Angelfire | The Whispering Wall #3

Thirty One: Trust

"Are you sure you're up to this?"

Jordan turned and looked up at Nika, who stood in the doorway of Yddris's house and looked like he was on the verge of ordering Jordan not to leave.

"I'm fine," he said, trying not to let his exasperation show in his voice. "Really. You need to deal with this whole Jeorge thing, Yddris is at this Heads' meeting, and I'm sick of staring at the wall."

"We'll look after him, Nika," Henrik said behind him. "He'll be straight back here if anything happens."

"You say that every time you get roaring drunk with Yddris, and every time you both come back in a state," Nika said, but he sounded reluctantly reassured.

"I'm on patrol." Henrik punched his chest with a clenched fist. "I'm a man of honour. I do not drink on the job."

"You do sometimes," Astra said.

"Sometimes I really feel like you're out to get me in trouble." Henrik dropped his fist and gave her an affectionate nudge. Jordan met Astra's eye and they both looked away, stifling a laugh.

"Fine. But be careful. Please."

Jordan opened his mouth to reiterate his assurances, but found the words lodged in his throat. He climbed back up the steps and threw his arms around Nika instead; the Unspoken let out a soft noise of surprise. Then his arms closed around Jordan's shoulders and squeezed.

"Good luck with pissy-pants," Jordan said as he stepped away.

"I heard that!" Jeorge's voice lashed out from the front room and a quick glance at the window revealed the Angel glaring out of it at him, wings flicking in irritation.

"Thank you. I need it." Nika chuckled softly. "Take care, Thorne. I'll see you at dinner."

Jordan joined Henrik and Astra back on the street, and they turned to walk into the city as the front door closed behind Nika. He thought he heard Jeorge's voice raised in outrage just before it snapped shut.

"That Angel is really going through it," Henrik commented. A short pause. "And he's making sure we all have to suffer with him."

Jordan snorted softly. Jeorge was going through the wringer, but he wasn't making it any easier for himself by insulting and infuriating everyone around him. It was understandable to an extent, but after a morning of snappish retorts and beleaguered whining, Jordan was beginning to understand why Nova had looked so pleased with herself after slapping the man the other night.

"Your sister is very nice," Astra commented, dropping back behind Henrik to walk with him. "She cares about you a lot."

"Yeah." The usual complicated mix of feelings rose up at that thought; the guilt, and the resentment, all tangled up with his fear for her life and missing their previous closeness. He had woken from a seizure two nights ago with his head in her lap, her hands stroking his cheeks, and he'd missed her with an intensity that hurt. She'd looked so like their mother from that angle that he'd been awake for hours with homesickness that made him physically nauseous, when he should have been catching up on sleep.

With everything going around in his head — like the growing list of people who wanted him dead — he'd jumped at Henrik's offer to join him and Astra on their patrol route. Both Yddris and Nika had been run off their feet in the last couple of weeks, and Jordan guessed from Henrik's offer that Yddris anticipated being busy for a while longer. That or he was avoiding the questions they both knew Jordan wanted answered.

"Do you have any siblings?" he asked, to wrench his thoughts off that track before it derailed his entire day.

"No. Not technically," she said, just as he'd begun to fear that the question had been too personal. "I was living at an orphanage when I met Kolter."