“Thank you.” Cupping my fingers, I splash my other hand.
He returns the top to his flask and stuffs it back into his pocket.
Are thosecutson his shoulder? It looks like he might have been grazed by some pesky thorns. I hate it when that happens. Back home, they used to snag my skirts something awful.
Hesitantly, I raise my damp fingers to the small scratches.
Everett stiffens beneath my touch, and his nostrils flare. In hindsight, I probably should’ve asked his permission the way he asked mine. Oh, well. It’s too late now.
Muttering an apology, I dry my hands on my skirts.
Everett drives a hand through his hair, sweeping the dark strands from one side of his forehead to the other. “Why have you come, Kerris Dawn?”
For some reason, knowing he remembers my name makes me feel as if I could fly all the way back to the cottage.
“It’s just Kerris. We’re friends so you don’t have to use my surname. And to answer your question?—”
A sudden wind whips across my cheeks, and Everett hisses out a breath, cutting off my explanation. He stalks past me to collect the missing panels, replacing them one by one, muttering, “You must return home.”
“But—” I haven’t even gotten to ask my questions.
Everett’s dark brows slam down over narrowed eyes. “Go.Now.”
The urgency in his tone leaves me whirling for my side of The Divide. Even though I know all the planks are there, I still hold tight to the ropes, just in case.
When I’m safely standing on Seelie dirt, I turn to find Everett only a step behind. The man moves like a shadow, not even the boards creaking under his feet. He comes to a halt on the final plank, his dark eyes trained on the ground.
His fingers flex and stretch at his sides, the muscles along his chiseled jaw jumping.
“Do it,” I say.
His head lifts and our gazes lock. Something deep and knowing stirs in my chest the same way it did the first day at the well.
“Go on. I dare you. Don’t let me be the only one breaking the rules tonight.”
With his gaze still on me, he takes the final step.
I don’t know why, but this seems like a small victory after the monumental failure of my visit to the Unseelie fae.
To my delight, Everett doesn’t stop there. He escorts me along the outskirts of the city, all the way to my aunt and uncle’s back gate.
Once I close and lock the latch, he turns and disappears into the night, leaving me to sneak back to my bed, my heart filled with so much excitement it’s bound to burst.
It isn’t until I’m drifting off to sleep that I realize: Everett led me back home…
But I never told him where I live.
15
Everett
“The kiss of spring is all it takes to make the winter flee.”
An Unseelie Fable, Author Unknown
Irun all the way back to the canyon. The moment I reach the bridge, I slow my pace so the fate that nearly befell Kerris does not claim me as well. If I had not heard her cry for help, she would have fallen to the bottom, never to be seen or heard from again. Dropped like one of those stones Maddox insists on throwing night in, night out.
On my way, I collect the box she brought for me.
