The moment the words left her lips, she knew she’d made a colossal mistake—as evidenced by the devilish grin that stretched across Reeve’s face.
“I’ll heat you up any time you want, Viridia Solace.” His grin widened, his tone deepening with meaning—and promise. “No magic necessary.”
Viri’s cheeks warmed even more, but she refused to let him see her flustered. “Trust me, the only thing I want you for is your magic.”
“Ahh, so you’re finally admitting that you want me. We’re making progress.”
“That’s not what I—” Viri snapped her mouth shut and glared at him.
“Careful.” He touched his finger to her forehead. “They say if the wind changes, you’ll be stuck like that forever.”
Viri batted his hand away. “You’re infuriating.”
“If you mean infuriatingly good-looking, then yes, I am. I’m also infuriatingly charming, infuriatingly patient, infuriatingly loyal, infuriatingly—”
“—full of yourself,” Viri said for him.
“I think the word you mean is ‘confident,’ and yes, I’m that, too. Admit it, it’s one of your favorite things about me.”
“I don’t have any favorite things about you.”
“We both know that’s not true. Our little moment in the Summit showed us just how much you like my—”
Viri slammed her hand over his mouth, keeping him from finishing. His silver eyes shone ethereally in the blue light, his humor unmistakable. But then realization hit her and she released him to accuse, “You’re trying to distract me.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Why would I do that?”
“Because you know I don’t want to get back in the cold water.”
“MaybeIdon’t want to get back in the cold water. Only one of us has magic hands.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Viri snorted despite herself.
“Unless those magic hands can summon a raft or pull one from your magepocket, then we might as well get this over with.” She turned on the narrow rock, preparing to dive back in. But she couldn’t bring herself to take the plunge.
Seeing her hesitation, Reeve said, “Do you remember our last summer together before—” He broke off, winced, then cleared his expression to continue, “You were determined to beat me and Brae across the river mouth between Lake Mirtis and River Mort. You made us swim it at least a hundred times before you finallywon.”
A nostalgic smile touched Viri’s lips. “And then I made you swim it another hundred more, just to prove I could keep beatingyou.”
“Which you did, every time,” Reeve said, pride clear in hisvoice. “Let’s see if you still have what it takes.” He gestured toward the bank in the distance. “Race you?”
She acted as if she were thinking about it, when they both knew she was already going to be swimming as fast as she could to get out of the cold. “What do I get if I win?”
Reeve’s devilish grin returned. “My magic hands making youhot.”
Viri choked on a laugh. “And if you win?”
His eyes danced as he repeated, “My magic hands making you hot. It’s win-win for me.”
Viri bit her cheek to keep from laughing again. “You used to put a lot more thought into deciding prizes.”
“Maybe I just know what I want now.”
His meaning was impossible to miss, causing Viri’s heart to skip a beat, but she didn’t have time to dwell on his words or remind herself of everything he was—reaper, monster, killer—before he continued, “On three?”
She nodded, grateful to ignore what he’d just said and the contradictory feelings he elicited in her.
“One,” he counted, bending forward and preparing to dive.
“Two,” she said, copying his move and already dreading the cold she knew was coming.
