I flushed an even brighter red as her laugh echoed down the hall.
We endedup making an appearance upstairs. I steeled myself for princess duty, grateful to have the other three backing me up. We stayed as a foursome, Griff somehow making polite conversation with them as though we hadn’t just had an intense conversation about our feelings that changed everything. As if he hadn’t almost kissed me. But I knew I hadn’t imagined it—when the other two were distracted, he kept looking at me with that unreadable expression that I now knew masked his hunger. He stayed close, his body brushing up against mine whenever we shifted, too often to be accidental. The tingling in my stomach flared with every touch. Once, his hand found mine, hidden by my skirts. He wove our fingers together, his thumb caressing my palm, before releasing it.
I was going to be a puddle before the night was over.
The night dragged on. When I decided I’d done my princessly duty for long enough, I excused myself. I felt his eyes burning into my back as I eased out of the Great Hall, and I might have added a little extra swish to my walk for him.
The empty hallways echoed my footsteps. I half expected him to appear behind me at any moment. When he didn’t, I held out hope that when he showed up in my room, we could pick up where we’d left off. Now that I knew he felt the same, I could admit to myself that I had been drawn to him the first time I saw him, and everything that had happened since that day six months ago had simply deepened it. There was a rightness to the world when he was present, as if everything had slotted into the correct spot. And an aching hole when he was gone.
I changed out of the beautiful and wrinkled dress into nightclothes, took down my hair, and braided it back. Still no sign of him.
Where the hell was he?
I crawled into bed alone, thoughts racing over everything that had happened that evening. Had I misinterpreted something? I didn’t see how; he’d admitted there was something between us.
Finally, just as I started to drift off, the bed creaked. My drowsy brain wasn’t alarmed; it had sensed his presence when he entered the room. He crawled under the covers and took up his usual position—his front to my back, arm loosely circling my waist. To hell with restraint. I scooted back into him, one of my hands threading with his. His arm tightened, gently brushing under my breasts as he curved his legs behind mine, our bodies touching everywhere. I could feel him thicken as I pressed back against him.
I took my first deep breath in hours as I felt the ghost of a kiss on the top of my head. I could have sworn I heard, “You looked beautiful tonight,” as I drifted off to sleep, surrounded by his warmth.
The next morning,he was gone before I woke up.
Guess we were back to not talking about what was, or wasn’t, happening between us.
I reached for Violet’s journal where it now lived on my nightstand. Flipping through it aimlessly, my fingers caught on a page, thicker than the rest, as though two pages were glued together. I pried at it until one of the pages ripped and a piece of paper fluttered out to land on the bedspread.
My eyes went wide as I saw the words written there.
Hey, kiddo.
Chapter
Thirty-One
The day is creeping ever closer. I feel it in my bones. I pray to Solais and anyone else who may be listening that I’m strong enough to complete my task. I’ve known from the start where my path ended, but now that it’s here… Oh gods, I wish I had more time.
—From the journal of Violet Andrever
Iskimmed through my aunt’s handwriting, several lines jumping out at me.
A bond here and a bond there.
The bonds that hold the universe together are weakened on High Days, which means?—
I snapped the book shut. This was how I got my answers. I needed to go now. And I needed Finn.
I found him in the kitchen, slumped over the wooden table with his head in his hands, a cup of something steaming next to him. He might be hungover but at least he was awake. I glanced at a clock—eight in the morning. If I was right about this, I had about sixteen hours left.
“Finn.” I roughly shook his shoulder.
He let out a groan. “Voda’s tits, Lexie.”
Wordlessly, I slid the letter in front of him, my hands shaking slightly. He glared up at me with bloodshot eyes but took it. As he read, his expression cleared and he sat up straight.
“Is this what I think it is?”
“If you think it’s a letter from my aunt, my godsmother, then yes. This is how I get my answers.”
He read it again, his brow furrowed. “I’m not sure I follow. There aren’t answers here.”
