Page 18 of Veil of Night & Flames

He looked down. His coat of shadows had shifted into a human man’s jacket along with dark jeans and boots. Cora, too—her gown had transformed into simple jeans and a fitted top, and her copper hair hung loose around her shoulders. She looked like what she was. A college student who belonged here.

“Wow,” she said, tilting her head as she looked at him. “You look⁠—”

“Human?”

“Normal.”

He fought a smile. “Pity. I much prefer standing out.”

She laughed, then tilted her face up to the sun, her eyes closed, the corners of her mouth lifting into a smile of pure joy.

He liked seeing her happy. He just wished it was him and not the warmth of some distant star that made her glow like that.

She cleared her throat, then gave him a sheepish grin. “It’s nice being back.” She tilted her head. “Have you been here before?”

“Like this, no. Not since before humans left their caves. But I have watched,” he said, his eyes meeting hers. “I’ve seen many things in my scrying pool. Many beautiful things.”

“Oh.”

He noticed the way her cheeks went pink and fought the urge to smile.

“Tell me?” she asked, and he smiled, catching the subtle flavor of salt from the nearby ocean. “I’ve watched this realm through stolen glimpses for longer than you can imagine. First, as the Guardian, then from the prison of my castle. But I’ve never stood here. Never breathed in this air. Never looked up at your stars. I want to understand what I’m seeing, my love. I want to see this world through your eyes. To understand what it means to you.”

“It means everything to me,” she said, blinking back tears. “This place, and that you brought me here. Thank you.”

The words cut through him, as beautiful and sharp as if she’d said I love you.

He inclined his head, hoping she didn’t notice the depth of his feeling. The power she held over him. Hell, the danger she was to him.

Beside him, she glanced around, clearly trying to decide where to start. “This is an oak tree,” she said, peering up at the tree that sheltered them. “They’re everywhere here. They live for centuries.”

“I’m familiar,” he said. “But I do love how your face lights up when you speak of this simple tree.”

“Not simple. Fabulous. And they can grow very, very old. And that moss isn’t actually a parasite, even though it looks like one—it just hangs out and minds its own business. At least, that’s what Uncle Finn told me.”

“Spanish moss,” he said, more to cut off any question she might raise about her uncle than because of an interest in moss. Cora wanted Finn freed. Kali wanted him for leverage. And while Adric wanted nothing more than to keep his betrothed happy, on the matter of Finn, he agreed with the woman who was his good right hand.

Cora tilted her head, as if studying him. “How do you know about Spanish moss?”

“You’d be surprised at the things you pick up across the span of an eternity.”

“I’m thinking that if I were immortal, Spanish moss wouldn’t be high on my Love to Learn list.”

“And yet that I know of it has given us the basis of an actual conversation. At the moment, Spanish moss is my most beloved parasite.”

She rolled her eyes. “Not a parasite, remember?”

He chuckled. “The truth is that while I am aware of many things in your realm, I have experienced very few. Certainly, I have never touched your non-parasite.”

“I think we can remedy that.” She reached up and pulled a low-hanging strand free, then handed it to him. He turned it between his fingers, surprised by the dryness of it, the way it crumbled slightly. He’d expected something wetter. Something more like the gray-green vines that grew along his castle walls, pliable despite needing so little water.

“And them?” He nodded toward a cluster of students passing them.

“Sophomores. Probably. The backpacks are too beat up for freshmen and not beat up enough for juniors.”

“You can tell from the backpacks?”

She shook her head and grinned. “Honestly, I haven’t got a clue. But I figure I had a one-in-four chance, and it’s not like you’d know if I was wrong, anyway.”