His scent infused my lungs. Aged leather and something wild, like gale of fresh wind.
I yearned to inhale until I got tipsy on the mixture. I longed to feel his hands the way I’d envisioned. But if I did, this one-sided desire would suffocate me.
Something caught him off guard, his irises flashing in astonishment. As if scalded, he yanked his hand from my shoulder. And as he did, his thumb unintentionally grazed the beauty mark above my upper lip, its circular shape and dark gradient resembling a tree knot.
I jerked back as well. “You can help by staying away. I’ll be better off without you hovering at my back all the time, so don’t expect me to be waiting when you return.”
My retort lashed like a whip. Hurt lacerated Aire’s expression before it hardened into something terrible.
Something that would last through time and distance.
As the light in his irises dulled, my soul ruptured. With a muscle ticking in his jaw, Aire turned and left. Stalking across the lane, he mounted the stallion, who turned on command and sprang into a furious gallop.
Hooves pounded against the ground like fists. His silhouette vanished, returning to the castle, to the revels, and to his guests.
While staring at the road, I pressed the whetstone to the spot where Rhys had grabbed me, the cool surface alleviating my bruise.
There. Aire had helped me after all.
And he was right about the patina surface nicked with silver. It was my favorite color.
“Do… you like it?”
Aspen of Autumn didn’t shed tears. Aspen of Autumn didn’t pine for a man.
My eyes stung. I clutched the whetstone to my heart.
“I love it,” I whispered into the night. “So much.”
I made sure to keep my voice down. I would get over him, because I couldn’t afford the alternative. Being susceptible placed people who mattered in danger.
I’d have plenty of time to cry myself to sleep later. In bed, when no one was around.
Until then, I pocketed the whetstone and sighed loudly, acting relieved by his departure. Then I moved. In a flash, my fingers snatched the axe. Spinning, I veered toward the shifty hedge.
My arm swung. The axe tumbled, hacking through the foliage. A second later, the blade found its mark, and a grunt rumbled through the woods.
I jetted toward the noise, barreling into the thicket. Skidding on my heels, I paused. The hatchet was embedded into a tree trunk, speckles of blood staining the bark.
Whoever I grazed, the chickenshit had scurried off. A lucky draw, considering my aim had been precise. I’d been tracking their position for a while during the argument with Aire.
Growling, I yanked the axe from the tree, my joints aching from the long-distance throw. Fueled by rage, I’d taken a shot in the dark. Though, it hadn’t been without due consideration. Under normal circumstances, this would come back to bite me in the ass. The eavesdropping lowlife could report this affront to Rhys.
Except they wouldn’t. That would only make them look incompetent against a likely younger counterpart, which would disgust Rhys, who had no patience for sissies and even less time for sympathy. Whimpering about a gash would only earn that sycophant a demotion, if not the king’s indignation. No opportunist in Summer’s cult would chance that.
As for the parting scene between Aire and me, that stooge would be taking the juicy details back to Rhys. Because Summerguessed my vulnerability earlier, I’d had no choice but to drive the knife deeply into Aire. My performance had been as stellar as Poet and Briar’s whenever they worked a crowded room.
Remnants of Aire’s tormented expression lanced through me. My final moments with him. All the honest things I’d wanted to say. The lies I told instead.
Rhys would believe the story. If the perceptive First Knight hadn’t caught onto the ruse, that bumbling ruler sure as shit wouldn’t.
“The only thing you’re good for, is what I say you’re good for. Liar. Cheater. Killer. That’s what you are.”
Liar. Cheater. Killer.
Mutant. Traitor. Someone.
The nicknames others have given me piled up like dry kindling. With so many under my belt, sometimes it was hard to remember who I really was.
