Page 529 - Fourth Wing

He coughs, and I gesture him off. “Now, I need a moment of privacy.”

He bows with a wave of a hand, as though introducing me to the forest
behind us, and I head off into their shadowy depths.

When I return to the shore of the lake, Xaden walks away from Garrick

and holds out his hand as he approaches.
My eyebrows rise. Is he… No. He wouldn’t. Not in front of the eight

other cadets.

He laces his fingers with mine. Guess he would. It’s more than the touch
of his skin that has my pulse leaping. He’s breaking his own rule.

I glance pointedly toward where the others are gathered, all in various

states of relaxation by the shore, but my hand tightens around his.
“None of them is going to say a single word about you—or us. I trust

every single person here with my life,” he says, leading me toward a cluster
of boulders almost twice his height on the far side of the lake.

“People talk. Let them.” I’m not ashamed of loving him, and I can handle

any mean-spirited gossip that comes my way.
“You say that now.” His jaw flexes. “Did you get enough to drink? Or

eat?”
“I brought everything I needed in my pack. You don’t have to worry

about me.”

“Worrying about you is ninety-nine percent of what I do.” His thumb
strokes the back of my hand. “When we make it to the outpost, I want you

to rest after we get our scenario objective. Liam will stay while I most

likely take the third-years out to patrol.”
“I want to help,” I immediately protest. Wasn’t that why he brought me?

For my lightning? Not that I’m exactly winning any accuracy awards, but

still.
“You can, after you rest up. You have to be at full strength to wield that

signet of yours, or you’ll risk burning out. Tairn is too powerful.”
He makes a decent point, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.