She lifted her chin a little higher.“What if I did?”
This time, he laughed out loud.“You may try, I suppose.But I have my doubts you will succeed.”
“You know how to break it, don’t you?”she asked, determination edging through her.
He said nothing as he pressed his lips together into a thin line.
In desperation, she said, “If I guess your true name, will it free you?”
The stranger froze.He was so still, he looked as though he’d turned to stone.He stared at her out of those green-blue eyes that now glinted with something she could not understand.Fear?Remorse?Hope?She wasn’t sure.
“Where did you hear that?”
“I read it in a book.And…something you said.That a name is a lock and the tongue that speaks it is the key.”
His jaw clenched, the muscles ticking along the edge, though he said nothing.
“Is that it?”she pressed.
“Why do you wish to help me?”he demanded, then, his voice hard and cold.“I am nothing to you.”
“Because you …” Her breath hitched as she glanced down at her snow-crusted boots.“You gave me hope when I had none.”
When she looked up again, his eyes searched her face, sharp as glass, wanting to believe her.But then he turned away, shoulders bowed beneath an invisible weight.
“Hope is dangerous, Serena Windriver,” he murmured.“It will betray you in the end.”
She wanted to argue.But the words lodged in her throat.And so she stood in silence, his warning echoing in her ears and her heart pounding like a drum.His cloak snapped in the wind, his face hidden once more in shadow.
“Go home, Serena,” he said softly.“Before the Well decides your fate, too.”
Lantern trembling in her hand, she stumbled back a step as her throat tightened.Tears threatened.She should leave.She should run.But all she could think was that somewhere behind those green-blue eyes, he was begging her to stay.
“But, I—”
“Go,” he said again, his tone sharp.
As she stumbled away into the snow, she wondered if he was right—if hope was already the most dangerous wish of all.
Chapter 9
Thestrangerwatchedthegirl hurry down the mountain and disappear out of sight.He turned away and leaned against the stone, breath catching in his throat.The Well shimmered, magic curling like glittering smoke beneath the surface, ready and waiting for him to grant her wish.Hungry for it.
But she did not make a wish.
No, instead, she came to him and asked how to release him from his captivity.His curse.
Why?Why would she want to do such a thing?
You gave me hope.
Oh,Gods, why did she have to say that?Why did she have to look at him with those beautiful eyes full of compassion and empathy?Why did her words tug at his heart when he thought his heart was long since gone?
He regretted his words—that a name is a lock and the tongue that speaks it is the key.He should have guarded his thoughts.But he didn’t and now…now the girl returned seeking more answers.Seeking truth.
Every time she came back, the fragments of his memory pieced together.Every time she returned, a little light returned to his world.Every time she returned, warmth glowed in his broken heart.
Every single time.
