“I am starting to find it a little hurtful that you keep referring to me as a delusion,” Evariste mildlysaid.
Angelique halted and stiffly turned to peer in his direction. Her face abruptly crumpled, and she shook her head and backed up. “No. No. I don’t want to talk toyou.”
Evariste tilted his head and took a step closer to her. “Whynot?”
“Because.” A little hiccup escaped Angelique, and she hunched her shoulders in misery. “When I wake up, you won’t bethere.”
“Oh, Angel.” Evariste wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against his chest. “I’msorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?” Angelique sniffed. “I’m the one who failed you—and Ikeepfailing you! None of this is your fault—if I had justmovedor used my core magic, you wouldn’t have been takenand—”
Evariste stemmed the rush of her guilt by covering her lips with his hand. “We’ve already discussed this.Noneof what happened is your fault,Angel.”
She blinked. “But we fought—before you weretaken.”
Has she been carrying this guilt all these years? Blast—and the argument wasn’t even her fault. It’s because I was acting childishly. My inability to deal with my feelings like an adult kept me from addressing the matter—what a mistake thatwas.
“And you took the spell that was meant for me.” Angelique’s voice was slightly muffled by his hand, and her lips brushed his palm with a feather-light touch that pulled at something inhim.
Evariste lowered his head. “And I’d do it again a thousand times to save you,Angel.”
He slowly let his hand drop and instead slid his arm around her waist. The way she stared at him—withhope—made his heartthrob.
The curse that keeps my magic from me… I’m sealed until I perform my darkest desire, which is to kiss her. I wonder if I could kiss her here and if it would count—it might be the only way I confess and keep our friendship intact. She thinks I’m not real anyway.He stared at herlips.
Angelique stared up at him with rapidly widening eyes as Evariste slightly angled his head and drewcloser.
When he could practically taste her breath, Angelique shot backwards like a cat with her tail on fire. “No, no, no! No. No!” She fled all the way to the edge of the woods, circled around a tree, and glared at him with suspicion when she peeked out from behind the safety of thetrunk.
“I am not some soft-minded imbecile who falls in love with her teacher! This is obviously a mental failing—how could I evendreamof such ridiculousdrabble?”
Evariste let his arms fall to his side as he watched his hopes self-destruct. “Kissing me is ridiculousdrabble?”
“Of course it is!” Angelique groaned and pressed her fingertips against her shut eyes. “My life is a nightmare. I can’t even be sensible in the privacy of my own dreams! I’m apparently sostupid,I would picture something likethis!”
Evariste clenched his jaw. “It can’t possibly be thatbad.”
Her eyes popped open. “Yes, it is that bad!” she snapped. “It’s stupid, improper,anddisrespectful!”
Evariste fought to keep his expression mild, even though Angelique had just effectively stabbed him in the heart.Well. There goes the dream that she’ll react well when I do confess.He forced a smile. “Isee.”
Angelique must have finally gotten over his actions, for she gloomily left the relative safety of the forest and trudged over to the stump, where she satdown.
Evariste let his head sag back on his neck and stared up at the sky.Somehow, this is worse than the pain I’ve endured at Liliane’s hands. Thinking of Angelique got me through that. And this is what she thinks of meromantically.
Pain—a different sort of pain, an all-consuming pain that devoured his hopes—lurked at the back of his mind. Evariste inhaled deeply and forcibly pushed it back.Even though it feels like this is the worst thing that could have happened, I need to use this opportunity to give her information. I wanted to last time, but she had been too upset initially and fell asleep before I had the chance to tell heranything.
He cleared his throat. “Have you looked into the names Acri orLiliane?”
“No. I haven’t had the time.” She glanced his way, then snapped up straight again. “AndI’m not wasting valuable resources on my personal mentalramblings.”
“TellClovicus.”
“Tell himwhat? That I dreamed Lord Enchanter Evariste tried to kiss me, as if I was some kind of lovesick fool?” Angelique indignantly snorted and tossed her head, resembling Pegasus abit.
“If you said that, he’d be more likely to believe you really encountered me,” Evariste drylymuttered.
Angelique suspiciously eyed him. “What wasthat?”
