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Liam wrinkles his nose at the bloodshed and picks up one of the bodies to line them up by the door. Garrick has already cleaned up all of the blood with frightening efficiency and Bodhi has spent the last several minutes inexplicitly picking up feathers. Liam is going to have so many questions for Violet tomorrow.
Garrick continues his retelling of Xaden and Violet flirting over half a dozen dead bodies. “Then they started teasing each other about Violet’s shit talking and their kill counts. It was the weirdest flirting I’ve seen in my life. She apparently knocked out three of them and incapacitated a fourth before Xaden arrived, which is crazy considering it couldn’t have been more than two or three minutes.”
Bodhi looks at the bodies. Four of them do not have a scratch besides a broken neck. One of them had a non-fatal stab wound on her thigh and one of them had wounds in his knee, his calf, and a slash along the back of his foot. All very strange.
“How?”
“Poison,” Liam answers with certainty. “She used poison.”
“But she didn’t know who was attacking her tonight.”
“She doesn’t need to,” Liam explains with a shrug. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the vial Violet gave to him that first night. “She probably used this powder. It knocks someone unconscious for several minutes. She also keeps a dagger soaked in a poison that paralyzes people once it reaches their bloodstream. It could have been either of those. Or something she hasn’t told me about yet.”
Garrick looks with wide eyes and whistles. “Damn, Sorrengail. And why do you have that?”
Liam smiles. “Because Violet likes me. Getting poison from her is like a sign of affection in our squad. Everyone else got theirs before Threshing, and Ivan ended up using it.”
Bodhi laughs in surprise. “She gave all of her friends poison?”
“That’s Violet for you,” Liam says in a cheery voice for it being the middle of the night. “She has no problem threatening someone to keep the people she cares about safe.”
Garrick laughs in delight. “Xaden better watch out. She is not the type of girl you want to piss off.”
Liam shakes his head in amusement. “No, she’s definitely not. But they’re good together. You should have seen her convince him into her insane plan today. I thought he’d never budge, but she proved me wrong.”
“Damn, how did she manage that? I have been trying for our entire lives and I can count the amount of times I’ve changed Xaden’s mind on one hand,” Bodhi asks.
“I don’t think you’ll have much success with the Violet Sorrengail method. She laid out logical arguments, soothed his fears with some sweet words and a disgusting amount of flirting, and then looked up at him with those eyes. He was done for.”
Garrick and Bodhi both laugh at the image.
Garrick looks up from where he is finishing rolling up the ruined rug with the two bodies with open wounds inside of it, considering the odd pattern on the attackers. “Was she… hiding under the bed?”
“If she wasn’t, I have no idea how she went for the man’s Achilles.”
Garrick looks at Bodhi’s handful of feathers and laughs. “Tell me that she did not create a pillow dummy.”
Liam just shakes his head. “I’m surprised Violet would go with that, but at the same time, I’m not. It worked, so I guess it was a good plan.”
If he’s learned anything about Violet Sorrengail, it’s to expect the unexpected. Like her idea to disable her wards right after she learns people are plotting an attack. He shakes his head again.
Bodhi reaches around to gather the feathers on the bed, and pulls his hand back quickly. “Shit!”
“Back-up dagger?” Liam asks.
Bodhi pulls out a dagger from under the pillow. “Well, I’m glad I didn’t slice my hand. You knew about the back-up dagger?”
Liam nods. “A back-up dagger is always a safe bet with Violet. There should be two more. She said to be careful, but she didn’t tell me where they were. I probably should have asked.”
Garrick laughs and turns to look at him thoughtfully. “You’ve gotten to know Xaden’s girl pretty well, Liam.”
He nods. “Oh, definitely. Violet is great. I do miss sleep though.”
Liam is almost relieved on nights that Xaden and Violet are busy, if only because it means he’s not crawling into bed during the early hours of morning to sleep a few hours before Library Duty. Rooting for his brother’s sex life isn’t something Liam is normally comfortable with, but he’ll take all the extra hours he can get.
Bodhi laughs. “How busy can guard duty keep you? Even spies have to sleep.”
Liam shakes his head. “Not Violet. She only ever calls it a night when I’m yawning. She has this running list of things to do in her head, and once she finishes something, she’ll just move on to the next one without pausing. I have no clue how she does it, but she stays up late every night and wakes up early. It’s kind of scary.”
“She’s kind of scary in general, isn’t she?” Garrick asks with a shit-eating grin. “We never guessed that Xaden’s type was petite, poisonous, and good with daggers.”
Liam laughs. “Yeah, she’s a little scary. She’s really sweet too though,” he adds, wanting both of them to understand that there is more to Violet than that. “She takes care of everyone. Sometimes that means sneaking us extra food or forcing us to work on assignments, or threatening people who even look at us the wrong way. Especially the marked ones. Violet is nothing like people expect her to be. The things she’s gone through has made her vicious and gentle in equal measure.”
Bodhi smiles widely at that. “I had a good impression of her when we met too. Xaden had just pissed her off about something but she just looked at me and said she wasn’t going anywhere and she meant it. He deserves that.”
Garrick grins. “She’s literally never spoken to me and knew that I’d love to hear about Amber Mavis’ impending doom, so I’d call that a good impression. Xaden is trying to pretend he’s normal about it but he’s been different since they got together after Threshing. He smiles more, and I’ve caught him daydreaming. Xaden Riorson, daydreaming. Can you imagine that?”
Bodhi shakes his head. “I wouldn’t have been able to imagine it before this year, that’s for sure. He didn’t daydream, he just brooded.”
“If he has anything to say about it, she is not going anywhere. Gods, I’m going to have to talk to Imogen again, aren’t I?” Garrick groans. “I’ve tried bringing her up three times and I’ve gotten punched for it twice. All I said was that she didn’t seem that bad.”
“What happened the third time?” Liam asks curiously. He tried talking to Imogen too. She took a deep breath, stood up, and left without another word. Liam has a face that people don’t enjoy fighting with, and Imogen avoided it without remorse.
Garrick pales. “There are some things a man shouldn’t have to re-live.”
Bodhi nods in understanding. “She decided to aim somewhere besides your face then?” He asks with a smirk, looking meaningfully down and Garrick cringes.
“I know I’m the one who taught her to fight dirty, but I fucking regret it,” Garrick says with a shudder.
Liam and Bodhi just laugh at him. For all Garrick teases Xaden about his taste, Garrick never fails to make it obvious that he admires Imogen’s fire and grit.
“No, you don’t,” Bodhi calls out, finishing up cleaning the rest of the feathers. “Have either of you told her that they’re together?”
Garrick shudders. “Fuck no. Imogen only knows that she knows the truth because Xaden debriefed us on the latest communications from home and it meant revealing what Sorrengail was attacked by. I don’t know what she suspects about the two of them, I’m not jumping in front of the dagger on that one. Xaden can tell her.”
Liam nods in agreement. “Agreed. Introducing her as Xaden’s girlfriend might make it even harder for her to see past her anger. The two of them have hardly spoken all year.”
Bodhi nods. “She’s going to have to realize that Xaden is making Violet a priority. I never thought I’d see the day, but I’m pretty sure he’s in love. If Imogen doesn’t get it together, she’s going to lose his friendship.”
Or her life, if she threatens Violet again, Liam thinks but doesn’t say. He’s seen the look in his brother’s eyes when it comes to Violet Sorrengail. Liam has never seen Xaden look like that before, like Violet’s existence brought something inside of him to life that he thought died a long time ago. There’s also a darkness in his expression, like he wouldn’t hesitate to tear the world asunder if it meant keeping Violet at his side.
If Liam hadn’t gotten to know Violet so well in the last month, he’d probably be concerned about how quickly Xaden had fallen. But Violet looks at his brother the exact same way. She might not be as possessive, and her affection might be sweeter and more teasing in nature, but she is no less committed.
Garrick snorts a laugh. “Do you think he realizes he’s in love with her?”
“He knows,” Liam says with confidence.
“How do you figure?”
Liam shrugs. “They’ve flirted in front of me more times than I can count. Xaden looks at her like she’s the best thing that ever happened to him. Looking back on his behavior since I got here, I think he’s been in love with her longer than they’ve even been together. Violet is different. She’s more cautious, both because of the things she’s gone through and because it’s in her nature. She told me that she wasn’t a romantic, but a realist.”
“Is Violet going to break our boy’s heart?” Garrick asks jokingly, but there is something real lurking behind his question. All of the children of the rebellion owe Xaden their lives, and they’ve watched him make sacrifice after sacrifice on their behalf. Garrick knows that Xaden deserves to have something good in his life, and he deserves to keep it.
Liam laughs and shakes his head. “I don’t think so. Violet is usually practical to a fault, and I asked if it was practical to sneak around with her wingleader. She gave me a huge smile and told me that Xaden was the least practical thing she’s done since she crossed the parapet but he was worth a bit of absurdity. That was the moment I knew that Violet was going to be in all of our lives for a long time.”
Or at least that is Liam’s hope. He doesn’t want to know what Xaden would look like with a broken heart. With all of his sacrifices, he deserves this happiness for himself.
“We should get to know her more,” Garrick says. “She seems fun. She called Amber Mavis a hypocritical bitch and then threw a dagger into her shoulder. After telling her that she’d make her eat her fucking Codex. I would do anything to have been there to see in person.”
Bodhi and Liam laugh, and Bodhi nods in agreement. “I agree. Liam gets to spend all the time in the world with his future sister-in-law but we’ve barely spoken to her.”
“If you asked, she’d probably say yes.” Liam laughs at the idea of them joining Violet on one of her nightly missions. Garrick most likely wouldn’t last a night in the Violet Sorrengail School of Spying, but Bodhi could probably hack it.
They leave Violet’s clothing in a pile for her to go through, and grab everything blood-stained and torn. Violet will need new sheets and blankets. Bodhi knows that he just has to mention it to Xaden and he’ll replace anything Violet needs as soon as humanly possible.
Garrick and Bodhi pick up either side of the rug together and Liam picks up one of the smaller bodies, carefully balancing it so he can lock the door behind him.
By the time they return for the final three attackers, Garrick is still gossiping about Xaden.
“I’m glad he broke off the deal with Cat last year,” Garrick says conversationally. “It would have been very messy if that was still on the table.”
Liam uncharacteristically sneers. “Me too.”
Bodhi’s brows furrow in thought. “Cat isn’t going to be happy when she learns about Xaden and Violet either. Xaden actually likes Imogen, and he’s threatened her multiple times. With the way they left things, Cat will be lucky to get away with a few insults before the shadows come out to play.”
“Good,” Liam snips. Garrick looks at him in surprise. “What?”
“Nothing,” Garrick comments. “You’re just usually the best at pretending you don’t hate her guts.”
Liam snorts. “That’s not true. I told Xaden years ago that Cat can’t be trusted. He definitely shouldn’t marry a girl like that.”
“Has he told Violet about her?” Bodhi asks curiously, and Liam shakes his head. He really is their best source of information on the adventures of Xaden and Violet, given Xaden’s tendency to bottle everything up and Violet’s trust in him.
“I don’t think so. He still has many things to tell her,” Liam adds. He’s reached the point where he trusts Violet with his life, and he hates the fact that she doesn’t know everything. Especially about her brother. Liam can hardly handle the guilt whenever Violet talks about Brennan.
Garrick nods thoughtfully. “He does. But he’ll get there, right? None of us thought he’d really let her in on what we’re doing here. That was huge.”
Bodhi presses his lips together. “I think so. But Xaden is stubborn.”
“So is Violet,” Liam asks while shaking his head. “I think he’s worried that she’ll leave him, but he’s underestimating how much she cares. She wouldn’t walk away from him unless he gets himself caught up in lying to her. Violet has dedicated her life to finding the truth, and she hates being lied to. That might be the one thing that makes her give up on him. If he gave her the full truth, she’d accept it."
“You really trust Violet Sorrengail, huh?”
Liam nods seriously. “I do. Vi is… I don’t even know how to explain it. She’s smart and funny and she has this way of challenging you to be better, to think bigger, and question everything. She takes circumstances that might make people feel hopeless or lost, and she rises to the occasion with kindness and determination and a surprising amount of audacity for someone her size.” Liam smiles, thinking about all the things he’s learned since he started spending time with Xaden’s girl. “She’s good, for him, for home, for all of us.”
Garrick smiles widely. “That’s great. Now we just have to make sure he doesn’t fuck it up by keeping more secrets. Shouldn’t be a problem, right?” He addresses them sarcastically and Bodhi laughs.
“You two don’t give him enough credit,” Bodhi adds, and Liam and Garrick both turn to look at him in surprise. “What? I’m the one who manages the communications from home. Xaden has been trying to convince Brennan to let him come clean since before Threshing. Now that she knows as much as she does, he keeps asking Brennan to send Violet a letter. Their back and forth at the end of every letter has gone from purely informative to downright hostile.”
Liam’s eyes widen. “What did Brennan say?”
“No. Repeatedly, and with threats to match. He maintains that if Violet joins, it will be after her graduation.”
Garrick shakes his head. “And I thought Brennan was smart. Violet is already in this and he should know that Xaden won’t follow commands he doesn’t agree with.”
Bodhi nods. “I guess he isn’t the smartest Sorrengail. I bet you that Xaden breaks and tells her within the next month.”
“Well, I bet he tells her within the week!” Garrick calls out enthusiastically. Liam hopes that he’s right. The sooner that Xaden tells Violet the truth about her brother, the better.
They prepare to remove the last three bodies. Violet’s room, while still disheveled, no longer looks quite as menacing. They exit and Liam locks the door behind him before pocketing the key to return to Violet the next day.
As they walk, Liam appears lost in thought.
“What’s up, Liam?” Bodhi asks.
He hums in consideration. “Just wondering if Brennan knows about Xaden’s feelings for Violet. I can’t imagine him being subtle about it, even in letters.”
Bodhi snorts. “He’s not. I’m surprised Brennan hasn’t flown over to fight him, but he must have some powerful big brother blinders on. Keeps telling him that Xaden doesn’t have the right to make decisions about his little sister.”
Liam shakes his head. “It will be such a shame when we don’t have a mender anymore.”
Garrick looks over in amusement. “What, you think him and Xaden will kill each other?”
Liam laughs. “No, but I do think that Violet is going to try and kill both of them when she finds out they’ve been trying to make decisions for her. Xaden might be safe on account of the dragons and because he wants to tell her, but Brennan? Good luck with that. His little sister is a spy with poisoned daggers and two dragons now. Even without a signet, he is going to regret that one.”
The three of them share a laugh. Somewhere in Aretia, hundreds of miles away, Brennan Sorrengail is up late working on plans for the city and wonders why he just felt a chill down his spine.
“Hey, so, uh,” Bodhi starts hesitantly. “Don’t tell him but I may or may not have kept a copy of all their communications specifically about Violet before passing them to Xaden. Since the beginning of the year.”
Liam and Garrick both stop walking to look at him with wide eyes. Liam feels some guilt about the next words out of his mouth. Garrick doesn’t.
“Can we see?” They ask in unison.