“She’ll just keep calling you; she’s impatient like that,” he adds.
I grin. “Must run in the family.” He doesn’t smile like Ithought he would, and he doesn’t give me a snippy retort. He runs his thumb over my wrist, surprising me.
“You should have had Redara tell Noxlyn you were flying here today; we could have flown with you.”
His words warm me from the inside out. “Harper!” Auri calls again. Laughing, I pull my wrist from his hold. “She’s going to threaten me with a knife or something if I don’t get moving.”
“Wonder who taught her that trick?” He asks in a low voice.
I shake my head as I leave the kitchen. “Finally,” Auri says dramatically.
“What is it?” I ask as I hurry to catch up with her.
“I can’t tell you; you have to see it for yourself.”
“Do I get any hints?” I try again.
“Nope.”
When we get to her room, she stops. “Close your eyes.”
“Okay.” I do as she tells me and manage to make my way into her room without tripping and killing myself.
“Okay. Open.”
I open my eyes and look at her bed, trying to figure out what it is I’m looking for. “Not over there,” Auri says. “Overthere.”
I follow her gaze to the wall opposite her bed, and my breath catches in my chest because the wall no longer holds our horrifying art. Well, if I look closely, it might still be there. But covering the entire wall is the most beautiful mural I’ve ever seen. Spirit dragons in all colors, shapes, and sizes fly in the clouds. I don’t miss the red dragon and the black dragon in the sky as well. There are trees covered in sparkling ice and snow, wildflowers, little flying creatures that glow, and tiny houses that I’m assumingthey live in. I walk over to it and touch it reverently with my fingertips. “Auri, this is—” Words fail me. “Who did this?” I ask, turning back to her.
She’s beaming from ear to ear. “Rauk.”
I couldn’t be more shocked. My eyes shoot to the man standing in the doorway. There’s a look in his eyes that I can’t read. “You did this?” I ask in both shock and amazement.
He smirks. “You don’t have to look quite so shocked.”
And just like that, the tension escapes. “Who knew you had such talent in those big hands?” I ask with a laugh, meeting Auri’s eyes and earning a grin.
“Oh, these hands are incredibly talented—at a lot of things.”
My head snaps in his direction, and he doesn’t look away. “Harper, did you see this house?” My attention is pulled away from him and back to the wall. I bend down, so I can see the tiny house she’s pointing to. It has a remarkable similarity to...I stand up and turn around. “Is that Eliza’s house?” He nods, and I turn back to study it. The likeness is incredible. Auri points out several more things, and I’m more and more amazed. Several times, I look over my shoulder. Every time, Rauk—who's now leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, watching us—meets my eyes. I don’t even know what to say to him; I'm so blown away by his artwork. But when I try to hide a yawn, he suddenly pushes off the wall.
“Auri, we need to let Harper sleep.”
Auri turns to me in disappointment. “Are you sure?”
I can’t help my smile, even as I yawn again. “We can get back to it first thing in the morning.”
“You promise?” she asks.
I nod. “Promise.”
She finally concedes. “All right.” Then she barrels into me again, nearly knocking me over with her chair.
A hand on my back keeps me from that happening. “Night, Harper.”
I lean forward and hug her. “Night, Auri.” When I stand up, that hand is still there, steadying me for a moment longer than necessary before it finally drops. Auri hugs Rauk next, and I step out of the room to give them privacy.
Elowen is in the hall, ready to go in and help Auri get ready for bed. “Do you need help?” I ask her.
