My heart catches.No one’s ever asked me that.“I don’t know… I doubt I would’ve had any interest in incanting if it weren’t for my father, but it’s taken up so much of my life that it’s all I am. There was never a chance to find a purpose of my own.” Even my tutors’ lessons, while well-rounded, all led back to something I’d need to know as an officer in the Order.
“Not even painting?”
He remembered.Warmth spreads from my smile to my toes, and I wrap my arm around his, snuggling into him. “I enjoy it, but it’s not really a purpose. Just something that makes life more bearable.”
“I get it. Sometimes I feel like I’m a square block being shoved into a circular hole.”
And in that moment, he sees me more than anyone else has. Like sunlight thawing my skin on a cloudy day.
He brings his finger to my chin, tilting my face to meet his smoky eyes. “You know what makes my life more bearable?”
He’s so close that his clove scent fills my lungs, a heat curling deep within me.
“What?”
His face tugs into a smile. “You.”
My breath hitches as my lips part, anticipating his kiss. I lean close, closing my eyes…
Instead, he touches his forehead to mine and whispers, “Come with me.”
He threads our fingers and pulls me out of the booth, weaving us through the crowded tavern and out into the chilly night, only a few bells past sunset.
“Where are we going?” I ask breathlessly, then Caeo sweeps me into his arms with a kiss that lifts me to my toes. Three chimes from the clock tower ring before he releases me, my arms still wrapped around his neck as he brings his lips to my ear, his warm breath brushing my skin.
“I have an idea.”
He pulls me toward the center of town, my mind barely keeping up with my feet as they stumble along the cobblestone street. Paper lanterns, glowing a warm peachy pink, light our path as we pass villagers and Academy students, chatting excitedly about their night out.
Moments later, we stand at the brick wall surrounding the base of Haven’s clock tower, which rises multiple stories over the surrounding buildings. Supposedly it’s open during the day to climb to the top, but the wrought-iron gate’s currently locked.
“They built this wall after I fell and cracked my head.” Caeo glances around before leaning close. “Are you willing to commit a few more crimes tonight?”
My eyes widen. “What are you thinking?”
“We need to get over the wall.”
I look it up and down. It’s about eight feet tall.
“I think I can do that.”
After ensuring no one else is around, I focus my incantation on where the wall meets the earth. Thick vines sprout up, slithering along the clay bricks before curling over the top. Caeo tugs on them to test their strength—they don’t budge. He briefly releases my hand as he scales the wall ahead of me, waiting at the top for me to join him. Our fingers entwine as I summon wind to cushion our landing on the other side, then destroy all evidence of our passing by crumbling the vines to dust. I can’t tell in the darkness if three incantations were enough to make the bricks fade, but at least no one else would, either.
Caeo leads me across the yard to the tower, constructed mostly of wood and stone. While I know someone decorated every inch of the exposed wood with floral designs in every color imaginable, it’s too dark to appreciate their work. As we climb the interior stairs, I run my fingers along the walls, noting they’ve also been painted, but I can’t make out the details.
“You see this flower?” Caeo asks, pausing to point at a spot in the inky blackness. “I added the face when I was twelve.”
I can’t see anything, so I just say, “It’s nice.”
“Nice?” He laughs. “You can be honest. It’s pretty gruesome.”
“You’ll have to bring me back sometime when it’s light out.”
“It’s a date.” He gives me a tug, and we continue our ascent. While I keep clipping my feet on the steps, he’s nowhere near as clumsy; his soft footfalls barely make the wood creak. We finally reach the highest level, where the tower’s copper bells, each larger than a person, hang another twenty feet above our heads. The night sky spills in through a balcony, and Caeo gently guides me toward it.
I gasp as we step into the brisk air—I’ve never been so high up. If it were daytime, I’m certain I’d see the far-off forests and mountains.
Firelight flickers in paper lanterns lining the streets below, and warm light pours out of open doors and windows. Couples walk the streets, holding hands, and a sense of connection pulses between us as my fingers trace Caeo’s arm at my waist.
