‘F-fine,’ Skye said, thanking a servant who appeared with a glass of water. She pulled herself away from Matthias before surveying the library. ‘I…I wanted to analyse the maps…for Sorrow…to say…to say…’
Her voice broke, and I swallowed the lump in my throat.
I placed my hand on her shivering arm.
‘You don’t need to say sorry,’ I said, unsure why tears pricked the back of my eyes.
A troop of servants strode past us into the library, righting chairs and tutting. ‘How bad’s the damage?’
Matthias sucked his teeth. ‘Superficial. Thanks to the…mutt.’
Skye scrubbed a tear from her cheek. ‘The maps…I was studying those maps.’ Her eyes flicked across to Asher, before turning back to me. ‘I was tired. I shouldn’t…’
Asher brushed the soot from her face with his thumb. I wish I could’ve seen her expression. ‘The maps aren’t important. It could…it could have been worse.’
She peered past the gap between Matthias and myself to the still-smouldering table.
‘Thank you,’ she said as I stood.
I walked over to the table where the servants collected the burnt parchment, then placed it in a tin bucket.
‘Thank you for saving me.’
‘It’s Pab you need to thank. You’d be charcoal by now if he wasn’t such a stubborn asshole. Stop! I can still use those.’
Taking the bin from a bowing servant with long red hair, I sighed, removing a singed fragment. I cursed as the still-smouldering edges crumbled in my hand and I turned it over. My heart sank at the sight.
An oil lamp lay on its side, the patch where it had fallen a ruined black mess. Though it could have been so much worse if Pablo hadn’t been there, the stench of burnt wood and acrid oil brought tears to my eyes as I surveyed the damage, collecting anything remotely useful.
I hitched a breath as Matthias appeared behind me. He leaned in close, groaning as he took in the ruined maps we’d hoped held the answers we desperately sought. Heat radiated from him, warming me more fiercely than the flames we’d doused.
‘How badly will this hold you up?’ His breath caressed the nape of my neck, and I imagined a blush creeping across my throat. I rubbed the bridge of my nose, shuffled a step away from him, as a damned ache slammed into my temple. ‘This wasweeksof work, maybemonths,’ I said, flinging a useless shred of map on the table.
Matthias lay his forehead against my shoulder, and I melted into the familiarity of his touch. If I were wiser, I’d shrug him away. But there was a comfort in the way his breath warmed my spine, his scent of wood, a hint of lavender soap. He lifted his head, and I cursed as I craved his warmth for a heartbeat longer.
He huffed out a long sigh. ‘Weeks and months we simply don’t have.’
‘I’m sorry,’ I said, straightening my skirts and raising my chin.
‘What for? You’re not the one threatening to invade our kingdom.’
‘Yourkingdom, Matthias, not mine. I’ve told you. But, I’m the one who can help. I know I can find the answer.’
He winced. At least I thought he had. My vision swirled and I wished I hadn’t broken the moment.
‘Call for some nut coffee,’ I said. ‘I need to see what I can salvage from this mess.’
He tilted his head, his hair flopping across those green eyes of his. ‘Don’t you meanwe?’
A weak smile hooked up the corner of my mouth. ‘I’ve told you, I don’t work well with others.’
My fingers itched to push his hair back as a smile broke out on his face and he took a step closer. My skin pebbled, surely a reaction to the now open windows. ‘I’m not merely others. And you need to get some rest so you can train tomorrow.’
A flash of excitement pulsed through me. With the fire and the destruction of the maps, I’d forgotten about the crow.
‘I’ve got some news,’ I said, revelling in the way his brow furrowed. I quickly filled him in with what happened at the window. The light in his eyes brightened as I relayed each little step towards success.
When I finished, I gasped as his hands flew to my cheeks, cradling my face.
