines as I was mine. Only, she’d chosen this.
“Why are you staying here then?” I asked.
“Because this is the only world I know. And, if I leave, I’ll know nothing. Maybe not even my name. Adira explained how the spell works. It takes days from you. Years. It doesn’t select which memories. It takes all of them. I’ve been here since I was a toddler. I’d lose who I am.”
“Why can’t they just put a spell on you so you can’t say anything?”
“A binding spell? I’d accept it if that were an option. But, the Council ruled that no underage human shall be bound to Uttira. It prevents human parents from binding their kids without giving them a choice.”
“When do you turn eighteen?”
“Another year and a half to go,” she said. Her eyes welled up, and she blinked a few times. “I wish my uncle wouldn’t have died.”
I couldn’t say the same. Her uncle had done bad things and had sounded like he would have done more if given the chance. But, I did feel remorse at my part in his death because of how hurt Ashlyn was now.
“I know what it’s like being stuck where you don’t want to be. Do you want to come to my place? We can see if Eliana wants to watch a movie and have a girl’s night.”
Ashlyn was already shaking her head.
“I like Eliana. She’s nice. But it’s dangerous for me to leave the house. It’s warded for my protection. I can’t get hurt here.”
The injustice of Ashlyn’s situation poked at my temper and showed through in my tone when I spoke.
“Yet, the Council makes you sit in the Roost.”
“It’s warded, too.”
“Okay, this is ridiculous,” I said, standing. “I get why you’re staying, but you’re living like you’re in prison with work release duties.”