The witch bubbled with unhinged laughter. “You’ll never get one without me. Even with your magic that needs no words.” She glared at Rain, as though trying to dissect her strange abilities.
The Cave Witch attempted her spell again, and Daric stuffed the gag back into her mouth. “None of that,” he said sharply. He turned to Rain. “Shall we?” He offered her his arm.
Rain took it. Side by side,they moved deeper into the cavern.
Daric was stillreeling, although he tried not to show it. The slight weight of Rain’s hand on his arm was the only thing keeping him steady. He’d suspected that Rain still had some of her magic, but he’d never imagined she was this powerful. A true force of nature.
And he’d almost kissed her.
Hedesired her, admired her,lovedher as intensely as always. Nothing had changed, except he was now more certain than ever that he didn’t deserve her. No one did. He was a mere man, and he wasn’t even sure Rain was mortal.
“Did you notice the witch said we’d come in through herbackdoor?” Rain asked.
Daric cleared his throat. It seemed so tight all of a sudden. “I did. I’m hoping there’s aneasier way out.”
Rain murmured her agreement as they were confronted with a fork in the tunnel, both options fading into complete darkness.
“There are two paths,” she said, eyeing the set of torches on the wall. They were lit and ready for the taking, surely the Cave Witch’s method of seeing her way around. “Should we separate?”
Daric hesitated and then shook his head. “I’d rather stay together.”His lips quirked, and he added, “I may need you to rescue me.”
Rain huffed. She gripped his arm more tightly. “I’m nervous in the dark.”
Daric knew that. It was unsurprising. The first time she’d ever truly been in the dark, not seeing the world around her, big hands had grabbed her and dragged her from the existence she’d known forever.
As always, the memory chilled him. At the same time,having Rain by his side was a source of endless heat and energy. It was in part this contradiction that had kept him from revealing his true feelings. Could she really love him as he loved her, with the kind of passion and devotion that burned a hole in one’s chest and filled it with longing, when he’d been responsible for ending her life as she knew it?
She’d wanted a kiss, but that would neverbe enough for him. Rain needed to want more,everything, just as he did.
Daric took a torch from the wall. If he’d spoken up two years ago and Rain had agreed, he might have been able to convince his father to let them marry. Now, it was too late. They’d both been bartered away, him for a canal and Rain for her own safety along with that of the household.
“Your thoughts look darker than thiscavern,” Rain said, following him with the other torch.
Daric stayed watchful and alert as they moved deeper into a tunnel. “Do you have my mother’s Ashstone ring with you?” he asked instead of addressing his thoughts. They were indeed dark and dismal.
She shook her head. “I left it at the castle.”
“Promise me you’ll wear it,” he said, taking her free hand and squeezing. “If things don’t goas we hope, it’ll connect us. We’ll remember how we once lived together in the House of Ash.”
Rain stopped and swung an iron-hard gaze on him. “Don’t give up before we even start.”
“I’m not giving up,” he hastened to assure her. He would never do that.
“You’re giving me an odd look I don’t like at all.”
“You’ll outlive me by far, Rain. Maybe by millennia. It’ll be something to remember meby.”
A storm flashed in her eyes. He saw it for what it was now. “I’m as mortal as you are.”
“Are you though?”
“Yes,” she said emphatically.
“Mortals don’t grow vines from nothing and make gale winds blow.”
Her budding anger abruptly disappeared, and her face fell. “Are you afraid of me?”
“Of course not.” The need to wipe away her horrified expression made him pull the first thought fromhis mind. It was an inane one—inevitably. “Although I would think twice before turning you backside-up for a spanking.”
Rain’s jaw dropped. Heat billowed inside Daric like an inferno.
She laughed suddenly, the bright sound chiming through the cavern. “A little vulgarity suits you. Suitsus,” she corrected. “It’s amusing.”
“I strive to never bore you,” Daric admitted, his voice rougher thana rockslide.
The smile on Rain’s lips widened, so beautiful it was heartbreaking. She started moving again. “I can safely promise, Daric, that you never bore me.”
Every already raw and heightened emotion inside him swelled painfully. Rain was both his joy and his affliction. She was his everything.
