Oh.
She shook her head, cheeks flushing with embarrassment. Yes, she had a past. But she felt as inexperienced as a sheltered priestess.
Sebastian swept his free thumb across her cheek. “Do you want me to show you?”
Yes. “I want you to show me everything.”
Sebastian’s beautiful hazel eyes sparkled. He pressed another deep kiss to her lips before tugging her hips closer to the edge of the table. With worshipping kisses trailed down her body, he dropped to his knees and showed her what it meant to be loved.
Chapter 63
Mariah woke to the trill of songbirds.
Pale dawn sunlight leaked into their tent. Though it was the peak of summer, nights this deep in the Everheim Mountains were always cold, and a chill lingered in the morning air.
Despite the furs bundled around her, despite the way Andrian clutched her to his chest in his sleep, Mariah shivered.
She knew it had nothing to do with the cold, though.
Nervousness alighted in the pit of her stomach like butterflies taking flight. She was to go into thestaortoday. To face whatever waited for her on the god’s plane.
She would get her magic back. She had to. Whatever the price, she’d pay it. Whatever the trade, she’d make it. She had no other option.
That didn’t make it any less terrifying. Especially knowing it wasaberrantsitting in the middle of that too-still pond.
She and Andrian had kept their concerns to themselves. They’d been quiet through dinner, then quiet as they’d all retreated to their tents. There was nothing they needed to say; he read the apprehension on her just as much as she read thefear on him. What was the point of asking a question when you already knew the answer?
But that was last night. Action faced her this morning. And she wanted to know what she was getting herself into before it happened.
She unwound herself from Andrian as gently as she could, hissing softly as more of her skin found the cold morning air. A smile tugged at her lips as he grumbled and scowled, hot fingers wrapping around her wrist.
“Don’t leave,nio.”
Her heart constricted, warmth blooming through her chest and chasing off some of her chill. She gently pulled her wrist from his grasp but brushed his messy dark hair from his handsome face, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead.
“Never,” she whispered. “But I need to talk to Callamus.”
His scowl softened, but he didn’t open his eyes. “Come back when you’re done.”
She chuckled. “Or you can get up. I don’t want to put this off longer than I have to.” She withdrew from him, ignoring his final mumbled protests. Pulling on a pair of soft leather breeches and a wool sweater, she stepped into the morning light.
It was still early, maybe even before sunrise. Hazy pinks and soft lavenders painted the sky, the mountains gilded in lines of pale gold.
Callamus was also awake. He sat at the top of the trail, braced against a boulder on the edge of the rise above thestaor.
His head was tipped up toward the sky, instead of down at the still pond below. His shoulder-length indigo hair flowed around him on the breeze, his galaxy-filled eyes closed. A soft smile tugged at the corners of his lips, as if thinking of a happy memory.
“I love the sky at this time of day.”
Mariah nearly started when he spoke. She swallowed, composing herself quickly. “It’s very beautiful.”
“Indeed. But it’s not just that.” The god pulled in a deep breath, eyes opening on his exhale. “It is the time when my night sky meets the day. When my dominion relinquishes control to Rulene. It feels like falling asleep and waking up at the same time, that beautiful place of silent tranquility before the loudness of the world breaks back in.”
Mariah nodded, unsure what to say. She followed Callamus’s gaze up to the sky, letting the breeze wrap around her, doing all she could to ignore that strange tug in the pit of her stomach.
The one that stretched to the still pool below her, quietly beckoning her forward.
She’d felt that beckoning before.
