Their hands collided with aggression and shock hit her like lightning, sharp and bright and electric. Magic sparked wheretheir skin touched, gold and amber light flaring between them. Her lioness roared, recognizing something.
Dante went still, his eyes bleeding to full lion gold. "Maeve?—"
She jerked back, breaking contact. The light died but the heat remained, burning under her skin like fever.
"Don't," she whispered. "Don't say it."
"I wasn't going to say anything."
"Liar."
His mouth curved, but there was no humor in it. "Yeah. Maybe."
They stood there in the snow, three feet apart and a decade of hurt between them, while her hand still tingled from where his skin had touched hers.
While her lioness paced and snarled and wanted.
While the Veil hummed overhead, pleased with itself.
"The keg," Maeve managed.
"Right." Dante grabbed the handle she'd released, lifting like it weighed nothing. "Storage shed?"
"Yeah."
She followed him inside, watching him set the keg with the others. Watching the way firelight from the tavern caught in his golden hair. Watching him turn to face her with those amber eyes that saw too much.
"This changes nothing," she said.
"Didn't think it would."
"Good."
"Good."
They stared at each other, the air thick with unspoken things. Then Dante moved past her, close enough that she caught his scent again, and headed back toward the tavern.
"See you around, Cub."
Maeve stood in the storage shed, hand still tingling, lioness still prowling.
And cursed the Veil for having a sense of humor.
8
DANTE
Dante stood outside the Silver Fang as dusk settled over Hollow Oak, second-guessing himself for the hundredth time that day.
He shouldn't have told her about the sabotage. Varric's orders had been clear. Discrete. Hush-hush. Keep Maeve in the dark until there was proof solid enough to take to the Council.
But then she'd looked at him with those gold eyes, demanding answers, and his mouth had opened before his brain could stop it. At least he hadn't mentioned Hector. Hadn't told her their uncle was behind it all, building a case to strip her of everything she'd built.
That would've sent her hunting.
So he'd given her just enough truth to explain his presence. Enough to make her tolerate him lurking around her deliveries.
Just enough to make him feel like he was lying to her all over again.
