Page 98 of Veil of Night & Flames

“You know I love him, too,” I whisper. “This morning, I told him so.”

For a moment, he doesn’t react, and I fear I’ve crossed his line in the sand. “You didn’t have to do that,” he says, as that fear turns my blood to ice.

Then he meets Adric’s eyes with a soft smile. “He already knew,” Chase says, and the fear that had coiled in my blood shifts into warm, sweet relief.

“He hoped, Brother,” Adric says. “What I knew was that she loves you.”

A moment passes. Then Chase nods. “I guess that makes the two of us some pretty lucky men.”

“Yes,” Adric says, his eyes cutting to me. “I think it does.”

I exhale, only then realizing how tense I’d been—and that I’m the one in the room who’s truly lucky.

“Well,” I say perkily. “That was a thing.” I clear my throat, then turn back to Chase. “Whistler?”

“Stable. Solenne’s with him.”

“You’re okay?”

He doesn’t answer with words. Instead, he pulls me in for a slow, deep kiss. When he breaks it, my heart is pounding, and my body’s on fire all over again.

“Chase,” I murmur, but he presses a finger to my lips, then leads me to the bed, then nods to Adric, still twisted in the sheets. “Brother?”

I hold my breath, hearing the question in that one simple word.

Then I smile as Adric pulls the covers back in silent invitation.

Chapter

Twenty-Nine

Iwake in Chase’s bed the next morning feeling deliciously sore, more than a little tired, and wildly happy.

I’m also starving, though my gut clenches when I look around and can’t find Adric.

Thankfully, the Adric part of the equation solves itself fast—there’s a bouquet of white daisies on the side table and a folded note propped against the lamp. I slide out from under Chase’s arm, careful not to wake him, and carry both to the kitchenette—water for the flowers, a can of cold brew for me, because I need caffeine and I’m too impatient to wait for Mr. Coffee to do his thing.

The daisies go in a giant mug, because apparently Chase is exactly as much of a guy as I’d figured and doesn’t own a vase.

Then I unfold the note and read it in Adric’s careful, old-fashioned script.

Beloved, you are lovely when you sleep, and I would happily watch for hours. But realm business calls, and I have stayed too long already. Come when you can.

PS—I would not trade last night for anything.

I read it twice, grinning like an idiot, and that’s when I notice the thing that flicks cold through all the warmth. Nowhere in that lovely note does Adric say a single word about the barriers. Or the keystone. Or the dead zone eating its way across my campus.

Realm business. His realm.

Not mine.

I push the thought down before it can take root, because I refuse to let it ruin the best morning of my life. So what if Adric didn’t mention the Real? He had to leave before dawn, and you don’t fit the apocalypse into a love note. That’s all it is.

Except of course, that’s not all it is…

I grimace, then fold the worry up small and tuck it away with the note. Then I take a swallow of cold brew and turn around to find Chase pushed up on one elbow, watching me with a sleepy expression I can’t quite read.

Then his eyes cut to the empty side of the bed, and he jolts up, now fully awake and, apparently, remembering last night in all its glorious detail.