“I don’t know, does it?” He smiled again.
“Not particularly, though you clearly have many talents.”
“I do?” he asked, brows rising, clearly amused. “What are they?”
“Well, sneaking up on people for one. And convincing girls to dance with you,” Ena listed as she walked through the water a little closer to him.
“Oh, I don’t know about that. It clearly didn’t work on you,” he said, taking a step towards her himself.
“True, but it worked on several others,” Ena teased, referring to the string of girls she’d seen him dancing with after Lylith.
“Jealous?” He grinned, giving her a knowing look.
Ena scoffed. “Hardly. Just good to know where I stand. One of many, it seems.”
“Hey, you turned me down. What was I supposed to do? Just stand around by myself?”
“No, no, of course not. I’m glad you found some other company,” she replied, trying to sound sincere but coming off bitter, even to her own ears.
Silence fell between them again as the boy continued to watch her like a hawk.
“What’s your name?” he finally asked.
“Ena.”
“Eh-na,” he said slowly, as if feeling out the name on his tongue. His voice was deep and a little raspy. She wasn’t surewhy, but hearing him speak her name made her heart beat faster, like she’d allowed this predator into some quiet, safe part of herself.
“I’m Ty,” he said. “And if you don’t want me to, I won’t dance with anyone else. You’re the only one I really wanted to dance with, anyway.”
Ena blinked, taken back at the offer. She’d never admit it, but her heart warmed at his words. Ena met his intense gaze yet again, suddenly skeptical of his intentions, especially since she’d reacted so strongly. He was so good-looking and charming, she was acutely aware that he could be playing with her.
“Where are you from, Ty?” she asked, trying to change the subject.
“Yalta. It’s a small village on the other side of the Chasm Mountains.”
“So you’re a mortal, then?”
“Yes,” he replied, bending down to pick up and discard several more rocks.
That was fascinating to Ena. If she were being honest, she’d never felt herself this…intrigued by a mortal before. Although she’d interacted with plenty of them before, even befriended some, intimate relationships between mortals and witches were rare. Not out of any sort of prejudice, just because their ways of life were so different that handfasting usually occurred within one’s own group. But then again, she’d also never met anyone from the other side of the Chasm Mountains before. Not much was known about what lay on the other side since no one that she knew had ever made the treacherous crossing over the snowy peaks. She knew from reading some old Auster matriarch journals that groups of non-magical people lived on the other side and sometimes traveled over to trade, but it was not common. He’d clearly traveled a long way to be here.
“What brought you all the way over here?” she asked, her curiosity piquing.
“My uncles and I are just passing through, cultivating new trade relationships for our metal goods. My village is near to a large iron ore deposit and specializes in blacksmithing.”
“Oh,” Ena replied lamely. She honestly had a million questions about what it was like on the other side of the Chasm Mountains and the journey over it, but she also felt increasingly nervous around him and it was making her mouth feel as though it had been stuffed full of cotton. Tucking her hair behind her ear to cover her awkwardness, she walked deeper into the water. “What’s it like Yal—” Her words cut off as she heard a rustle of clothing and turned around to find Ty taking off his shirt.
“What in the Underworld are you doing?” she asked incredulously.
“Going for a swim. It’s hot,” he replied casually as he tossed his linen shirt on the beach behind him.
Ena swallowed. As if his face wasn’t beautiful enough, his body was more so. His long limbs still held the thinness of youth, but were not gangly by any means. Hard, wiry muscles shaped his arms and shoulders, and the ridges of his abdomen were clear even in the dimming light.
Kicking off his boots, Ty walked into the river until the water reached his thighs and then dove in, swimming to the eddy on the other side of the river bend. Popping up and smoothing his hair back from his face, he turned back to Ena. “You should come in,” he called. “The water feels amazing.”
“No thanks,” Ena said awkwardly. She paused for a second, then felt the need to explain. “I can’t swim actually.”
“Really?” he asked, sounding surprised. “Not even a little bit?”
