“Promise you’ll kiss me at another time. A time when I’m myself again.”
I blinked rapidly, unable to clear the foggy haze from my head. What was she asking? Shit. I couldn’t do this…
“I—”
“Yes?” she prompted.
“I promise,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Promise what? Say the words, Theron.”
“I… will kiss you. At some point. In the future.”
She withdrew slightly, a smile curving her lips. “Good. Now help me with this corset.” She turned around, and I froze at the sight of her half-done strings.
“Um. What?”
“If we aren’t doing this right now, I’d prefer to be fully clothed. It’s quite chilly.”
My eyes closed, and I practically slumped against the wall in relief. Thank the gods. She wanted me totiethem. Not undo them. My hands shook as I obliged, pulling on the strings.
“Harder,” she ordered.
I went rigid at the command in her voice, unable to stop myself from imagining a very different scenario in which she would say that word. I bit down on the inside of my cheek, focusing on that point of pain, then tugged on the stringstighter. She grunted slightly as I continued to tighten them, then tied them off at the end.
“More,” she muttered, her voice slightly slurred.
I frowned. “That’s it. It’s done.”
She murmured a garbled strand of something unintelligible. Before I could ask what the hell she was talking about, she slumped backward against me. I caught her and rolled my eyes. “What now?”
Eira said nothing. Her body was completely limp.
Shit.“Eira? Eira!” I fumbled, turning her around to face me. Her expression was slack, her eyes half closed. I patted her cheek, and she blinked, her eyelids fluttering.
“Wine,” she mumbled, her head lolling. “Sweet berries.”
My brow furrowed. “What?”
She grumbled something else incoherent, her body tilting toward me. I caught her by the shoulders and shook her roughly. “Eira,wake up!”
She drew in a sharp gasp, eyes flaring wide. Squinting in confusion, she rubbed her temples. “Blood and ice.What the hell was in that drink?”
I stilled. “Eira?” I asked hesitantly.
She jumped, then turned her head to look at me with a befuddled expression. “Theron? What—where are we?” She jerked out of my grasp, staring around the cave in confusion. “What did you do to me?” Her eyes narrowed.
I almost laughed. Oddly enough, I preferred to be around the Eira who hated me instead of the Eira who wanted to pin me to the wall and kiss me. My face still heated from the thought.
“You drank some Winterwing Brew,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “One of the pixies gave it to you.”
Eira’s eyes closed, and she rubbed her head again. “Gods, that hurts. How did I even get here?”
“I pulled you from the crowd. I was afraid you’d do something you would regret.”
Eira squinted at me, her brow furrowing. “And… did I?”
I didn’t answer.
