“I know so,” Mistel said, scratching her fingers through his hair. “You’re a fascinating, creative, thoughtful person. I’ve never heard anyone write words so deep and raw and honest. When you sing, Cole Tanniyn, you take me back in time, to the future, to the top of mountains and the bottom of the sea. Your words call out to something deep and ancient, a longing for more in this broken world. You move me. Inspire me.”
Cole grinned. When Mistel started complimenting him, he knew exactly what she was after. A kiss. Why that amused him so much, he couldn’t say.
But no one was here. No one would know. And he wasn’t about to make her beg.
He pressed a soft, lingering kiss to her lips. “Goodnight, Mistel.”
“Goodnight, Cole.” She beamed, her smile revealing her overbite.
He walked her inside, then headed back to the Ivory Spit. As he rode Cherix through the cold night, his thoughts churned. The boars in that wagon hadn’t been the evidence they’d hoped for. If anything, it made their suspicions harder to prove. But the runes had been a good clue, as had the note from Madam Raven about Drustan threatening her daughter. And Cernell Crow…his presence at the docks was more unsettling than Cole cared to admit.
Yet it was Mistel’s scream that returned to him over and over. The fear that had ripped through him when he’d heard it, the desperate relief he’d felt when he’d found her unharmed.
He pulled his cloak tighter around himself as the truth settled in his chest like a weight.
He loved Mistel Wepp.
He shouldn’t be surprised. She was a goddess, a firebrand, a friend, and an incredible musician. Who wouldn’t love her?
And yet, love felt dangerous.
The first time Cole had kissed Mistel, he’d thought he’d made a mistake. He’d feared that once she truly got to know him, she’d grow bored, find him lacking, just as Nya had. But Mistel wasn’t like Nya. She only seemed to like him more with each passing day.
Still, if Nya had taught him anything, it was that loving someone meant giving them the power to wound him, to humiliate him. He wasn’t sure he could survive being cast aside by Mistel.
Yet he also knew he couldn’t live without her.
Her laughter, her boldness, the way her presence brightened a room, it had all slipped past his defenses before he’d even realized he’d lowered them. He probably shouldn’t have kissed her tonight. Why was it so easy to forget himself where she was concerned? And what if he gave in to this thing with her and she ultimately decided he wasn’t enough? Worse yet, what if his feelings for her compromised the mission? Drustan and Nash already knew they’d lied about being cousins. If others found out, too, everything would unravel. Could he afford that risk?
Cole’s grip tightened on the reins as Cherix plodded through the quiet streets. Failing Mistel—failing the team—that’s what truly terrified him.
Chapter 31
Cole
One couldn’t cross a sea by simply staring at the water. And that’s exactly what Cole felt they were doing.
The day after their visits to Thusk’s warehouse, Tom Raven’s house, and the frozen harbor, he sat at a table in the Ivory Spit with Kurtz and Mistel, listening to Arbin Roxley play his fiddle by the fire. The goal had been to try and figure out what to do next, but Mistel had rushed inside with big news that had completely sidetracked their conversation.
“Lady Viola was taken last night!” she said.
“Taken by who?” Cole asked.
“Master Vandy didn’t know that,” Mistel said. “He just heard that Lord Livna won the duel but that his daughter and wife were abducted during the fight.”
“That’s impossible,” Kurtz said. “I tracked Lady Viola all the way back to Lytton Hall.”
Mistel’s posture wilted. “Oh dear. I was hoping you might have a clue. It must have happened after she got back.”
Cole pictured that tiny little girl sitting up on the dais the night of the banquet in Lytton Hall. “That’s horrible,” he said. “Is there anything we can do to help find them?”
“I don’t know what,” Kurtz said. “I’ve never been able to bloodvoice people I don’t know well, and Lady Viola and I didn’t exactly become fast friends when she threw us in the dungeon, eh?”
“Where did Lady Viola go when you followed her?” Mistel asked.
“The Black Boar,” Cole said.
Mistel looked from Cole to Kurtz. “Are you positive?”
