“I…I…” He slides his lips together, his black eyes taking on a worrying sheen.
“Tell me your thoughts.”
He stares hard at my fruit bowl.I know I’m young and not really a looker, but—he swallows—am I really not enough?
“It has nothing to do with how I feel about you, Enzo.”
Doesn’t it?“You s-still love Fa-Fallon’s fa-father.” He steals his hand away from mine to mop his cheeks.
“Enzo, sweetheart, I love you. You will always be my first and favorite Serpent.”
“But n-never y-your—” He jumps to his feet.First and favorite mate,he finishes through the bond.
I assumed he’d understand. I assumed he’d be excited to widen our little nest. Clearly, I assumed wrong.
He storms toward my door and lets himself out, thwacking the wood. I hesitate to call on Erwin. I allow three days to pass, hoping Enzo will change his mind. He doesn’t, the same way he doesn’t speak to me or swim with me. As I slip the poisonous purple flakes onto my tongue, having resumed my daily intake at the same dose as before my convalescence, Asha asks what happened between us.
“Maybe you should sleep with him,” she suggests.
I’m so repulsed by the idea that I grimace.
With a sigh, she asks, “You’rereallynot attracted to him, are you?”
“No. But I doreally love him.”
She nods, thoughtful. “Then I’m on board with your expansion idea.”
I blink, surprised by her encouragement.
“But what happens if you cannot communicate with them?”
“Then I’ll take your advice and lay with Enzo.” Picturing his lips on mine makes bile rise up my throat, further convincing me that he and I cannot possibly be romantic mates.
Once my body feels strong and rested, I use my bargain: “Erwin of the Sky Kingdom, I need a lift to Luce.”
The glowing band I’ve been hiding from everyone thanks to silk shawls immediately snuffs out. When after several hours, nothing but storm clouds tile the evening sky, I begin to worry that my grandmotherdidput up wards. I pace my chamber, my frustration giving way to concern. What if the male’s been injured with obsidian again? What if he isn’tableto fly?
The sky growls, and then rain hurtles against my windows in sheets so thick it blurs the outside world. My worry turns to downright trepidation. Is this storm Lorcan-made? Did something happen in Luce that I’m unaware of?
I’m about to seek out a guard when a shadow seeps beneath one of my arched windows and develops into a hulking redhead.
“Forgive my tardiness, Rajka, but I needed to speak with Lorcan about how best to conceal transporting you out of Shabbe.”
The storm.
How glad I am that he thought of this, for I’ve been so consumed by my deliberations that I certainly hadn’t. “You’ll need a cloak and proper footwear. The temperatures in Luce have dropped since your last visit.”
I hurry to my closet and grab a silk cape and matching slippers.
Erwin’s mouth twists when I reappear, tucking my hair under the embroidered hood. “That’s not gonna be enough. Here.” He shrugs out of a suede jacket lined with black fur.
“What about you?”
“I just wore it because Liora insisted I not leave without it.” He smiles. “I’ve got plenty of meat on my bones to keep me warm.”
Smiling gratefully, I toss off my silk cape and thread my arms through his sleeves. The hit of warmth is as potent as the adrenaline rushing through my blood, and not because of the skirmishes still crackling through Luce.
Some part of me fears the answers this journey will bring. Another part craves them.
