Chapter 18: Chapter 18

Neivayka turned his words over in her head, looking for the hidden meaning. When it hit her, she let out a shocked laugh. She should have known they were messing with her.

“All right. It was a joke. Got it,” she conceded, embarrassed.

Theo and Pontius exchanged a loud look that Neivayka couldn’t interpret, so she ignored it in favor of trying to gain more information from them.

“You guys didn’t answer my questions,” Neivayka reminded them. “Who are you? Why are you here?”

Theo sighed heavily and finished dabbing her other cheek until he seemed satisfied with his handy work. Whatever was in the floral perfume bottle gave her some relief and when Pontius handed her a bowl of broth and a small jug of water, she could have hugged him.

“Thank you,” she told them both softly.