“You? Of course not,” Mar retorts.
Zadyn and I are the last to make our way to dinner. I slip the locket over my head, cursing when the chain snags on my hair.
“Here.” He pauses in the doorway to help untangle me.
“Nice job with the spell,” he murmurs, his voice low. He keeps his eyes on the knot as he patiently works to unravel it. “You’re a natural.”
Heat races to my cheeks at the compliment. He frees me and glances up, his hands still in my hair. I clutch the grimoire against my chest, leaning back against the door frame, biting my lip like a fucking schoolgirl with a crush. The way he drags his eyes over me makes my breath hitch. Then he gives my hair a tug and walks off, chuckling after our friends.
I sag against the door, all the air exiting my body.
I am so fucked.
53
ZADYN
It’s been nearly a week since we arrived back in Hyrax, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Kylian Triori gave Serena a priceless heirloom that’s been in his family since Garron Barlowe Triori.
And that heirloom is a fuckingstar.
And that fucking star could be the key to closing the portal.
He’s either an idiot or severely underestimates Serena’s intelligence.
We’ve been strategizing and tearing apart the library for any information to back our suspicions. Eaton even wrote to his scholar friends with private libraries dedicated to ancient texts. But so far we’ve had no luck. Knowing where the star is definitely helps, but apprehending it seems like an impossible task.
It’s twilight when Serena and I head out to the forest to hunt for Furi. The final echoes of sunlight bear down on her hair, glinting off the stream of her braid through the gaps between trees. I stand a few feet back, absentmindedly admiring the way those leather pants turn her curves decadent.
“You know, it’s really hard to concentrate with you staring at me like that,” Serena murmurs, pulling her elbow back. She lets the arrowfly, and it sticks in a nearby tree, missing the rabbit crouched in the distance. She heaves a loud groan.
I chuckle, taking a step toward her.
“Oh, I’m sorry”—I place a hand to my heart—“am I making you nervous?”
“No,” she lies, loading another arrow. She lifts the bow and angles it toward the rabbit again.
“What about now?” I stop behind her, my chest brushing her back. I can feel her breathing—feel the uptick in her heartbeat.
“No.”
I slide one hand over her glove and place the other on her elbow, lifting it higher so that her thumb is level with her lips.
“There,” I murmur, my cheek skimming her hair. “Now let go.”
The rabbit is dead before it has time to squeak.
“Very good.” We stand there for a moment, barely touching, before I drag myself away.
“Didn’t you know you were an archer too.”
“I’m not. I’ve just got what some would call animal instincts.” I flash her a wide grin as I plop down on a tree stump.
“Sexy,” she teases, coaxing a laugh from me.
“It comes with being a shifter.”
“Right, you’ve got those super special senses.”
