He smiled, thinking of how her lovely face lit up when she spoke of something from one of her beloved books, and how her hand would occasionally brush his when they walked side-by-side through some of the narrow passageways in the fortress.
But what most consumed his mind, what tore at his conscience, was admitting his growing fascination with her despite every instinct warning him against it.
It had to stop. He had one goal. Save Emily. Nothing else, no one else, could matter.
He finished dressing, determined to focus on nothing but learning the location of the portals in the short time he had left.
When they parted last evening, Skye had promised a surprise this morning. He hardly dared hope it was to see The Keeper, despite her repeated assertion that it wouldn’t happen. Not today, or any other day. So much so, he’d begun to wonder if the man was even in residence.
Her now-familiar tap sounded on the door. “Planning to sleep the day away?” Muffled as her voice was by the thick panel of wood, he still detected her teasing tone.
“And miss a day exploring with you?” he grinned, swinging the door open.
One look at her stopped him cold. If this was the surprise she’d promised, she’d outdone herself.
Unlike her hunting leathers or the simple attire she’d worn the last two days, today she wore a pale green gown made of fabric unfamiliar to him. Soft and flowing, she’d snugged it to her tiny waist with beaded cords. But it was her hair he found most captivating. She’d abandoned her long braid and let the dark mass fall in thick waves to her waist.
He curled his fingers into his palms to keep from reaching out to touch it. “You look…lovely.” It wasn’t even close to the word that had instantly come to mind, but it was the safest. Especially with the ever-present Keir looking on.
“Is today an occasion of some sort?” He looked down at his own well-worn clothing. The soft, tanned leathers Aiesha had used to make his shirt and trousers had seen far better days. “I’m sorry I don’t have something more suitable.”
Her laugh, as light and soft as the fabric she wore, drifted past him as a faint pink blush stained her cheeks. “No. No occasion. But we won’t be peeking into dusty corners or evaluating construction methods today. I’m taking you to my favorite spot.”
It was hard to tear his eyes from her, but Keir’s not-so-subtle cough did its intended job. “I’m honored,” he finally said, stepping into the corridor to close the door.
On an insane impulse, he held out his arm and waited for her to take it. When she tucked her hand beneath his elbow and smiled up at him, he had the strangest sensation, as if something inside him had been jarred apart and only now found its rightful place.
But the growing pleasure he found in Skye’s company battled with his nagging conscience over failing his duty to his family. They were all counting on him. Emily’s survival depended on his finding the portal. So far, all he’d discovered was a growing attraction to a woman he must turn his back on as soon as he could possibly manage.
Allowing himself to indulge his feelings, or to encourage hers, could serve no purpose.
Over the past few days, as they’d walked through the fortress, Noah couldn’t help but notice how the guards and servants deferred to Skye with a mixture of respect and wariness. She led him through the stone corridors with the ease and authority of someone who had spent a lifetime learning every nook and cranny of her home and was completely confident of her place in it.
“Have you always lived here?”
“As long as I can remember. Though my father says I was born elsewhere.”
“Really? Where?”
She shrugged dismissively. “Just ‘elsewhere’. A place he said was too dangerous to return to.”
“But you’ve traveled to other places? Been beyond these mountains?”
Beyond this world?
“Perhaps someday. Right now, my father says the world outside the boundaries of the fortress is too…unpredictable.”
Noah thought of The Others and the struggles the people of Havenwood had endured. “I can’t deny there are dangers.”
They stopped before an intricately carved door, and Skye instructed Keir to remain in the corridor.
When she opened the door and they stepped inside, Noah’s breath stalled in his chest as he looked around the high-ceilinged room filled with books beyond his ability to count. Floor-to-ceiling shelves lined the library walls, filled with volumes of every kind, many bound in strange materials. Some looked ancient. Some seemed impossibly new. What manner of power and resources did The Keeper employ to amassthis?
“This is incredible,” Noah muttered, running his fingers along the spines of a long row of matching leather-bound volumes. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Where did they all come from?”
“My father collected them over many years. He knows how much I love books and reading, and he’s always encouraged my education. He’s an avid reader himself. As you’ve seen, he keeps a few of the books that interest him in the solar, but he built this room to house the rest, and for my particular use.” She looked around with sincere fondness, but there was something else in her eyes, something akin to regret. “I spend a great deal of time in this room.”
She touched the spines of several books with gentle reverence. “He never leaves without bringing some new volumesback to me. Some he chooses himself, and some, he said, are given as tributes.”
