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He tensed, caution flashing past the worry in his eyes. For a moment, I wasn’t even sure if he breathed, but then, that suddenly made two of us.
I stayed motionless, staring up at him. This close, so many details I’d never had the chance to appreciate became clear. The intricate mix of brown shades flecked by green and blue in his irises. The way his scars ever so slightly interrupted his beard on his cheek and jaw, and how they continued down his neck to his muscled chest like gnarled rivers crisscrossing his skin. His hair was a complex mix of dark brown and gray, like the fur of his other form. I suddenly wanted to reach up and run my fingers through it to see what it felt like.
A short breath escaped him as if he saw my impulse, and it shattered the moment. Carefully, he sat me up and then eased away as if wanting to let me go but wary I might collapse again without his support.
Regret tangled through me. I had no idea what Ozias truly thought of me. He went back and forth so often with how he treated me, I swore I’d sooner solve the mysteries of the universe than make sense of him.
“Are you okay?” His voice was gruff.
I nodded. “Are you?”
His head twitched in a short nod.
Neither of us made a move to get up.
I swallowed hard, trying to strengthen my voice. “I’m sorry I?—”
He made a sharp negating noise as if to dismiss my words before I could even speak them. “It’s fine.”
Silence prevailed once more.
I glanced around the cave, not sure what to do.
“Speak if you wish,” he said shortly.
I looked back. His eyes were on the cave floor like it had answers for all this.
Maybe to him, it did.
“What was that?” I asked. “What did you?—”
“I won’t come near you. You don’t need to worry.”
He shoved away from the cave floor and strode toward the exit.
I stared after him, baffled. “I didn’t say that.”
“It’s fine. I?—”
“Ozias!”
He stopped.
Carefully, I pushed to my feet and followed him. My legs shook like I’d run for too long, and my heart thudded hard for a few moments before settling again. “I wasn’t going to tell you to stay away.”
His head turned, but not enough to meet my eyes.
“I…” I hesitated, unsure whether my words would be welcome. But then, even if they weren’t, at least they’d be the truth. “I thought you were magnificent.”
Now he turned to me fully, incredulity and shock in his gaze, like I might as well have said I thought a poisonous snake would make a pretty necklace.
But then his expression turned to outrage. “Do not lie to me.”
“Lie?” I blinked. “I wasn’t!”
He snarled, turning again and stalking out of the cave.
“Why would you think I was lying?” I went after him, tensing a bit as sunlight poured down on me once again. The spell was holding, though. I only felt warmth, not pain. “Ozias?”
