Restart Again: Volume 2 by Adam Scott (best adventure books to read .TXT) 📗

“The feeling is mutual,” she replied, matching my smile.

I became acutely aware of how intimate our conversation had become. Chuckling to break the silence, I slid out from beneath her hand on my shoulder. “Well, that’s certainly a load off my mind! I might even be able to get a few hours of sleep before we have to go.”

“That would be wise; it seems likely that we will not be sleeping tonight,” she said. I turned to leave, but she caught me gently by the upper arm. “Lux, I...thank you for the apology. It means a great deal to me.” Our eyes locked for a brief moment before she looked away. “You are a good man.”

“Oh, uh...of course, Val,” I sputtered, my cheeks growing hot. Desperate to inject a bit of levity into the situation, I clapped her on the shoulder. “You’re not so bad yourself.” With a final awkward chuckle, I spun and briskly walked back to where Lia and Marin were chatting at the counter.

“Oh, Lux!” Lia called out as I approached. “Marin and I were just getting to know each other, and apparently, she knows my father!” She looked back to Marin, and the two shared a laugh. “I still can’t believe it!”

“My dad is a cooper in Yoria,” Marin explained. “He moved to a larger workshop about ten years ago when he got a contract with the royal family, and Marten has been delivering his supplies ever since! I’ve met him tons of times!”

“Fate always seems to have a sense of humor about these things,” I chuckled. “I wonder how Marten would react, knowing that he’s been supplying materials to the family of the famous King’s Shield?”

“Oh, please don’t tell him,” Lia groaned, rolling her eyes. She turned to Marin with an apologetic grin. “My father is a bit starstruck by your sister. I’m not sure he’d be able to handle the idea that he’s been working with her family without knowing it.”

“My sister?” Marin asked incredulously. “I would love to see that meeting. I’m not sure Valandra would understand the concept of having fans.”

“That meeting already happened, and you are entirely correct,” I told her. She looked to Lia for confirmation, who turned away and gave an embarrassed nod. Marin tried to stifle a laugh but was quickly overtaken, and her laughter quickly spread to me as well.

“Alright, alright, it’s not that funny,” Lia said, trying to hide the grimace on her face. She waited patiently for our laughter to die down, then turned to me. “What’s our plan for the day? Scouting? Training?”

“Sleeping, I hope,” I said with a stretch. “We only have a few hours until sundown, so I think the best thing for us is to get some rest. It’s going to be a busy night.”

“Oh,” Lia replied, sounding strangely disappointed. “Okay.”

“If you need a place to sleep, you can use my guest room upstairs,” Marin chimed in. “I’ve never had a chance to let anyone use it before, so this is exciting! It’s not much, but it has a bed, which I guess is all that matters in this case.” She pointed through the door behind the counter. “Just a left through there, first door on your right at the top of the stairs.”

I nodded my head graciously. “Thank you, Marin, that would be great. I think we’ll take you up on that.” Lia made no move to follow me as I stood up, so I gave her a gentle bump with my elbow. “What do you think, Lia? You feeling up to a quick nap?”

“Uhm, sure,” she said quietly. As she stood, she seemed to remember herself, and she bobbed her head towards Marin. “Thanks, Marin.”

“No problem!” Marin responded cheerfully as she stacked up our dishes from lunch. “I’ll wake you up just before sundown.” With that, she stood and took the plates into the back room to what I assumed was a kitchen.

Lia shuffled out behind her, hanging a left instead of a right. Her sudden lack of energy concerned me as I followed her into the extremely narrow hallway behind Marin’s shop. Did I say something wrong? I didn’t think sleeping was a controversial topic. We ascended the tall, creaking staircase and entered the aforementioned room to find that Marin hadn’t lied: the room was hardly larger than a walk-in closet, with a small window on the far wall and only a single storage chest and a modest bed as furnishings.

“Well, I suppose you could technically call this a guest room,” I joked. Lia gave a delayed nod in response, then moved to the bed and quietly sat down at the edge. Her eyes were downcast as she whispered something under her breath, too softly for me to hear. “What was that?” I asked, joining her on the uncomfortably firm mattress.

Her hands balled into fists against her legs, and I heard her breath fall into a strained meditative pattern as she scrunched her eyes shut. I could feel pulses of energy radiating out of her, carrying two overwhelming emotions: anger and fear. After a few moments of measured breathing she reopened her eyes, and although they glistened in the late afternoon sun, no tears fell to her cheeks. “I said...we still have time. We could still run.”

My breath caught in my throat at the sound of her trembling voice. This isn’t what her life should be. She shouldn’t have to be afraid like this. I placed a comforting hand on her leg. “You can stay here tonight, Lia. You’ve already done so much, and I don’t want you to feel like you have to—”

“What? No,” she blurted out, recoiling away from the thought. “I’m not afraid; I know I can handle whatever’s out there.”

I sat with my brow wrinkled in thought. “I’m not sure I understand, then. What’s bothering you?”

She stared at me, dumbfounded. “What’s bothering...this could be your last night here! If we go out there and stop