The words sounded like a promise, maybe more than that. I hoped it was true, as those memories would linger, their assault still all too fresh.
I swallowed. “Do you mean you’re stronger now?”
He studied me for a moment. “Yes. I should have full access to my mana now.”
Before we returned to Mountheim Hall, we’d told him everything. That something had stopped his curse from breaking, that Varian didn’t deny his involvement in front of the judge, that I’d agreed to search for any interference that might have caused it, and the person responsible.
He looked stricken after we told him, the shock and guilt taking turns in shaping his handsome features.
“Good. The thought of you trapped like that...” I murmured, but didn’t finish.
I didn’t have to. The next moment, Reagan kissed me, deep and loving. There was no rush from either of us. It was just honest, endless. I might have wished to do this for the rest of my life.
We didn’t have that time. We had only until the end of my sentence, and I thought I would beg them to erase my mind by then. Because while Reagan felt like home, these lands would never be.
His mouth parted from mine.
“This might sound too territorial,” he said, licking his bottom lip, as if savouring the last of our kiss. “But let’s make one thing clear: your lips are strictly mine now. Not anyone else’s to taste. And definitely not my sister’s.”
I let out a chuckle and nodded.
Just a few more months.
The words were whispered in my mind, careless of the sting they inflicted. I didn’t want to think that far ahead. I wanted to think of now, with his feelings mirroring my own, of his lips claiming mine until my thoughts ceased.
Then a knock came from outside, breaking our contact.
“It’s Finn,” he said, brushing his nose against mine, still holding me as close as our bodies would allow. “Come in.”
When Finnegan opened the door, his expression had hardened, his eyes like steel as he fixed them on Reagan.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“We can’t wait anymore. She’s unhinged,” Finn said. “You need to bring her now.”
Caedmon stilled beside me, his hands gripping my waist tighter.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
Reagan cupped my cheek with his hand, watching me with a frown that made my stomach feel hollow. “We need to show you something, Jan. I will explain everything.”
“What is it?” I demanded, my gaze shifting between the two of them. “Are we in danger?”
He shook his head, letting his hands drop. “It’s not any danger. Come with me.”
So I followed them out of the room and toward a set of stairs. After climbing several floors, we found Gwinifer waiting for us beside an open door that led to one of the towers in the west wing.
“This should be fun,” she murmured, though her tone was dry, the sarcasm clear.
My skin prickled with unease. When I tried asking again, they responded with infuriating silence. We ascended the stone stairwell that spiralled higher and higher. With every step, the air grew more gelid, the wind howling outside, the city visible through narrow gaps in the walls. I was peeking through those gaps when I recalled something Reagan had said in the cabin, something about the west wing.
We arrived at what must have been the highest floor of the tower. The air was bitterly cold, snow drifted through the tall windows, and a thin layer of ice coated the jambs.
Gwinifer cursed. “It wasn’t like this before we left.”
I scanned the space as we made our way across it, following Finn and Gwinifer until we reached a wooden door rimmed with frost at the bottom. Finn unlocked the door and stepped inside, but Reagan stopped me before I could follow.
“I think I should tell you first. A few days ago, there was a disturbance in the Northern Forest, and I had to deal with it. It wasn’t an attack—” Reagan was saying, but he was cut short by a voice coming from the room.
