“I apologize for not making things better understood to begin with. And for making you doubt that I believe you operate with the best interests of our group,” Snow started the moment the door closed behindEslar.
“You know—” a small smile pulled at the corners of her lips, “—your moods can really give a girlwhiplash.”
His brow furrowedslightly.
“Hot and cold, distant and close.” Jo hadn’t intended to be intimidating, but Snow’s expression told her that she was succeeding in it anyway. People had always said she could channel her mother. For a Hispanic woman of 5’1” with a heart-shaped face and warm smile, Jo’s mother could be downright terrifying when she hadla chanclain hand. “Level with me, since it’s just us here: who are you? The guy who takes care to explain the situation and wipe the tears from my face, or the guy who won’t even give me the time of day to redeemmyself?”
The man seemed at a loss for words, unsure how to properly handle the bed he’d made for himself. An odd expression crept into his face that Jo couldn’t quite identify. Annoyance? Anger? Confusion? In many ways, it seemed like a million expressions all at once, and somehow, Jo could tell that few, if any, were directed at her. At least, not at themoment.
“Snow. . .” Just his name pulled tension from her shoulders; Jo felt her stance relax a little. When frustration and anger weren’t getting the better of her, the man was a soothing presence to be around. So soothing, that Jo didn’t stop herself from reaching out. Her hand hovered, mid-air, as she realized all too late that she’d been about to touch him. But, as if compelled by gravity itself, her fingertips met his sleeved forearm. “You at least get why I’ve been kind of upset—or, well, at least confused. . .right?”
This time, when Snow pulled his eyes from her fingers on his sleeve to her eyes, it was in a shock very obviously marred by undeniable hurt. In fact, if Jo had to define it, in that first second before Snow managed to school his features back into place, she would have said he looked almost pleading. Maybe even a little bitdesperate.
“I understand,” he said finally. “I never meant to. It was simply that you—” He frowned before resuming his neutral expression once more. A new emotion flitted through the cloudy steel of his gaze. A beat, another, and then, “Iapologize.”
There was a genuineness there, somewhere beneath the awkward strain, and Jo almostlaughed.
“I’ll accept your apology, if you accept mine.” She dared a playful grin. “You know why I had to,right?”
“I do.” Two words and Jo’s heart began beating once more, released from the tension that had held it locked between her ribs. Relief bled into the worry that had filled Snow’s eyes, mixing to look something like hope. “And the apology is more thanaccepted.”
“Then, we’re good, you and I?” she ventured to ask. “Everything in the past, cleanslate?”
Snow seemed at a loss for what to do next, completely thrown in a way that Jo couldn’t deny was absolutely adorable. “I think we are.” With his other hand, he reached up, clasping his fingers around hers in an awkward—but entirely welcome—handhold.
His palm had that same warmth she remembered on her cheek, and an enviable softness. Their fingers lingered, wrapped around each other, as if neither wanted to be the first to pull away. When the contact was eventually broken, a pall of mutual embarrassment seemed to hang overthem.
It looked like there were three Snows to worry about now: the gentleman, the asshole, and the man-shaped ball ofawkwardness.
“Well, then,” Jo started, taking a step away. It was as if she suddenly couldn’t trust herself around him. She had no idea what she’d do if he stayed in such close proximity. “I’m glad we could clear theair.”
Snow merelynodded.
Even though their hands felt like they’d parted a millennia ago, he still held her there without touch. “I should go. . .” Jo whispered. “Let you finish up thiswish.”
Another nod. Jo searched his guarded eyes.Say it, she wanted to scream, though she had no idea what “it”was.
Jo side-stepped around him, starting for the double doors that led back into themanor.
“Wait.”
Her feet had stopped before Snow had even opened hismouth.
“Will you come with me a moment?” Jo turned, but Snow didn’t look at her when he spoke. “I want to show yousomething.”
“What is it?” she asked, ignoring the new weight that was suddenly placed on her with thosewords.
Snow motioned to the Door and Jo walked over, as if in a heart-stuttering trance. “Trust me,” he whispered, when she was just barely close enough tohear.
I have all along,was what her heart said. Her lips formed different words. “All right, lead theway.”
Chapter 30
Obsidian Circle
IT SEEMED THAT,with Snow, there was always another moment to feel like she was on the set of amovie.
Jo stepped through the Door into the crumbling husk of a great structure made of obsidian and stone. Twilight streamed through the collapsed holes in the rooftop opposite where she stood. A billowing mist accompanied the low-light, shrouding the room and blurring the details at the edges. Vines stretched out leafy arms toward the moisture, collecting the dew before rolling it down onto the carpet of mossbelow.
