A new smile pulled at my lips, and I did not conceal it. “Come, I’ll show you to your rooms.” They followed as I led them through the building. Wooden floors creaked under our feet, while stone walls stretched before us with nooks carved out for candles to provide light.
It felt odd, the change, going from the Lysians leading me to the opposite.
“Do you stay in this building as well?” Erik asked casually as I escorted them up the stairs and down the hall.
“Yes. If you need to find me, then Kole can probably help you,” I stated. Kole had been the one who gathered me when my world came to a screeching halt due to the Lysian with fire dancing over his fingertips. The same Lysian I now welcomed into my home. What a bizarre turn of events.
“If you’re here somewhere, then I will find you,” Erik said casually, though it sounded as if it were a promise. My face flushed.
I delivered them to their rooms, one hall off from my own. “Are either of you hungry?”
“Not really,” Kole answered. Erik didn’t disagree.
“I need to head to a meeting, so you both are free to explore your rooms, bathe, and rest.”
“We aren’t tired and would love to join you.” Erik held my stare.
I refused to back down. My gaze narrowed. “I imagine it’s difficult for you to do what you are told instead of doing whatever you wish. But you are a guest inmyhome. As such, you will have to learn to back down when you don’t get what you want.”
He chortled. “I still insist we join. Especially if this meeting is about the Sidhe.”
“No.” It did not matter what the meeting was about. This was my home. I did not need Lysian shadows following me everywhere. Though they were guests, they werenotin control here.
Kole rubbed the back of his neck. “May I be excused from this little spat?”
Erik dipped his chin in agreement and Kole disappeared into his room. The challenge in Erik’s gaze did not waver. Did not budge.
“Listen. You must stay for now, but I will make you a deal: after this meeting ends, there’s somewhere I would like to go. It’s a place important to me. Few have ever been there. If you behave now, then I will take you with me when I go.”
The male stared at me, pondering this. As if he had any choice. Begrudgingly, he agreed, and I left the Lysians in their rooms while I went to prepare for my looming departure.
44
ARIANA
When I arrived to gather Erik later in the day, he opened the door without my having to knock. He was dressed in clean clothing, and his brown hair was pushed back out of his eyes, still wet from bathing.
“How did you know it was me?” I asked curiously.
“Your steps.” His lips twitched up as he followed me into the hallway.
“You remember the sound of my movements?”
“I remember a lot of things.” He held my gaze. Had he decided a path he finally wanted to take or was he still pulled in various directions? I tried to ignore the way my pulse spiked, peeling my eyes from him to focus on where we were going.
He kept pace beside me, cautiously observing the surroundings. Neither of us spoke as we passed beyond the city wall. By the time we arrived where I was bringing him, the sun had nearly set.
I took Erik to someplace meaningful, wanting him to see it. Wishing him to understand an intimate part of myself. A strange vulnerability came with inviting him to join me that I nearly stopped and took him back home. However, my feet continuedforward, walking past the insecurities, until we finally made it to our destination, and there was no going back.
“A tree house?” Erik asked, looking up at it before turning to view the field towards the single tree in the distance with a scorched ring around it. His lips curved up ever so slightly.
“Amused by a memory?” I asked, looking from that distant tree to him.
“Very.” He smiled fully, exposing those sharp teeth. I used to find them repellant, though they no longer bothered me. They were simply a part of him. If anything, they intrigued me.
“Let’s go.” I nodded towards the wooden ladder. Taking hold of the withered wood, smoothed by age and use, I lifted myself, climbing to the top.
It was exactly as I remembered. Parts of the floorboard were broken, making the path precarious, so I needed to watch my step to make it through the space.
