“What?” Lin Lill raised her shoulders. “We have superior—”
“Donotfinish that sentence.”
Ellina set a hand to Harmon’s arm, a calming gesture. That alone was enough to raise Venick’s brows, but nothing could prepare him for the way that Harmon—stubborn, fiery Harmon—actually calmed.
“Elves might be impervious to toxins,” Harmon said, working for a more diplomatic tone, “but humans are not. “From now on—” she plucked the cork from Branton’s other hand and stoppered the vial, “—let’s tread a little more carefully around unknown substances, shall we?”
They finished creating their not-quite-a-pyre, then set it aflame, watching in silence as the bodies burned. That silence held as the last of the flames died, and they returned to their horses. Ellina walked slightly ahead of Venick, her expression inscrutable. He noticed that her left hand was now bound in a wrapping—Harmon’s doing—though she was still only half-clothed, having removed her armor and burned her tunic in that insane stunt to defeat the undead.
Though the fighting was long over, it was as if Venick’s mind had boxed away his fear, tucking it onto a high shelf so that it could not interfere. Now the lid of that box seemed to open, all its contents tumbling free. He thought of what Ellina had done. Its lunacy. It was one thing to play with fire, but stripping out of your armor mid-battle? She couldn’t have hatched a more dangerous idea if she’d tried.
As if sensing his eyes on her, Ellina glanced back. Whatever she saw in his face closed her expression.
By the time they retraced their path to Igor and entered the welcome warmth of the baron’s house, the day had matured. The others—nursing an array of minor wounds—limped towards their rooms, their minds already on baths and some well-earned sleep. Venick, however, hung back. “Ellina.”
They stood in an empty hallway that split the west wing of the house from the east. They would leave each other there, him going to the master’s suite on the third floor and she to another quarter in a different part of the estate.
She turned towards him, expectant.
I’m sorry,Venick might have said.
We were so close,he might have said.
I know what this fight cost you, the sacrifice you made to save Harmon, but there will be other chances. We’ll win your voice back.
Yet what Venick said was, “That stunt you pulled today was idiotic.”
Ellina cooled.
“I don’t know what you were thinking,” he continued, voice rough. “I truly cannot imagine what possessed you to remove your armor during a fight, but you have to be smarter than that. I have to know that you’ll be smarter, because if I don’t know that, I’ll be focused on yourather than the battle. I’ll be distracted.”
Ellina raised her chin, defiant.You should not worry about me.
“Reeking gods, Ellina. I do worry about you. I worry about youall the time. If something happened to you, I can’t, I couldn’t—” He cut himself off. Took a breath. “You scared me today.”
Some of Ellina’s defiance faded.
“You scared me,” Venick continued, “because it’s not just your own life you’re playing with. It’s mine, too. I…care about you. I never stopped caring. If something happened to me, you’d survive, but if something happened to you—it would kill me.”
Ellina, who had already been quite still, turned to stone. Venick swallowed around a sudden throb of nervousness. He’d said too much, he knew that he had, and yet…
The air seemed to shift. And maybe Venick was sleep deprived, maybe his senses were still frayed from the fight, but Ellina’s eyes were growing luminous, the light from a nearby window limning her cheek. Venick saw the way she was looking at him. He saw the dirt and sweat and blood, how her hair was coming free from its braid, and how these things made her seem more real, as if every doubt he’d ever had about her was for nothing. Which was, really, all Venick wanted.
He lifted a hand. Hesitated, as he tried to recall why he shouldn’t, why it would be unfair to her. Or was it unfair tohim? He couldn’t remember. He couldn’t really think, because then his palm was cupping her cheek, feeling the blush rise under her skin, the curve of her jaw, her cheekbone. So soft. She was so impossibly soft, and as Ellina leaned into his hand, just the slightest bit, he wondered why he didn’t do this all the time. Every day. Any chance he got.
Sudden footsteps coming around the corner made them both start. A footman appeared, wearing the uniform of a house staff. “Commander.”
Venick dropped his hand. “Yes?”
“Someone is here to see you, sir. He says he’s a friend of yours.” Venick’s heart kicked at the thought of Dourin, but the footman continued. “An elf from Evov.”
Not Dourin, then. “Who?”
The servant looked uncomfortable. “I…do not know.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know?”
“He only asked to see you. He gave no other details, though the elves seemed to know him…”
