His palms slide around my bare waist. I startle because his branded hand is hot while his other palm is ice. He must realize the reason for my gasp because he pulls his magic-laden hand away.
But I press it down.
His jaw tenses. “What if it hurts you?”
My nerves finally,finallysettle, and a smile hits my lips. “It saysshield, notslash.”
“Do you think it’s to shield myself or others?”
“I have no clue, but do you mind if we test out your new sigil at some other time? I don’t feel like hurting you or letting anyone else— Actually…” I crane my neck. “Tarian!” I call out.
“I’ll get him,” Calanthe says. “Baby!” Although her hat casts her face in shadow, I don’t miss how wide she smiles.
“How long have you been squatting there like a creeper?” I ask when she looks back down at us.
“If you must know, I was worried. Which is why I peeked. Shoot me.”
“Don’t give that one any ideas. She’s too trigger-happy.” Tarian mutters, appearing on the reinforced stone lip of the mine.
I roll my gummy eyes.
Malachi appears at Reeve’s side, arms crossed, eyes narrowed. “You made it out in one piece, Rafferty, and an improved one at that, apparently.”
“No one’s more shocked than I am, Hadez.” Reeve’s unbranded hand curls around my hip in a show of possession that hits me square in the heart—and other places. Which I should probably not be thinking about in this sanctified space.
“Tarian, send Gael down,” I tell him.
“Don’t you want to get out first?”
“No. I want to try something. Tell Gaea not to intervene, okay?”
The blue glyphs around us ripple.
“She heard you. She says she will only float him down once you and Reeve rise.”
I pout. “I wanted to test out his rune,” I explain. “See if it could shield a person from magic.”
“As long as he wants them protected, it will,” Tarian says with such certainty, I understand that he’s gotten the lowdown on the rune straight from Gaea.
“So he’s immortal?” Calanthe asks.
“Not immortal. He’ll still age. He just won’t croak as long as I don’t remove the rune.”
“Which you won’t…” I plead.
“Not without an actual reason, no.”
I exhale the air caught in my lungs before guiding us back to the thick beam of light linking the mine to the world above.
Reeve’s mouth grows slack with awe as Gaea floats us up.
I smirk. “You wear a rune on your hand.”
“Just because you’re blasé doesn’t mean the rest of us are,” Calanthe says. “I knew you’d survive,” she tells Reeve, backing up to give us room to step out.
“You couldn’t have known. Tarian didn’t even know.”
“I dreamt he was at our wedding, so yeah, I knew.”
