Ashton held out a hand.
The simple gesture made the boy flinch.
He handed over the case without a word.
Ashton picked it up and passed it to Yvaine.
She took it and slid it into her bag.
‘You good?’ Ashton asked her.
He turned back to me, held out his hand.
We walked out together, not looking back.
The second we were past the revolving door, Cassian came up, wagging an invisible tail and beaming at Yvaine.
I asked Ashton, ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I came to see you.’ Then he added in a lower voice, ‘The bed feels empty without you in it.’
‘Oh.’ My heart fluttered a little. ‘Okay, so, where you headed now?’
He looked at me like I was about to abandon him. ‘I’m coming with you, of course.’
‘But we’re going hiking, and you have work.’
I knew when I was beat, so I just shrugged.
Cassian jumped in. ‘Count me in. I can drive.’
Ashton pointed at an SUV idling at the kerb. ‘That’s my car.’
The sky hung low and heavy, a dull grey blanket threatening rain.
Yvaine and I settled into the backseat, Ashton playing chauffeur.
I glanced sideways at Yvaine and leaned in quietly. ‘Looks like he’s following us. What do you think?’
Cassian was tailing us in his Rolls-Royce.
Yvaine snorted, her eyes flicking to the rear window. ‘I think nothing. If I fell for his crap again, I’d be daft.’
Just as we neared our destination, Ashton’s phone buzzed.
He tapped it, switching on the speaker.
‘Mr Laurent.’ I recognised Carter Kairo’s obsequious voice. ‘Bruce Zed is related to the Happy family. A cousin of some sort. He used his position to issue them VIP cards. They’ve been using those to stay at the hotel for free.’
The silence from Ashton’s end must have made the manager uneasy.
‘I’ve revoked the VIP cards and fired Bruce,’ he continued, stammering a little. ‘This won’t happen again.’
‘How did something like that even happen in my hotel in the first place?’ Ashton said. ‘Were you sleeping on the job?’
The manager started grovelling, something about oversight, new protocols, tighter HR policies...
His voice blurred after the first thirty seconds.
Ashton cut him off. ‘Send me the full corrective plan. The yearly review’s coming. Whether you’re the manager or the doorman next year depends on whether you actually fix it.’
‘Yes, of course! I’ll send it within the hour!’
Yvaine snapped her fingers. ‘I knew it! No wonder they acted like they owned the place.’
We didn’t have time to keep complaining.
Ashton had already pulled into a gravel lot surrounded by pine trees and faded wooden signs.
He killed the engine. ‘We’re here.’
I pushed the door open and swung my backpack over one shoulder.
We’d barely stepped onto the trailhead when I spotted Cassian following us behind like an unshakeable tail.
‘Just ignore him,’ Yvaine muttered between gritted teeth.
Skyveil Trail had two paths.
One was steep, narrow, covered in loose gravel.
The other had proper paving, wooden benches every hundred metres, and vendor stalls selling bottled water, fried dough, and disposable ponchos.
Yvaine and I took the easy route.
She made me stop at every overlook, snapping at least fifteen photos before moving on.
The mist covered most of the view, but the haze gave the shots a weirdly clean, washed-out look that somehow worked.
Behind us, Cassian and Ashton dragged along a good thirty feet back.
The rain from the night before had turned the steps slick.
People moved slowly, gripping the handrails.
Yvaine kept stopping to peer into bushes or poke at wildflowers.
I kept having to catch up after getting stuck behind tourists in plastic ponchos.
According to her schedule, we were meant to hit the summit at noon.
My thighs ached and my trainers were damp.
I slapped the backs of my legs. ‘Finally.’
The clouds cleared the second we reached the top.
The sky shifted from dull grey to a glare-bright blue.
The sun hammered straight down, bouncing off the pale stone beneath our feet.
A shout cut through the wind. ‘Yvie!’ Find the newest release on novelꜰire.net
Cade sprinted straight at Yvaine.
He stopped a breath away, sweaty and panting. ‘I made it.’
Yvaine blinked at him. ‘What the hell are you doing here? You’ve got a torn ligament. You’re meant to be in bed.’
Cade leaned against her shoulder, grinning like a Labrador. ‘It doesn’t hurt much if you hold me. I just wanted to be here. You mad?’
She looked both exasperated and amused. ‘You’re already here. What am I supposed to do, throw you back down the mountain?’
I glanced back at Cassian, who stood rooted to the spot.
Finally, the shock over, he moved.
I elbowed Yvaine. ‘Need me to get rid of him?’
She glanced at Cassian, striding fast up the path. ‘No, I’ll... I’ll handle him.’
I moved away from the love triangle and rejoined Ashton. ‘Come on, let’s check out the bridge.’
A short walk later, we stopped at Lover’s Span, a wrought-iron walkway stretched across a narrow gorge.
Every inch of its railings, from the thick handrails to the delicate filigree of the supports, was encrusted with thousands of padlocks.
They gleamed in the misty sunlight.
I looked around, found a weathered stall, bought a pair of small, heart-shaped locks.
Ashton asked after I borrowed a marker from the stall owner, ‘What was your plan if I hadn’t come?’
‘Hmm?’ I looked up. ‘What?’
‘If I hadn’t come here with you, would you have bought two locks as well?’ His eyes bore into mine.