“I do.” I leaned forward, and peered back at the street behind us now, my eyes narrowed. “But it doesn’t feel like akadim.”
Rhyan pulled me back into the shadows with him. “They were ordered not to come into the town,” he said. “By—” He took a deep breath. “By me, but first by Morgana. I don’t think they’d disobey her—especially if they still have their collars.”
“So we should be safe here?” I asked.
“As safe as we ever are,” Rhyan said, pressing his forehead against mine.
I almost laughed. “So not safe at all.”
He kissed me. “Let’s get inside.”
Holding hands, we carefully stepped back onto the street and then made the final sprint in the darkness to the inn. Luckily, no one was at the front desk as I pulled Rhyan into the foyer. Though in the dark, they weren’t likely to see much difference between Rhyan and Auriel, aside from hair color. I was, however, hoping to avoid questions about his lack of shoes.
Quickly, my fingers tightening around his, I led him to the stairwell that Auriel and I had used multiple times to get up to our room. And then at last, I unlocked the door, and pulled Rhyan across the threshold, closing every lock and latch behind him.
I reached for my stave, quickly uttering a spell for light, bringing to life all three of the torches embedded in the walls. I set the wards, reinforcing them and watched as Rhyan peered through and then locked each window. I slid a table against the door as an extra measure of safety. The room finally secured, I stopped, and found myself face-to-face in the light with Rhyan.With Rhyan.
His eyes watered as he looked around, slowly taking everything in. The two unmade beds, the leather satchel full of men’s clothing. A spare soturion cloak. And then the items that were clearly mine.
“So Auriel,” he said, his voice heavy. “He was here with you.”
“He um, yes,” I said, suddenly feeling awkward. “He appeared the night I—the night I lost you.” My voice broke.
“I know,” he said. “On the beach.”
“How did you—?” I asked. “Wait—back in the hills— when I mentioned the inn here, you said you knew about it—I thought you were just talking about the town, and you’d seen the inn. But did you—did you already know I was staying here?”
“Before tonight?” he asked. “No. When I was still … still trapped in that body. But …” He sighed. “There was a moment when Auriel and I—we connected as I was changing. As I was coming back to you, and he was leaving. It was quick. No more than a few seconds, if that. But,” he swallowed. “His memories—are mine. He’s my past, even if the timeline has gotten somewhat,” he shrugged, “loopy. So a lot of what happened with you two, things he did, things he thought, or saw, it’s almost like they’re becoming my memories. They’re trickling into my mind, even now.”
I remembered Auriel telling me that Rhyan had all of his memories, he remembered his life as Auriel. But Auriel didn’t have Rhyan’s. Not yet. Because Rhyan was his future.
But then that meant—Gods.
I met Rhyan’s eyes, my heart pounding. “Everything that happened between us?” I asked.
Rhyan nodded slowly, his mouth tight.
“So that includes things like—?”Don’t, Auriel. Just kiss me.
My cheeks heated and my stomach roiled. “Rhyan?”
His eyes flicked to the bed. To my bed. To the very spot where Auriel had laid me down, my legs spread beneath him, our mouths wild and frenzied as they came together.
“Everything,” he said, his voice hoarse, “everything that was between you.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. “I was going to tell you about that. I didn’t think—I mean, of course I wanted to tell you what happened, and what it meant to me— but we just only—me and you—” Fuck. I didn’t think I’d be having this conversation less than an hour after I got him back.
“Lyr,” he said, crossing the distance between us. “Hey, look at me.” He cupped my jaw, forcing my gaze to meet his. Green eyes. Emerald green. Rhyan’s eyes. I could see now how his gaze connected to Auriel’s, how the light inside them linked theirsouls together, how Auriel almost seemed to be peeking back out, and yet, the look he was giving me now was all him. All Rhyan.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m sorry. I felt like I was breaking and I was missing you—and I’d just escaped the cave and?—”
He shook his head. “Hey, partner. You didn’t do anything wrong. I was dead. Okay? And you went through hell. You have nothing to apologize for. Nothing. For one moment that happened between you and my soul? A moment between you and the God I used to be?” He exhaled sharply. “It’s not like it’s the first time you’ve kissed him.”
“It was when I was in this body!”
“Asherah,” he said. “It’s okay.”
I frowned, unsure if Rhyan meant I’d kissed Auriel as Asherah, or if he was referring to the part of me that was her.
