Page 20 of Veil of Night & Flames

“And yet he’s still there.”

“I have personally asked your uncle if he wished to be returned home. He assured me he didn’t. He is quite taken with the library, as you well know.” All true. And Cora need not know that he was remaining silent on a few other truths she might not abide as well.

For a moment, he thought she would call him out on the white lie, but apparently she’d decided to hold her tongue. Probably because she feared that he might decide any friction between them was a reason to immediately end this journey to her realm.

“Onward to Tia,” she finally said. “And I do wish you could meet her today. I think you’d like her. She’s got absolutely no barriers and speaks her mind and goes after what she wants.”

He met her eyes. “Sounds like someone I know.”

Her cheeks turned adorably pink. “Yeah, a bit. But she’s like me on crack. It took only about fourteen seconds for us to bond. Possibly less.” She drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “I miss her. She should have been at our ceremony.”

The words sent a shot of warmth through him. He knew she only meant that she’d wanted her friend there for support. But he let himself believe it was because she’d been moved by the meaning of the ceremony and was truly becoming his.

“What?” She leaned toward him.

“I was just thinking that it must be wonderful to have a friend like that.”

“You have Kali,” she said, and he heard the knife-edge in her voice.

“No.” The word was firm. He almost said that once upon a time he’d had his brother, but he held his tongue. What was that saying? No point in crying over spilled milk. And that bond had been spilled a long time ago. He should know. He’d been the one who spilled it.

“Tia,” he pressed, not only because he wanted to hear about the girl who was so important to his bride, but also because he simply wanted something to push out the lingering thoughts of his brother.

“Well, I’ve only known her for about five minutes, even though it seems like years. We were assigned the same room and hit it off immediately. She’s sharp—like, scary smart—but she comes off as flighty and woo-woo, so most people underestimate her. At their own peril,” she added with a laugh. “She’s also the only person I’ve ever told the truth about my dreams—well, I guess I sort of told the freaky Oneiroi people, but they already knew.”

He cringed slightly at the mention of that ridiculous cabal, but held his tongue. They were pests, but he couldn’t imagine them ever being a danger.

“I told Tia about my dreams before I understood any of this. I told her about you and about Chase rescuing me from those freaky nightmare beaches. You know. Pretty much all of it.”

She shrugged, her expression charmingly bewildered. “And the thing is, she believed me. She’s my person,” Cora added, and he could almost feel the sadness radiating off of her. She missed her friend, and her pain felt like a twinge in his gut.

He pushed it away.

“And the other one? Riley?”

“Tia’s girlfriend. Recent. Computer science major, but somehow ended up in Tia’s Religious Studies class, and they hit it off. She’s softer than Tia, but she’s not soft. If that makes sense.”

“It does.”

They walked in silence for a stretch, and he took the chance to study her—not the Bride, not the woman he’d claimed as his betrothed so that he could be free of his castle—but the girl he’d watched in dreams before he even let her see him. Cora, whose mother had died by his brother’s blade.

He wondered if she knew. He considered asking her, then pushed the thought away. The truth would hurt her if she didn’t already know. If she knew, the reminder would pick at a scab. True, he was tempted to give her a reason to pull away from his brother. But not when the reason would cut her so deeply.

Instead, he chose to study this woman he loved. He’d thought he knew every facet. Now he realized that he’d had only the dream of her. The shadow version that existed when she crossed into his realm, leaving so much of herself behind.

“What about you?” she asked.

“Me?”

“Do you have a close friend? Someone other than the sycophantic, raging, power-hungry bitch with a mean streak you keep on your payroll?”

He bit back a laugh. “I can’t say you’re wrong. But those are also qualities that make her well-suited for her job as my lieutenant and closest confidant.”

“And you sleep with her.”

His body tensed, and he cursed his brother. “I do not love her. Nor have I bedded her since I found you in dreams.”

“Oh.” Her cheeks went pink. “Not that it matters,” she said. “It’s not as if we’re ever going to have a real marriage. And I already told you I’m not giving up Chase. Not unless he gives me up. And if you force me to go through with an actual wedding, then there will be absolutely zero sex after we say, I do.” She tilted her head and nailed him with an overly sweet smile, then added, “Prophecy, remember?”