The farther we marched away, the more my second pulse dulled. I allowed the darkness to swallow the statue and hopefully bury its heated presence in my memory.
Tolek wasquiet as we settled in an offshoot of the main tunnel to get some rest. I hadn’t a clue how deep we ventured into the mountains, but Sapphire had chosen our last few turns, and I trusted her instincts.
“What’re you thinking?” I asked.
He seemed to consider his words for a minute. He pointed to the sleeping mat he set out, telling me to take it.
Knowing he wouldn’t give me an answer unless I laid down, I did.
“I meant what I said, Ophelia.” He settled on the dirt, using my cloak as a pillow. “Before I left.”
The lantern flickered behind me, casting shadows on his face.
“Which part?” My heart fluttered against my chest, and I fidgeted under his gaze, hair falling over my shoulder and across my cheek.
As tentative as a frightened animal and with a hesitancy so unlike Tolek Vincienzo, he reached up, catching the strand and tucking it behind my ear. It was a question, one that lingered as his thumb gently grazed my jaw. The things we shared at Wayward, our kiss, had been full of racing emotions and fears.
Now, as we lay secluded from the world, we slowed down.
I hardly dared to move, unable to, allowing Tol’s heavy stare to take all it wanted from me.
He must have found whatever he needed because he said, “All of it.”
His hand slid from my face to the cave floor between us. Without a word, I moved to the edge of the sleeping mat, making room.
“I told you to take it,” he said.
“I want you here.”
He smiled at that, and though I didn’t have an explicit answer for him, he understood.
Our faces were close enough now that I could see the amber specks in his eyes even in the lamplight. They were full of questions, but no demand for answers. The decisions, the control, were all mine.
It was different than the challenges while we rode Sapphire and the gentle kiss we exchanged. This was intimate. Real. Two people, breaking down their walls with small gestures and few words, waitingto see what happened. Sometimes, quiet moments spoke louder than words.
I wasn’t ready to make decisions in this dim cave with enemies breathing down our necks. But Tol’s hand lay between us, so I hooked my pinkie through his, returning the relieved smile that lifted his lips.
“Good night, Vincienzo.”
“Good night, Alabath.”
It seemedlike I’d barely shut my eyes when my hand was tugged to the side, caught by something.
A deep shout dragged me from sleep.
Beside me, Tol thrashed, my hand still in his grip. “Stop,stop! They don’t?—”
His eyes clenched tighter, sweat beading across his brow.
“Tol!” I shook his shoulder.
“Please,” he begged. “I’m—I promise?—”
“Tol, wake up!” I pleaded, and his eyes popped open.
He shot upright, breath as wild as his eyes, searching the cavern.
When they landed on me, his shoulders relaxed slightly. He pulled me toward him, lips pressing to the top of my head, breathing me in.
