My face warmed at the sudden realization that I did not know what he wore as he swam, if anything.
Without hesitation, he rose out of the water. The liquid ran down his neck. His shoulders. Chest. Stomach. Waist. I looked away. Heat rushed my face.
Erik chuckled softly, though he said nothing as clothing rustled off to the side. A moment later, he appeared beside me, thebottom half thankfully covered while his chest and back were left exposed. Droplets of water fell from his hair, gliding over the smooth skin of his neck. His dark gaze found mine, and it nearly stole my breath. He was striking. There was no other word to describe him. Again, my face flushed, and I turned, looking out over the water while he took a seat beside me.
“This is my favorite place,” he said after a while.
“It is beautiful and incredibly peaceful,” I commented.
“When I need to get away and clear my head, I often find myself coming here,” he murmured, shifting his weight and leaning forward. The movement gave me a full view of his back. My heart sank at the sight.
Angry scars, which were now smooth, covered his otherwise flawless skin. They were everywhere, from shoulders to lower back. What pain it must have been to endure such a thing, even for a Lysian. I couldn’t look away from them. Pain and anger settled in a pit in my stomach.
I reached for the scars as if compelled, hypnotized by the markings.
Erik’s head turned ever so slightly, and I knew he tracked my movement. When my hand hovered over his back and he did not stop me, I touched one of the countless markings. He flinched when my finger tips brushed against his skin, and a pang of sadness stirred within me. Everything could have been prevented if only I had been stronger. If only I had taken control from Fraser long ago.
I traced a scar, following its marking across and down his back. His muscles tensed beneath my touch.
“Ariana.” My name was a breath on his tongue.
My fingertips moved along his skin, feeling the smooth, angry markings he would carry for the rest of his life. A tremble moved through him.
Suddenly, Erik turned at the waist, his hand grabbing my wrist out of the air.
“I’m sorry . . .” I whispered, my voice barely audible, my heart aching with the pain he must have endured.For what was done to you.“I’m sorry for not stopping this from happening.”
Erik’s grip on my wrist tightened for a moment before easing. A wrinkle formed between his brows as he viewed me. “You could not have stopped it,” he said, but he was wrong. I could have if only I was not afraid to stand up to Fraser.
He then clarified, “Idid not want you to stop it.” His thumb moved against my wrist, stroking the skin there twice before finally releasing me.
“Why?” My eyes met with his. “If you believed that we worked with the Sidhe and if they have taken Lysians against their will, then that would have been a break of the treaty. You didn’t need to put yourself through that.”
A cunning smile caused his features to darken. “The treaty was burned long ago, its ashes scattered over the land, so we cannot confirm the exact wording of that ancient promise. Does it take one break for the entire thing to crumble? Or was every race locked into an individual promise to the others? I needed to be certain that no matter what, the wrath of the Spirit would not come down on what’s mine.”
“You think this is what the Spirit wished for when the treaty was made? For us to try and cruelly trick one another into the breaking of it?”
“Someone unworthy of such an outcome would never have been able to be tricked so easily.” His lip turned up with a sad smile. “Youwould not have been tricked into breaking the treaty.” Sapphire eyes held my gaze as his words settled over me.
Goosebumps ran across my skin, and I was not sure how to respond.
“We better head back,” he said finally, the conversation seemingly over as he stood up from the stone.
The trip to the lake had been roughly a two-hour walk with Kole. Erik and I were about one hour in on our way back when without warning, he grabbed me under the arm, stopping me cold. Erik’s hold was nearly painful. For the first time, it appeared his attention was everywhere but me.
Always I felt the overwhelming pressure of his notice. It was enough to steal the breath from my lungs. There were days I desperately wished for his gaze to not land on me. Yet now, at that moment, with his concentration honed on everything around us, my pulse spiked. Something startled Erik, and in turn, I felt a terrible dread wash over me.
Nothing ever had alarmed him before.Nothing.
His gaze darted around as he scanned the surrounding area. He searched for something. His jaw clenched when his eyes finally settled in a particular direction of the forest.
Erik grabbed me roughly, moving me till I stood with a tree solidly behind me. Finding myself too dumbfounded to say a thing, I remained silent. Erik then stepped in front of me, baring his teeth.
“Do not speak and do not move.” His words were a command directed at me.
I would have bristled if fear had not wormed its way into my stomach. Whatever placed the Lysian King on edge could not have been good.
A silence so deep settled over the forest that the loudest noise was the sound of my breathing. It felt as though we were suspended in that impossible moment for a long time, frozen except for my heart, which drummed against my ribs.
