"I don't know . . . but those guys are crazy."

I rolled my eyes, though inwardly I was trying very hard to keep from laughing, and made a serious face. "You don't know why you're here?"

He gave a lopsided grin. "No, I do. I just wanted to make sure you knew that-"

"They're crazy. Believe me, I know." It got quiet for a moment. "It didn't help that you came without telling me. Do you know the kind of rumors you just started?"

He studied me. "I didn't take you for a person that worried about rumors."

I sighed absently, then leaned back against the wall. "You're right. I'm not. . . . It's this place. It makes me crazy."

He leaned on the wall next to me. "Seems like it would make anyone crazy."

I smiled again. But it only made me feel worse.

"Plus," he chipped me on the shoulder, "I thought you handled the situation quite well."

I thought back on it with that view in mind.

The next second we were both laughing out loud.

He caught his breath and wrapped around in front of me. "I want you to know that I would have come to say goodbye no matter what had happened."

I smiled back at him for a moment, then adapted a confused expression. "What do you mean? Isn't that why you're here?"

He grinned wide and shook his head.

Now I was really confused.

"I'm here because . . . well, because you can come back. I mean, Thoran said you can come back. Of course he didn't just say you could, he needed some convincing. But the point is you can . . . come back."

He said the whole thing so fast that I wasn't quite sure of what I was hearing till he'd finished.

"You mean . . . I can come back? For good?" I don't know why I felt the need to repeat as a question what he had just told me quite a few times.

"Yeah. . . . That is, if you want to, you don't have to. I just thought that-"

I stopped him. "Of course I want to! I was just telling you how much I hate this place."

He looked incredibly relieved and grinned happily. Before I could say anything further though, he had his arms around me in a hug.

I was never very good at the hugging thing, so I just sort of stood there uncomfortably. Fortunately for me, he let go quickly to grab onto my shoulders.

"Okay -we can't go back tonight," he said. "The part of the forest we'd have to walk through isn't safe when it's dark."

So the stories about Sharadeen aren't completely a myth.

"Where are we going to stay?" I asked.

"Well," he started, "I thought you could stay here the night and I-" He stopped when he saw my shaking head.

"Please don't make stay here. I . . . I don't mind sleeping outside, or wherever I need to."

He laughed. It was that deep throaty laugh again. "I'm not going to make you do anything . . . but there's no guarantee you'll be safe where I'm going."

I gave an exasperated face. "Ikovos. That's the reason I had to come back here in the first place."

He put up his hands. "Hey, I'm not your boss. If you happen to follow me, there's nothing I can do about it." He ended with a sly grin.

I felt pretty pleased with myself over my persuasive skills. Not that I really think I had to do much. . . .

"Besides," I added coyly, "if it's not safe you shouldn't be going alone anyways."

A sound came from the other side of the building. He glanced over then looked back, replying distractedly. "I wouldn't be alone, Jaden'll be there."

Until that moment I didn't know how fast a stomach could tie into knots. The last time I saw Jaden I'd yelled at him like a crazy person. The thought of seeing him again so soon . . . ugh.

I tried to concentrate on the present.

"Well then, you wouldn't need my protection."

He grinned. "I don't know. He can be a little scary in the morning."

He looked fine to me.

As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I gave myself a mental slap. Then tried to save my lack of laughing at his joke with a smile.

I think it worked. . . .

"If you're coming now you might want to go get some clothes and, you know, anything else you'll need." He half turned and pointed to a high ledge beside the town. "Just meet me there when you're done, okay?"

"Got it." I said, still trying to concentrate on acting normal. I wanted to say something more to him, but couldn't think of anything.

He gave me a serious look. "Are you okay? You look a little sick all of a sudden."

This reminded me of the first time I'd met Ikovos. I thought to myself that I wouldn't be able to hide much from him. Apparently, I was right. Then again . . . I wasn't so sure the most imperceptive person in the world wouldn't have noticed the change in my demeanor once Jaden was mentioned.

"I'm fine."

He gave me a skeptical look. It didn't fit him at all and I laughed out loud.

"Okay, I promise to tell you later, just get going."

"Bossy too. There's one for the list." He said it with a smirk.

I tried to keep my face rigid as he turned around and started off.

"Later, Evelyn."

"Wha?-" My brows furrowed at the name.

I was genuinely disappointed that I would probably never be called Eve again.

Oh well, hardly reason enough to complain at the moment.

I watched Ikovos as he disappeared into the trees, it had me distracted for a few seconds until someone came into my head again.

Not allowing myself to rest on the subject, I headed off immediately towards the house.

About twenty minutes later I was standing in the grass at the back of my house looking up at my second story window.

I had decided upon approach that sneaking would be a better plan than meet, greet, and ditch. I didn't mind the ditching so much, but with Gwen and my mother it was an all but impossible task.

So here I was, staring up at the vines leading to my room. Thoroughly doubting that I had any chance at making it all the way up. I reached for the first brick all the same. The vines I left alone.

I don't know what kind of people weigh so little that strings of leaves could hold them up, I just knew I wasn't one of them. I also wasn't the greatest at the physical stuff, though not for lack of trying, especially climbing . . . my legs were too short.

A small smile crossed my face.

Of course, I did beat Jaden the other day. I reached towards another brick.

Ugh -who am I kidding? He would have killed me if I hadn't run into the edge. I continued to climb, breathing heavily now.

"What was it he said? Oh yes, 'You shouldn't have even been sparring in the first place.'" I mimicked unsuccessfully.

"Arrogant jerk." I said as I toppled through the window into my room.

Once I gained my balance I headed over to my drawers and started grabbing clothes quite animatedly.

"And who even cares if he can control fire? Not me." At the bottom of my drawer was a pair of unused metal cuffs. I threw them in, thinking they may come in handy. "Ikovos can use magic and he's nice about it."

I went over to my bed and rolled out a thin blanket to wrap my clothes in. I realized now that I should definitely quiet down considering there were people right below me. This helped my anger to subside a bit, but I still kept running through past conversations in my head.

I tied the knapsack tight, and unwillingly thought about the way he looked at me. My face flushed red.

"Ugh! Who even stares at people like that. It's so . . . so . . . intolerable!" I said this last part way too loud and decided I'd better get out of the house, forgoing any other necessities.

After climbing through the window and flipping around to grab the wall, I tried to catch my breath. I was still fuming. A few minutes passed. When I felt safe that they weren't coming, I started to climb down.

"You know, no decent person would act like he did, anyways. I don't even know why I care what he thinks . . . or what he says. . . ." I stopped and my voice softened. "Like saying I could use magic. That was just . . . just . . ."

I didn't get the chance to finish my thought. Talking hadn't helped my climbing skills much, my foot slipped loose from its hold, followed immediately by my hands. Despite attempts to grab at the bricks, I fell backwards.

Chapter 5.

Confusing IN THE PAST I'd always wondered if I would scream in this type of situation. I came to find that you don't really notice one way or the other, you're more worried about the living part.

Just when I was expecting to hit the hard ground, causing irreparable injury or death, I stopped.

It was a very strange feeling, but it definitely wasn't pain . . . I was pretty sure the ground would have been painful.

"Are you okay?" a voice asked softly.

I realized now where I was. I could feel two hands wrapping around my body and a chest beating against my left side. Someone had caught me, and the much too familiar voice told me who.

For a second I almost wished the ground had caught me instead . . . that is until he spoke again. Softer this time. "Eve? Can you hear me?"

I kept my eyes closed and moaned. "No."

I could feel his muscles, which must have been tensed, relax a bit.

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

I shook my head, still refusing to open my eyes. All too aware of how embarrassed I would be if I did. "Can you just set me down?"

For a moment his muscles tightened again, but then returned to normal. "Oh . . . yeah. Sorry."

Once I was on the ground I opened my eyes. He was still leaning over me, staring hard with dark, concerned, eyes.

A rush of blood went through my body. I was sure my face must have been either bright red or incredibly pale.

I blinked to clear my mind, but it wasn't helping. He just kept looking at me, and he looked, well . . . nice, instead of angry or standoffish like he normally did.

A few seconds passed and I felt okay, so I slid back on my hands in an attempt to get up.

Jaden put a hand on my stomach and pushed me back down.

"Are you crazy? You just fell ten feet."

"I'm fine," I said curtly. I was trying very hard to be irritated at him.

I began to get up again but he just pushed me back down.

"No, you're not."

I rolled my eyes.