I flipped open the book, and got lost in the pages until a splash cut through my reading.
My eyes shot up to find Hatter had returned. And he was in his undies, bathing in the stream.
My breath hitched in my throat.Damn, boy . . .
Clothed, Hatter was easy on the eyes, but when the shirt and pants came off—oh buddy.
He bent to wash his long, black hair in the stream, and my eyes trailed over his back, which rippled with coiled muscles, all the way down to the tight balls of asscheek, which, now that his underwear was wet, and he was bent over, werehighlyvisible.
My mouth went dry as I thought about what might be on the other side of that peach.
Old gods, I know I haven’t spoken to you much—okay, ever—but if you’re listening now, pleeeease make Hatter turn around.
“Creeping much?” a high-pitched voice whispered in my ear.
I let out a yelp and jerked to the side.
Hatter twisted at my noise, and his eyes widened. “Sorry. I—I didn’t know you were awake,” he bumbled, clearly embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to be inappropriate, princess—err—Alice. I’ll get dressed.”
“Uh, it’s fine.” I felt my cheeks warm. “I actually just woke up from a nap. Gonna start . . . reading now!” I picked up the book and waved it in the air.
Dee, who was now sitting on my shoulder, chuckled. “Yeah, reading somebody language.” She held out her fist so that I could bump it and blow it up.
These pixies definitely did not understand the concept of a fist bump.
“No way! Get away from me,” I hissed and batted her away.
The pixie soared off, giggling as she disappeared through the trees.
I stuck my nose in the book, where it determinedly stayed as Hatter emerged from the stream.
“Find anything good in there?” His voice was higher than normal as he approached.
“If by good you mean strangely intriguing, yes.”
He sat across from me and wrapped his arms around his thick legs. “What caught your eye?”
I’d devoured ten pages of the book already, and so far, everything I’d read had been astounding.Not only that, it explained so much about my life.
“You were right. I’m pretty sure I’m aether-blessed.”
Hatter’s lips curled up. “I like hearing you say that first part.”
“Don’t get used to it.” I handed him the book, open to the page I’d been reading. “Second paragraph on the right page. Read it.”
“‘The aether is not only a powerful force that an aether-blessed can manipulate, it protects the fae too. Particularly in the case of trauma, mental or physical, the aether might—’” He paused and his eyes lifted to meet mine. They were filled with shock.
“Keep reading.”
“ ‘The aether might muffle or encase the fae’s recollection of the distressing period. When this happens, the fae’s aether magic—the magic given by the old gods—is often locked up tight with their memories and unusable. This occurrence is rare, but has mostly been observed in aether-blessed children’ . . .”
“Sound familiar?”
Hatter looked up from the book to lock eyes with me. “Your memory loss is the aether’s way of protecting you.”
“Exactly.”
Tears pricked my eyes, and I was relieved when Hatter resumed scanning the book so I could wipe them away without his notice.
