Finn recoils like I’ve slapped him. “Stop it!”
“Stop what?”
“Stop pushing me away! Stop acting like this doesn’t matter.”
“What doesn’t matter?”
“This.”He gestures between us. “You and me. Whatever weird force drew us together in that swamp.”
“There can be nothing between us,” I force through my teeth, willing truth to the words. “There is nothing between us.”
“Why are you doing that? Why are you lying?” He edges forward a step. “Is this about what we did before?”
“No!”
“Are you sure? Because if I made you uncomfortable, if I pushed you too far…”
“You didn’t push me. At all.” I bury my face in my hands.
Finn closes the distance between us, taking my shoulders in his hands. “Then what’s going on?”
“There is no good way for this to end! Don’t you get that? I’m an Elf. You kill my people. You’re going to marry Odessa, or some lady of somewhere, and I’m…” I choke up.
I’m what?
I’m going to go back to the Ironwoods to my mother? I’ll find a hospital that needs my skills, where I’ll pick up broken pieces of Rodrick’s war until I’m as bitter as Cygnus?
“I’m not someone who belongs with a prince of Verdinae,” I finish. I can’t express anything else.
“Lyria, I need you to listen.” Finn draws his hands to my face. He tilts it toward him, making me gaze up into his eyes. It starts to rain. “I have spent my entire life trying to feel the way thatyoumake me feel. The way you look at me sometimes…” He breaks off; then his voice thickens. “I want to be a better man for you. I want todobetter, for you.”
I should look away, but I don’t.
I know how Finn feels about me. I can sense it. I’ve always been able to sense it. It’s just taken this long to wipe away all thelayers of self-doubt. I’m not alone in this. He’s in love with me, too. He knows my secret, and he still loves me.
That doesn’t mean I don’t have to leave him.
“You’renot listening.” I pull back. “My mind is made up.”
“No, you’re not listening tome.” Finn moves to take my hands in his. “I want you exactly as you are, Lyria. I love everything about you, including the fact that you are an Elf. Including your Talent. I’m not naive about what stands between us. I’m prepared to navigate it. I’m prepared to change. I want to fight for you. Forthis.”
His words are what I’ve been wanting to hear all this time. But now it’s not enough.
Still, I can’t pull away.
“Please, just let me show you one thing. And if it doesn’t change your mind, you can go. But I need you to see it first.”
I stare at him, trembling in the pouring rain. Every muscle in my body is screaming at me to run. But the anchor in my chest pulls harder.
“Fine.” I surrender. “Show me.”
inn’s chambers are freezing when we return sopping wet. I let Dante out of my pack, and the fox chitters happily as he makes himself at home. The fire in the hearth has gone out, and Finn rushes forward to light it. “Sorry. The servants are all probably busy.”
“No problem,” I say. But I’m shivering.
He looks back over his shoulder as he starts stacking the logs. “Do you want to wash up first? I’ll get the fire going, and then we can talk.”
I pause, momentarily torn. Ideally, I should get this over with. Realistically, a bath sounds heavenly.
