The worst had passed. I shook my head.
Gavin adjusted his hold, easing me down with him onto the thick mat he’d unrolled. His arms stayed around me. He didn’t let go.
“I’ll make sure the fire doesn’t go out,” he said. “We should keep one lit whenever we can. I’ll figure something out for when we’re inside the castle. A torch, maybe.”
A ghost of a laugh slipped free. “You’re the brawn. I’m supposed to be the problem solver in our partnership. You’re leaving me with nothing to do. I’ll have to retire.”
Gavin smoothed his hand over my hair. “Sounds good to me. Let’s retire to a house by the sea. I may even own one.”
“Stole one,” I whispered, burying my forehead into the crook of his neck.
“We’ll hammer out the details. I’m fantastic with a hammer.”
Another laugh burned in my throat.
Gods help me, I loved him.
The fire crackled, its glow flickering against the walls. The storm still raged, wind bracketing the windows, rain drumming against the battered roof.
“Tell me a story, Mare. Like you used to.” Gavin’s voice was quiet, almost coaxing. A whispered request he’d made so many times before when we'd camped under the stars.
I hesitated, but only for a moment. I had a story. One I hadn’t been able to tell him or even admit to myself until now.
I wet my lips, nerves dancing under my ribs, and let my soft voice fill the room.
“Once, there was a girl who fell into the sea.”
Gavin’s breath brushed against my neck in a sharp inhale. “What happened to her?”
“She was imprisoned by an evil witch who tricked her into believing her life was over. That she’d failed her family, lost her friends, and helped to start a war against a once peaceful kingdom.”
Gavin’s fingers flexed over my hip, then relaxed. He was listening. Feeling every word.
“The girl was chained and forced to work in underwater mines, chipping away at minerals embedded in jagged stone. It was dark… cold… terrifying. She wished it would end. Hundreds of times… a thousand. Every day, she carved marks into the stone just to prove she was still alive.”
I swallowed around the sting in my throat. “She hated the witch for stealing everything she loved. She hated the man who'd broken her heart. But most of all, she hated herself for believing she was easy to forget.”
His hand stilled against my spine, a faint tremor running through his fingers before they tightened.
“And after that?”
“A mermaid told her of a legend that could save the kingdom and earn her freedom. But when the sea queen let her go, it wasn't freedom. It was a curse disguised as a second chance. And when she came back… nothing was the same. A devious thief had stolen her house. Then he took the seeds she needed right out from under her. She wanted to make him pay. So she chained him to a rail. He chased her to the vine. And when they climbed, he should have let her fall. She deserved that.”
“He would never.”
The words scraped as if he'd carved them in stone.
I angled my head. “This is my story, not yours.”
“Sorry.” But he didn’t sound sorry. His thumb skated undermy chin. “Just helping you fill in some important details.”
Our gazes collided in the narrow space between us. “The most important detail is that the girl isn’t the same one who drowned. Who clawed herself back from the depths. She changed because of him.”
Gavin’s eyes flared. I didn’t look away.
“After everything I've been through…” My voice softened. “You need to know how much I rely on you.”
His chest rose on a deep inhale.
