Titus and I ran—and did not stop until we were all the way back up top just in case she changed her mind.
CHAPTER 26
The Veil
DELILAH
We ran and ran and didn’t stop until we could see the sky. My legs and feet hurt so badly from exhaustion that I nearly collapsed. Titus had to pull me the rest of the way by my wrist when my legs gave out near the end.
The moment we stepped out of the cave, the glamour magic returned. I could tell immediately because my legs were suddenly inches longer, which caused me to trip and fall right into the High Lord’s hard chest. When my eyes met his, I felt a chain yank on my heart. Something about the dimming sun, something about his darkened hair and defined jaw… he almost looked like Jared.
But while I gazed at him in longing and admiration, I didn’t receive the same look back. Everything about Titus’s body language screamed aversion—so different from an hour ago in the cave. What had changed?
Uncomfortable, I pushed away and stood on my own two feet. We finished catching our breath in silence. Needing to relieve the pain in my legs, I sat on a large flat rock beside the path.
A million things rushed through my mind. Like:Is this going to be a what-happens-in-the-cave-stays-in-the-cave kind of thing?And:Oh my God, we almost got crushed by a fuckingrock dragon.And every other thought that could exist in between.
“We should check on the eggs,” he said pulling me from my internal spiral. “Make sure they’re intact, from all of your… falling.”
He said it smugly, but it was really an order.
That was what he was worried about? The damn eggs? Not how I may be feeling physically or emotionally?
I scoffed internally, swung my pack around, and loosened the drawstring. I pulled out the crystallized egg and examined it.
“All good,” I confirmed with a detectable amount of attitude. “Yours?” I asked.
“Fine,” he said simply. “Good,” I replied, vacant.
He seemed overly—annoyingly—concerned with the one egg that was my responsibility to carry. I had no doubt that if he’d had room in his pack for all three, he would’ve insisted on carrying them all, like he didn’t trust me.
In the Lithovore’s cavern, he’d asked me to trust him—and in that moment, though it was probably foolish, I had. Was I not worthy of the High Lord’s trust? Had I not done everything he’d asked, and just saved our lives?
He was infuriating. One moment he was telling me he was falling for me, fingering me into oblivion, and the next he could barely look at me.
He glanced at the sun low in the sky. “It’ll be dark soon. If we hurry, we can make it to the lake before nightfall. It would probably be best if we camp there and fly back in the morning.”
I sighed in relief. After the hike and running for my life, I was in no condition for a two-hour dragon ride in solid darkness.
“Sounds good,” I said.
We proceeded down the hill with nothing but crickets and wind rolling through dense leaves. I wasn’t sure why he was so quiet—so distant. Maybe he was exhausted. I could understand that. Or maybe he was processing everything that had happened in the mines.
He wasn’t the type to show emotions, and we’d burned through more than enough of them down there. I decided to give him space and followed a few paces behind.
As the sun sank, it smeared the sky in cotton-candy pinks, blues, and bruised purples.
I loved how vibrant the colors were here in the Faerie Realm— one more small thing I would miss if I ever made it home.
We crossed back through the checkpoint with no issues. They didn’t check our bags. They let us pass without questions.
When we crossed into the Kingdom of Flame the tension in Titus’s shoulders eased. Once we were far enough away, he broke the silence.
“Go sit on that stump over there,” he commanded. “Why?” I asked, suspiciously.
“Now that we’re back in my kingdom, I’m removing the glamour. I don’t want you to fall and break the egg in your pack.”
The stump sat a few yards off the path. I was eager to sit because my legs were screaming, but I didn’t want him to think
