‘Bertrand let me come up here, by myself. To say goodbye.’
It’s as though the blood drains from my body. ‘Goodbye?’
‘Before he left, your father told me. He’s sending me back to Mistral.’
I sit up. ‘He can’t! I won’t let him!’
‘Emelia.’ Kyle takes my hand, his fingers playing with mine.
‘I know.’ Of course I do. I have no say here. Sorrow wells, deep and endless, at my weakness. ‘Then let’s do it. Let’s go now. I-I can’t lose you.’
He brings my hand to his lips. His silver eyes are so soft, his touch so gentle. ‘I can’t lose you, either.’ He sits up, sliding closer to me. ‘I never imagined, never dreamed I’d work somewhere like this, meet someone like you. Now that I have, well…’ He pauses. ‘I love you, Emelia.’
The world seems to stop, everything crystallising into one perfect moment of bliss. ‘I love you, too.’ The words tumble out, feeling strange, as though someone else is saying them. But it’s my heart beating like a bird’s wings, my lips he’s kissing. The bars of my cage expand, my world growing larger.
Raven no more. Instead a bird set free.
‘It’s not going to be easy,’ he says, a few minutes later. ‘And it will be dangerous.’
‘You’ll keep me safe. I trust you.’
His head tilts to one side and he looks briefly sad, his silver eyes turning down. ‘Are you sure you’re ready to live a human life? You have more privilege here than you know.’ He brushes my lips with his to sweeten the words.
‘Can you help me do it?’ I counter.
He smiles. ‘For you, anything.’
‘I love you,’ I say again. I feel as though I could say it forever, over and over, and it still won’t be enough to tell him how I feel.
‘So,’ he says, between kisses, ‘how do you propose we get out of here? Bertrand won’t let me stay much longer, but I was thinking you could meet me and?—’
‘Or,’ I say, sliding from his embrace, from the bed. ‘We could use this.’ I walk over to the fireplace and press the carved leaf. The panel slides open.
Kyle’s mouth drops open. ‘Another passageway?’
‘Yes. They’re all connected. I can get to the library from here, then down to the basement.’
‘And we can get out that way?’
‘Well.’ This is the bit of the plan I’m not sure about. ‘I think there’s another passageway, leading outside. Even if it doesn’t, we could go from the basement. So I thought maybe?—’
‘—we could use it to leave?’ He’s smiling.
I nod. ‘What do you think?’
‘I think you’re amazing.’ He comes to me, picking me up and swinging me around. ‘But we have to go now. We need an hour to reach the Safe Zone, especially with me like this. And dawn’s coming.’
I leave his arms and pick up my bag. The idea of seeing the world, of being with Kyle, stretches out before me, unrolling like some wonderful carpet, lit with sunlight and colour. And possibility. I shrug on my jacket, then reach for my phone.
‘Leave it,’ says Kyle. ‘They can track you if you have it. We’ll get you a new one.’
I hesitate. Then I put it down, next to my necklace. ‘I’m ready when you are.’
A smile curves across his face. ‘Let’s go, Raven girl.’ He holds out his hand.
I take it, stepping into the passage. I look back at my room, at the neatly made bed, the velvet and silver and wood, the soft linen and luxury.
Then the panel closes, and I’m alone with Kyle in the dark.
