“Yes, but they haven’t fully passed on. They eat and sleep just like us, and their bodies are solid, despite their transparency.”
My sister frowns in distaste.
A change in subject is definitely in order. “The citadel houses thousands of doors leading to other realms. I’ve seen so much: cities and parks and theaters and mountains. One door took me to a secluded cove with all these tidal pools. I’d never seen anything like it.”
Slowly, Elora turns, peering at me with an intensity I would expect from Boreas. I cross my arms over my stomach, suddenly uncomfortable. “What?”
“You look happy.”
I’m not sure how to respond to that. I feel lighter, certainly. But happy? I’m so unused to the sensation I suppose I never considered it.
“He treats you well?” she asks quietly. At my withering glare, Elora explains, “I would ask this of any man you marry.”
He did lock me in the dungeon. Even if that was before… well, everything.
But Elora doesn’t need to know that.
“He does,” I assure her.
“Good. Otherwise I might have to hurt him.” A twinkling smirk. “Your husband looks happy, too,” she adds. “Though not at the moment.”
I look to where she gestures. Boreas has been stopped near one of the food tables, drinks in hand, his expression stamped into one of polite interest as a man speaks to him about something he most likelycares nothing about. I snort. “I imagine he needs saving. Why don’t you and Shaw take a look around. I’ll come find you when I’m done.”
Once they wander off, I turn, accidentally ramming into someone. “I’m sor—”
Disbelief hits me like a slap. For the face peering at me from beneath the hood of a green cloak is familiar. “Zephyrus? What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same question,” he says in an odd tone. It lacks the pleasant warmth I’ve come to expect from him. His green eyes glitter, pale and distant.
“I’m not sure I understand.” I watch him with mounting unease. “I live here.”
Zephyrus sighs, a sound of utter disappointment that manages to deflate me. “Why didn’t you respond to my note?”
The note I’ve been hoarding in my pocket all this time. The note I stare at every night before bed, waging an internal battle I’m not sure I can win. “I’ve been busy.”
“Busy. I see.”
I glance at Boreas from the corner of my eye. He remains captive in conversation, but if he discovers Zephyrus here, I’m afraid he’ll kill him.
“You’re squandering your chance, Wren. You might not get another.”
Right. To kill my husband. “Things change.”
A few couples twirl around us, forcing Zephyrus and I into closer proximity. Beneath the cowl of his hood, his mouth curls with displeasure. “All this time, I’ve been trying to help you. I risked a lot sneaking into Sleep’s cave—”
“So did I.”
He ignores that. “I’ve been working on this tonic for weeks. And now you’re saying you don’t want it? That’s quite selfish of you, Wren.”
The word bristles in me.Selfish.It’s not true. I know in my heart it’s not. “Boreas isn’t who you think he is. He isn’t vindictive.” He’s actually rather sweet. Distant, yes, and most definitely awkward, but I’ve warmed toward him in ways I could have never imagined. To think I needed todrink my way through our first dinner together; the memory brings a smile to my face.
“Oh, Wren. Oh, no.” The West Wind shakes his head, a hand pressed to his brow. “You’ve fallen in love with him.”
That wrenches my spine straight. “No!” I cry, startling myself. “I mean…”DoI love him? Is that even possible? “He’s my husband. I care for him, yes. But—” Love? I look away. “Even if I went through with the plan, even if I returned to Edgewood, I don’t think I would be welcome there anymore. My sister was so cold toward me when I visited. We’re trying to move past that, but she has a family now. I would just get in the way.”
“Have you ever considered why she was so cold toward you? As long as you are connected to this place, your sister and the people of Edgewood will never see you as one of their own.”
Zephyrus steps closer, and the urge to end this conversation, to find shelter in Boreas’ embrace, vibrates through my limbs. The Bringer of Spring is not a threat. I know this. So why do I feel as though something between us has changed?
