CHAPTER 25
Someone was coming, judging by the deliberate, noisy steps echoing through the hallway. I could tell by the sound and pace of his firm walk over the stone floor. Not upset, not entirely at ease either. A bit eager. Reagan smiled as he took me in, took in all the tomes I’d piled over the table, perusing the titles that now spoke of magecraft rather than romance novels.
“Here you are,” he said, his hair still wet from a recent bath, his button-down shirt white and fresh.
“How was Eldritch?” I asked, spinning in the chair to fully face him, scanning him as I’d done every time he returned from patrols.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Let’s wait one minute, so I only have to tell this once more,” he replied, then dropped to his knees in front of my chair.
Reagan stretched his arms next to my thighs, leaning forward to place a kiss on each one. Not seductively, but with tenderness.
“What are you doing?” he asked, nodding toward the book open on the table.
“Reading about runes and what else I could do with them, besides protection,” I explained with a casual shrug.
“So very curious, Miss Darling,” Reagan said, flashing a satisfied smile as he looked at me. “So very dedicated to your studies. You know, you can always ask me too.”
A grin slipped from my lips. “I know, but I like to read. I remembered seeing this book before and needed something specific.” I parted my knees slightly, allowing him to slide between them.
I hadn’t told Reagan about the scar I’d been carving into my own skin, and so far, he hadn’t noticed. “I know runes fuel the relics we use, but I don’t know how you make them.”
“It’s not every mage who is familiar with carving runes into relics. We have runesmiths for that. For what would you want another rune?”
“For something like a portal, so I could visit other towns and estates more easily without you or Finn. Or at least have a way to return to Mountheim.”
Reagan made an impressed hum. “I like the way your mind works,” he murmured, his face inches from mine. “I could help you test the runes.”
My eyes narrowed at that handsome face. “Will I have to give you something in return?”
He looked amused, his voice low. “Only if you want to.”
This felt good, a new intimacy I was quickly growing into. Too quickly. Part of me stirred with guilt because of it, for enjoying myself while I had left Joy and Father alone with all they had to tend to regarding his sickness. All because my high-paying job in the Capital allowed me to send a good share of my wages to them.
Still, I wasn’tthere. But maybe I could have this. Maybe Zara and Godric—the watchful forces over magekin—thought I deserved it.
His arms pulled me closer, his lips brushing mine. Reagan smelled of soap and cedarwood, his hands warmer than usual, as if touched by some sort of power.
“Are you making him beg already?” Gwinifer asked, looking diverted, leaning against the doorframe.
She and Finn stared at us before they made their way inside the study. Gwinifer went for the couch while the emissary walked towards the wall next to the window and leaned back, eating a pear he had brought with him. They wore casual clothes, just plain shirts and soft sweaters in place of the usual tailored suits or leather.
“I don’t think you want to know what your brother and I were doing,” I answered her.
Reagan faced me with a delighted and unsubtle look.
“We definitely don’t,” Finn chimed in, taking a bite of his fruit.
“Fine,” she said, then looked back at her brother. “How was it at Eldritch?”
Reagan lowered himself, taking a seat on the floor between my knees. “Silas was right. There was a hole in the ward. It left an opening, just enough for Grims to sneak through from the border. Maybe it was that breach that drew so many of them to the city.”
“But Eldritch is so far from here,” Finn said, his olive eyes shifting between us. “It would have taken them more than a day to get here. How long was the ward down for?”
“And for that many to travel together and arrive on the day of the Rite? It doesn’t sound natural,” Gwin added, her mid-length locks shining so black they were almost blue.
“I thought the same, which meant if they came from Eldritch, they were led here.” Reagan paused, and I could only assume he was sharing a look with the staff members. “And I searched thearea around it. I couldn’t find residue of any spells or anything that broke the ward.”
“No smells?” Finn asked, furrowing his blond brows.
