Týr stood there with his back to her, his hands shoved into his sweats’ pockets, the wind playing with his red-streaked hair. Probably sensing her, he said, “Hedori’s busy.”
Her fingers tightened on her backpack straps, her stomach tying itself into knots. “It doesn’t matter. I have my car here.”
He cut her an unreadable look as she stopped near him. There was no sign of his earlier fury. Something about his expression appeared off.
Unable to bear this impossible ache any longer, the words tripped out. “Who—”
“You’re the rainbow,” he said softly.
Her heart clopping like a racehorse, she blinked. “What?”
His brooding stare shifted to the snow-covered evergreens lining the sweeping driveway that led to the castle. “Maybe you don’t want to hear it, but the rainbow is you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Echo said you wanted to know. Blaéz had a vision of me with a rainbow, even before I met you,” Týr continued in the same soft tone. “And since you seem to command the colors like no one else…”
Perplexed, she tugged a long spiral of hair to the front. “You mean my hair?”
A nod. Still, Týr didn’t look at her. “Your black streaks from earlier have faded. It’s back to the earthy red you usually prefer, except it’s got a bit of green in there now.”
Black? Earlier, she’d been in pain. Green,despair? And she’d tried so hard not to let her emotions seep through.
“I didn’t know. I never realized they called me that. I overheard Nik and…”
“Yeah, I know what you thought.” His lips tightened. “It’s not your fault. You can’t force your heart to feel something it doesn’t.”
What?She stared, stunned. “That’s not true,” she whispered. How could he think she didn’t feel anything for him?
When he finally looked at her, nothing showed on his face. However, the fast-beating nerve on his rigid jaw near his injury gave her hope. With only the snow-covered trees and shrubs and the whining wind as witness, she gathered her courage and heart in both hands. “I…miss you.”
He went utterly still. Something flickered in those pale-toffee depths.
“About what you said at the cabin. I know I didn’t give you the answer you wanted. I do want you, I want us. But I’m scared.”
He stared at her for the longest second, then he took her backpack, grasped her hand, and strode back indoors and up the stairs in his usual, actions-speak-louder-than-words mode.
In his quarters, he made straight for his dressing room. Kira had no idea what he was about but followed quietly. He dropped her bag onto the large, scuffed, wooden chest on the floor, then unlocked a closet on the far side of the room with his palm on the wood.
Her eyes widened at all the lethal hardware inside, from deadly throwing stars with serrated edges, to blades of various sizes and shapes. She stepped closer. “Don’t you use guns?”
“Wasted on demons.”
Okay, he had a point.
Týr strode back to his dresser, grabbed his obsidian dagger lying on top, and tossed the blade onto the shelf. He shut the closet again then leaned against the door.
At last, his closed-off expression softened, and his eyes warmed. And there wasthatlook Kira now understood—shewas all he saw. “There. Out of the way.” He ran the back of his knuckles along her jaw. “Just so you know, I’m shit-scared, too.”
“Why?”
“You could one day just up and leave.”
“I came to you, didn’t I? So, I won’t.”
“Good. Since whom I choose to be with is my decision, and mine alone, and you are it.”
A smile curved her mouth. For now, she’d strive to forget all the doom and gloom of destinies waiting to crash over her and try not to fall in love…well, not a lot anyway.
