I rolled my eyes at the supposed legendary status the title gave him.

  “And after what he did for the city during the war, they weren’t going to argue with him.”

  “But after?” I furrowed my brow. “After he…?” I couldn’t seem to finish my sentence, despite the fact that it had been years since he was gone.

  Toru said nothing.

  “Toru?”

  “I refused,” he said.

  “What?”

  “Look, it’s not important,” he said. “Just know I wasn’t going to let them bring you into this world, especially without anyone else. I watched over you and that was that. But now…”

  “Now,” I repeated. “It has to do with her death, huh? The Guardian’s.”

  Toru nodded. “I believe so.”

  “Toru, if they’re challenging you by reaching out to me, they must be desperate,” I said.

  “Elara –”

  “I think I'm duty-bound to see what this is about,” I said.

  “You can’t⁠—”

  “I’m not changing my mind about this,” I said firmly, craning my neck to look at him. “I have to know.”

  “And if they find out about you?” he asked. “Which they will.”

  I didn’t say anything. The truth was, I had no answer for him, but it wasn’t enough to change my mind either.

  Five

  I didn’t see Toru for three days, but I always knew he was around. He left a lone glass in the sink or one of my old books on the coffee table. If he didn’t want me to know he was still keeping an eye on me, I wouldn’t know. He was just that good.

  But I was glad he did.

  We might be at an awkward impasse, but at least I knew I could count on him even when we were mad at each other.

  Despite my insistence that I go to Astora herself and demand an explanation, I realized I didn’t have the courage I thought I did. I wanted answers, but I also didn’t want to draw attention to myself, especially after what Toru told me.

  On the way home from school Friday, I couldn’t help but revisit my internal debate, the proverbial should I? I itched to find a Moon Flower and pluck its petals until I had some kind of answer.

  A long, low whistle from behind me caused me to tighten my grip on my book bag. I knew it wasn’t a leering call for attention. It was a whistle that implored attention, attention I didn’t want to give because I wasn’t sure what kind of attention I’d be on the receiving end of.

  “I know you heard me, kid.”

  The low growl filled with an arrogance that took a new meaning because of the added edge. Toru was just as cocky, if not more so, but there was a laissez-faire nature about him. He knew he was amazing, he’d tell you he was amazing, but he’d still go to a dive bar if invited by someone he liked.

  This voice, on the other hand, sounded like he looked down on peasants on a daily basis.

  “Playing hard to get? Be careful. I’ve always liked the chase.”

  I rolled my eyes. “What do you want?” I asked, not bothering to hide my annoyance with him.

  I had no idea who this guy was or what he wanted to discuss with me, of all people, but I already knew I didn’t want to deal with him.

  “You haven’t responded to your summons.”

  I stopped walking so I could furrow my brow and turn to face him. “I’m sorry, my wha–?”

  I was cut off the second I took him in. He was tall with a commanding stature. Muscles on muscles sat on his broad frame, exuding strength and somehow agility. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, there was something captivating about his intense gaze and well-defined features that would no doubt leave a lasting impression.

  He had tousled ash-grey hair that rested just below his shoulders and didn’t take away from the fact that he was a few years older than me. There was an arrogant smirk on his lips that I wasn’t surprised to see in the slightest, not with the way he spoke to me. His amber-colored eyes held a hint of mischief in them, and it wasn’t surprising to see a playful flirtation embedded in them.

  He wore a form-fitting dark crimson robe adorned with intricate golden accents that depicted the fiery mane of a lion. It draped elegantly over his shoulders, revealing the symbol for the astrological sign Leo embroidered in gold on the back. The sleeves were fashioned with black and gold trim, designed to resemble the fierce claws of the lion. Around his waist, he wore a belt with a lion-shaped buckle. His black trousers clung to his powerful legs and were tucked into knee-high black boots, perfect for swift and agile movements.

  He grinned, his canines popping out over his lips. “I get that a lot.”

  I scowled, my cheeks turning red. “What did you say?” I asked. I couldn’t believe he had caught me staring. I was better than this. I wasn’t so damn obvious, but apparently, I was. “Something about a summons?”

  “Your summons,” he repeated slowly. “For CI?” He looked away. “I’m sorry, aren’t you Oral Browne’s granddaughter? Aren’t you…” He let his voice trail off as he pulled something from a pocket and glanced at a folded sheet of paper. “Elara Hawthorne?”

  “Yes…”

  He replaced the paper back in his pocket. “You should have received an official letter welcoming you to the Celestial Institute and asking for a response,” he said. “Did you not receive it?”

  “I…did.” I turned back around and continued to head back home.

  “And?” It only took him three strides with his long legs to come after me.

  “And what?” I asked, refusing to look at him. I had gawked enough already. I didn’t need to add to his already astronomically large ego more than I already had.

  “What’s your response?” he asked.

  “I’m still thinking about it,” I said.

  Without warning, his large hand gripped my shoulder, and he gave me a gentle but firm squeeze. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t think I heard you right. Did you say you’re still thinking about this? Do you realize how many people apply to be a Guardian and get turned down? Rarely do we seek replacements because we’ve never needed to until…”

  “Until what?” Maybe he would tell me more than Toru had.

  He cut his eyes to me, lips curving into a smirk. “You mean, you don’t know?” he asked. “With the way Toru dotes on you, I’d have thought he told you already. Or, is it because he wants to protect you that he’s refrained? Sees you as an innocent ingenue who isn’t capable of taking off her rose-colored glasses?”

  I flared my nostrils. I knew he was trying to get a rise out of me, and unfortunately, it was working.

  “Well, I’m happy to pop your cherry, princess,” he said. “The Guardian of the Sagittarius stone was murdered four days ago.”

  Toru had said as much but hadn’t told me much more than that.

  “And, unfortunately for us, it means we need a replacement for her,” he said.

  I turned again and began to head to my home. It was only a couple of blocks away, and the street I took home wasn’t terribly full. The foot traffic was minimal, which meant no one would see me walking with a Guardian.

  “Before anyone finds out,” he added.

  “Yes,” I said, not looking at him. He caught up to me again. “I read that.”

  “And, since your birthday falls in late November⁠—“

  “I know when my birthday is,” I snapped, though I hadn’t actually meant to. I shifted my bag to my other shoulder, suddenly exhausted. It had been particularly boring at the sanctum and I still had to run by the corner mart and grab something for dinner.

  “Then, you know you need to respond.”

  “Who are you anyway?” I asked. “You obviously know who I am but I don’t recall you ever introducing yourself.”

  “You can’t tell?” He stopped and dropped his gaze to his clothes before looking back at me again. “Perhaps I need to tell Veridien that your common sense is sorely lacking and we should disregard you for consideration entirely.”

  I shrugged. Right now, I didn’t care one way or the other if they wanted me or not. I still didn’t have any answers besides the fact that they recruited me to try out for this thing because of my birthday and because they knew I had magic. That I was my grandfather’s granddaughter probably didn’t hurt either.

  “My name is Orion Hartford,” he said. “And I’m the Guardian of the Leo Stone.”

  “Hmm.”

  I finally reached my apartment building and began to climb the steps to the third floor.

  “What are you doing?” I asked when I realized he followed me.

  “What does it look like?” He pinched the bridge of his long, straight nose. “I’m sorry, princess, but you’re not doing yourself any favors. The only thing going for you is those legs, and that’s because you’re wearing one of those plaid skirts.”

  “That didn’t answer my question,” I pointed out, trying not to breathe too heavily and show just how out of shape I was. Apparently, it didn’t matter that I did this every day, multiple times a day. By the time I reached the top, I was winded.

  “I’m here to collect your answer,” he said finally. He didn’t sound out of breath whatsoever which wasn’t fair. “As I said.”

  “Oh.” I thought back to my plan about peppering him with questions.

  My eyes inadvertently slid over to Toru’s door next to mine. I didn’t think he was home, but since I didn’t know his schedule as a sought-after Sentinel, I knew there was a chance he might stumble upon this conversation and give me his disapproving glare, something he rarely used on me anymore now that I was no longer a child. That was the last thing I wanted right now, not when I had a chance to learn everything I wanted to know. If the Leo Guardian would tell me, of course.

  “Want to come in?” I asked, unlocking my door.

  “Whoa, take me on a date first, why don’t you?” He brushed past me before I could even reply to that. “Just kidding. I’m pretty easy.”

  I watched as he swaggered inside and dropped on my couch. “How long have you had this thing?” he asked, poking the seat cushion. “It looks straight out of the Age of Shattered Skies.”

  “It probably was,” I said, dropping my book bag on a dining room chair and heading over to my fridge. I opened the door, expecting Chinese leftovers only to remember I had already eaten them.

  I frowned.

  I would have to settle for cereal.

  “Well?” he asked, leaning back against the couch and then kicking his feet on my coffee table. “What’s your –”

  “Hey, hey, hey,” I said, rushing over to where he sat and tapping his ankles with my palm. “Were you raised in a barn? Don’t put your dirty feet on my coffee table.”

  He gave the coffee table a long look. “I hate to break this to you, princess,” he said. “But even if I dropped ten pounds of dirt on this table, no one would be able to tell the difference between the before and after pictures.”

  I scowled and moved back to the fridge to grab the milk.

  “Well? Or are you thinking of a reason to keep me here longer?” He gave me a lascivious smile.

  “Please,” I said. I stood on my toes to grab the box of rice flakes from the top of my fridge. I really needed Toru to not put it so close to the middle of my fridge or I was going to need a step stool. “Look, I don’t know much.”

  “I’m not surprised,” he said. “Considering Toru’s your neighbor. Let me guess. You guys are close, right? He made some kind of deal with your grandfather on his deathbed or something? Taking care of you? Well, good news, princess. This choice has nothing to do with Hideo Toru and everything to do with you and what you want. Would you rather attend the most prestigious magical academy in all of Serredal or continue to wither away as a boring old scribe?”

  “Hey,” I said. “There’s nothing wrong with being a scribe.”

  “Not if you’re boring,” he said. “But you aren’t boring, princess.”

  “And how do you know?” The cereal tinkled as they hit the bowl.

  He smirked. “I just get this feeling from you,” he said. “So? Don’t keep me waiting. What’s your choice?”

  Six

  I couldn’t help it.

  I dragged the conversation out longer than I probably needed to.

  I went back to my cereal, pouring the milk carefully over the rice flakes. I had this thing about milk and cereal: there was a perfect ratio that I refused to mess up or else I ended up with soggy cereal, and even the thought of the distorted texture made me want to gag.

  “Ugh.” Orien grunted. “You’re one of those. And here I thought with Toru being your, what, big brother-type? I figured you’d be much more…rebellious.”

  I heaved a sigh, not bothering to hold back on account of being labeled as dramatic. “I don’t know what you’re getting at,” I said, grabbing the spoon ready for use and heading to the dining table.

  I plopped in a chair so I could keep him in view. Not that I didn’t trust him. This was just so I could keep an eye on his facial features and start to read him better. And maybe I stared at him because he had one of the most symmetrical faces I had seen.

  “You don’t know Hideo Toru has a reputation?” He flashed a wolfish grin. Lion’s grin was probably a better descriptor. “I’m sure he’s told you about his trips to Eclipse Abyss, hmm?”

  “Eclipse Abyss?” I asked in a flat voice. “Isn’t that some kind of fancy nightclub for Celestials?”

  “It’s not only for Celestials,” he said. “We’re not exclusive or anything. But the target market for that particular luxury club happens to be Celestials. Anyway. You’re focusing on the wrong thing. Don’t you want to know about Big Brother Hideo’s reputation there?”

  I shoved a bite of cereal in my mouth. I knew he was baiting me. I also knew Toru was a red-blooded man, and they had particular proclivities that I didn’t want to know about. We might have been married, but it wasn’t real. He owed me no loyalty. Even so, I still found myself considering falling into his obvious trap simply because I was curious. It was like he held these matches and I was the stupid moth, ready to set my body on fire just for a sliver of information that probably wasn’t true.

  “Why do you care so much about Toru?” I asked once I swallowed the food. “If you want me to put in a good word –”

  “Trust me, he isn’t my type,” he said. “And I doubt I’m his.” He arched a brow. “You really don’t want to know?”

  Of course I wanted to know.

  Even though Toru was my husband, I didn’t know much about his private life except he lived alone, he never brought home anyone, and he couldn’t cook to save his life which was why he always brought the two of us takeout all the time. And he always checked on me every night unless he was on some kind of mission.

  But just because I wanted to know didn’t mean I was going to ask. I didn’t want Orion to think he had anything over me.

  “It’s none of my business,” I finally said.

  He gave me a frown. “You’re a strange girl,” he said.

  I took another bite of cereal.

  “So many girls would want to know about Hideo Toru,” he continued. “Hell, even some of the Guardians. Did you know his brother was a Guardian? Did you know Toru was up to be Guardian for Aries but he refused? Did you know —“

  “What does this have anything to do with me?” I drawled.

  “Well.” He stopped. “I guess it doesn’t. Not really. I’m just saying…You really don’t care?”

  “I care more about the institute itself,” I said. “What would my duties be as a Guardian? What’s the institute like? What are the expectations? What happens if I don’t make it as Guardian? What if⁠—“

  “You have too many questions.”

  “Just because you don’t know the answers doesn’t mean I’m asking too many questions,” I said.

  He narrowed his eyes. “I never said I didn’t know the answers,” he said. “I just⁠—“

  “You were just trying to distract me from the answers,” I said. I took another bite of cereal. “What I don’t understand is why not start off with what I need to know first?”

  “Which is?” He arched a brow that had the audacity to be curious and annoyed at the same time.

  “How did she get murdered?”

  His eyes narrowed further. All playfulness had vanished from his person. Now, he truly did look like a lion, ready to pounce.

  “And how did you hear she was murdered?” he asked. “Let me guess — your little friend.”

  “I’m not going to answer your questions if you don’t answer mine,” I said.

  “So, now we’re playing games?”

  “I really don’t want to be,” I replied. “I want answers. You want a decision. I can’t make an informed decision without answers.” He opened his mouth, but I held up a hand. “And don’t tell me I should be honored and what a privilege it is to be considered and so many others would kill just to be considered. I do appreciate what’s being offered but I’m not just going to agree to it because it’s an honor.”

  He looked me up and down. “You really are Browne’s granddaughter, aren’t you?” he asked. “Gods, I thought this was going to be so easy, but no. I get the girl who can’t stop asking the questions.” He rolled his eyes. “I don’t get paid enough for this.” He glanced behind me. “You got something to eat? If I’m going to do a lot of talking, I don’t want to have to do this on an empty stomach.”

  “I have cereal,” I said.

  “Cere–what?”

  “You’ve never had cereal before?” I asked, my eyes practically popping out of their sockets.

  “Of course I’ve had cereal.” He stood up and prowled over to my kitchen. “I’m not an animal.”

  “Could’ve fooled me,” I muttered.

  “Anyway.” He opened my fridge like he owned the place, leaning forward in order to explore the little I did have to offer him. “Your fridge is empty.” He leaned back, narrowing his eyes at me like I had personally offended him.

  “I didn’t realize I was having company, and I already planned to eat cereal for dinner,” I said, lifting my shoulders.