How do I tell him how I feel without scaring him away?
We’ve known eachother for such a small amount of time, and yet I know what my soul yearns for. To the core of my being, I truly will not settle for anything less.
So I don’t know that I can tell him.
Not yet, at least.
Keane watches me from the end of the balcony, his brown eyes searching my gaze with intensity. He must see something in my face that makes him take a hard step forward, and then another, because he’s crossing the space between us so quickly that I gasp in surprise.
“I will have you…” he states, his hand reaching for the back of my neck again as he looks at me with a seriousness I’ve never seen before.
“You will,” I nod.
It’s inevitable.
“I will have you, Alexis,” he repeats, “and then I will make you mine.”
CHAPTER X
FIRE, ICE AND ASH
Cal is the one yawning between the two of us as we stretch in his room at dawn. I was awoken earlier by Alanna entering our shared room, and if what I suspect about the two is correct, then Cal is running on no sleep at all.
“Late night?” I ask with a grin.
He groans and shakes his head, not giving me an answer.
I laugh and move my braided hair more prominently to the side of my neck, hiding the coloring under my ear. I’m not too fond of the side hairstyle but it’s doing a good job to cover my own late night endeavors.
A part of me suspects that Keane’s been bruising me purposely these last two nights, as if he’s leaving his sensual claim on my skin as a reminder of exactly what his lips can do. Not that I can or ever will forget. The way that man handles my body is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, and I can’t even say I’m opposed to him leaving his mark as a reminder.
“You laugh now,” Cal’s eyes narrow on mine, “but it’s been days since our training in Fumagalli. You will be sore after this.”
“I welcome it,” I grin.
Cal grins as well and bounds forward, his fist aiming for my face as I quickly move out of the way. We run through the motions of hand to hand until his word is kept, and by the time I return to my room my body is aching tenfold.
Golem nods in greeting when I shut the door behind me.
Alanna’s still sleeping in her bed across the way, so I decide to pack everything now and just leave it with her, not knowing when or if we’ll leave right after my search concludes.
I get started on laying out my outfit for the day and ignore the slow creep of anxiety that settles in my gut. It’s laced with a healthy dose of anticipation, because for the first time in two years, I know that I’ll be finding what I’m looking for. The knowledge is both exciting to think of yet nerve racking at the same time, and while I’m still nervous of the things I may stumble upon in the library, I’m both anxious and eager of the unknown events that are sure to follow. Golem is expecting something big to happen after I find the book, something important, and knowing that sends a small thrill through the whole of my being.
I look down to see that new anticipation making my hands shake as I pack. It’s an involuntary reaction and one that makes me frown, but the next thing I see is Golem walking up beside me, his own hands reaching out to mine and grasping them softly.
“Thank you,” I lean against him and let my head fall on his shoulder.
My magical friend squeezes my hands again and then bends down to help, a relaxing presence if I ever did need one.
Once packed, I make my way to the bathing chamber and throw cool water over my face. I change into a new shirt, my gold satin long sleeve with the cut down the middle that Keane liked in Fumagalli, and tuck it into my tan riding pants. I tug on my brown leather boots and fiddle with the gold rings on my pointer fingers before fastening the black and gold Shadow Oak earrings to match the rest of the ensemble. I re-braid my hair and bring the twists tight around my ear before letting it fall again to the side of my neck.
Golem is waiting for me at the edge of the bed when I return to the main room. He’s holding his clay jar in his hands for me, the top and bottom in separate pieces as I walk towards him with a shake my head.
“Not until the last moment.”
He nods, watching me organize my belongings once more before I move to the small table in the corner of the room. I grab the pen and paper resting there and scribble note to Alanna, leaving it on top of my travel packs for her to see:
Please visit Millie while I’m gone.
