“To what?”
“Everything. The way Merithra’s words had multiple meanings. The way Eltrien kept trying not to react. The way you…” He paused. “The way you talked about your past.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t realized he’d been paying such close attention to my grandmother story. “It wasn’t that interesting.”
“Your fiancé.” The words came out sharp, edged with something dark. “He hurt you.”
It wasn’t a question.
“It’s in the past.”
“Is it?” He stopped walking, turned to face me. His carved marks were pulsing with barely controlled violence. “Because you still flinch when someone mentions betrayal. You still expect people to find you ‘too much.’ You still—”
“Stop.” I held up a hand. “Just stop. You don’t get to psychoanalyze me. Not when you won’t even admit you have feelings beyond ‘mission parameters.’”
We stared at each other in the shifting corridor, tension crackling between us like lightning about to strike. His silver eyes were dark, his jaw tight, and those carved marks were pulsing with barely restrained emotion.
“You think I don’t have feelings?” His voice was low, dangerous. He took a step closer. “That’s the problem, Elle. I have too many of them.”
My breath caught.
He took another step, close enough now that I could feel the heat radiating from his marks, could see the corruption spreading through them in real-time like silver-black lightning. Close enough that if I reached out—
“You should go inside,” he said, his voice strained. “Get some rest beforetomorrow.”
“Kaelren—”
His hand lifted, trembling slightly, and for a heartbeat I thought he’d touch my face, tuck the loose strand of hair behind my ear. His fingers hovered near my cheek, so close I could feel the warmth of his skin.
Then he pulled back, jaw clenching. “If things were different—” He stopped himself, shaking his head. “Go, Elle. Before I do something we’ll both regret.”
“Like what?”
His eyes met mine, and the heat in them made my stomach flip. “Like finding out if wanting something impossible makes it any less dangerous.”
The words hung between us, heavy with implication.
“I should check on the others,” he said finally, already backing away. “Make sure everyone’s quarters are secure.”
“Right. Of course. Security.” The words came out more bitter than I intended.
He hesitated for just a moment, his eyes finding mine one last time. “Tomorrow, when the Hunt comes—stay close. Whatever happens, stay close.”
Then he was gone, and I was left standing in the shifting corridor alone, my cheek still tingling from the almost-touch, from the heat of his hand that had gotten so close.
I shook my head and walked back into my room, and changed out of the starlight dress and into something more comfortable—soft pants and a tunic that the Autumn Court had provided, made from fabric that felt like clouds. I was just settling into the impossible bed when there was another knock at my door.
“Seriously?” I muttered. “What now?”
“Maybe it’s Kaelren coming back to brood attractively in your doorway,” Peeble suggested from the nightstand where they’d been investigating a candle that burned with frozen fire.
I opened the door.
Thessaly stood there, wearing something that could generously be calleda nightgown if nightgowns were made of shadow and suggestion.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I said before I could stop myself.
“Can’t sleep either?” she asked, not waiting for an invitation to enter.
