I shrugged. “I’ve already forgiven you, Rohak. I understand. I just want to help.”
His shoulders relaxed and he nodded his head once before turning and giving Ilyas a small smile. “Thank you for helping him.”
Ilyas grunted in surprise. “He is my Mage and my soul’s other half. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for him.”
My heart glowed at both Ilyas’ conviction and Rohak’s apology.
Rohak held our gazes for another minute, searching for any lingering frustrations, and sighed heavily when he found none.
“Thank you, both. I’ve got it from here, if you need to see Sasori?” It was a dismissal, but a kind one. I nodded my head respectfully before clasping Ilyas on the shoulder, gently pushing him toward the door.
“Lex,” Rohak called, still squatting before Faylinn. “Meet me here after your lessons, please. I have some . . . things we need to discuss.”
A slight shadow passed over his eyes, and Faylinn turned to give him a small, sad smile.
I nodded again before turning for the door.
“Enjoy your meeting, Faylinn. Please let me know if you find anything interesting in your research,” I added quickly before Ilyas and I exited Rohak’s office, closing is door with a slightsnick.
I blew out a heavy breath, cracking my neck from side to side as Ilyas and I strode away from Rohak’s office.
“You’re going to have to tell her sooner rather than later,” Ilyas mentioned quietly as we made our way downstairs toward the training yard.
I absently picked at the calluses on my hands. “I know. I just don’t want to destroy her peace, not yet.”
Ilyas grunted in disagreement but didn’t say anything else.
What would Faylinn think if she knew I held the keys to her past?
Chapter 43
Rohak
The door clicked softly shut behind Lex and Ilyas, the momentary brightness from the Mage Orbs in the hall creating stark shadows before it was cut off once more, leaving the fire in the hearth as the only light source. There were additional orbs in my office, affixed to the walls and ceiling, but something about the fire was intimate. Especially with Faylinn seated in a chair across from the massive hearth, a black blanket I’d nabbed from my room covering her from neck to feet.
On second thought, maybe Ishouldturn a light on . . .
Maybe it would help alleviate these feelings that stirred deep within my soul whenever she was around.
“Rohak?” Faylinn called quietly, pulling me from my thoughts. Her hesitancy and quietness shot a pang of worry through my body—Faylinn was not a reserved woman. Brash and excitable, intelligent and confident, yes. But hesitant? Maybe even nervous? Those were emotions I had no idea how to handle with her.
I sighed heavily, finally turning from the closed door to face her, only to have my breath catch in my throat again.
She was beautiful.
Her face was softly lit by the warm orange hue of the flames that crackled and popped in front of her chair. She chewed her lip softly, an unspoken question hovering in her hazel eyes that gently searched my face for an answer. There was something soft and unguarded about her expression this morning, and I felt my heart plummet to my feet.
A gruff Faylinn was easy to compartmentalize.
But this version?
She was showing me a side of her I’d never been privileged to see before. I felt my heart beat erratically and face soften at the thought of somethingmorewith her.
But she’s not a Destruction Vessel. She cannot be yours.
“What happened just there?” she asked, a bit of her normal pep lacing her tone, though I could tell it was forced. Whatever happened as she tried to enter the Academy today rattled her, the experience taking its toll on her countenance.
“What?” I grunted, moving to stand next to her chair. I towered over her while she was sitting, my crotch even with her mouth as the shadow of my body fell across her lap. Faylinn craned her neck back slightly so she could still see my face, and I suddenly had a flash of a vision of Faylinn at this level for a completely different reason.
