The door opened with a subtle creak as she stepped inside without a word. The glow of the candle flames painted the room in swaths of gold and shadow, the flickers catching against the sharp lines of Draevyn’s shoulders. He stood motionless, his back facing her as he stared up at the map that was hung on the farthest wall.
Esmyra lingered in the doorway, watching him and noting that every muscle in his body seemed coiled tight.
When she finally stepped inside and closed the door, the softclickechoed. But Draevyn didn’t turn, he didn’t even flinch.
What’s going on in that head of yours?she thought, almost frustrated at how much she wanted to know. He’d come for her, fought for her,burnedfor her, apparently. But in this quiet, he felt impossibly distant. Truthfully, she just didn’t even know where to begin with him.
“You know,” he said without turning, “you’ve got this adorable habit of trying to sneak up on me while hiding in the shadows.”
Her breath caught at the sound of his voice. He always seemed to know when she was there, as if some invisible thread connected them.
Then Draevyn finally tilted his head just enough to glance over his shoulder. “But you should know by now… I’ll always find you, Wildfire.”
Did he sense her, just as she always did him?
Heat flushed through her chest, heart fluttering at his nickname for her.She knew his words were partly a joke, but also something else entirely.
Esmyra pushed off the door, wearing a sly grin. “You should know…one day my sneakiness will work. And you’ll never see it coming.”
“Doubtful.” He let out a quiet chuckle, his eyes flickering with amusement. “But I’d like to see you try.”
“Oh?” She stepped up beside him, tilting her head back to take in the map pinned to the wall. “Pretty bold of you to think you’re untouchable, Draevyn Rowe.”
Silence filled the room, and for a moment, she wondered if she’d said the wrong thing.
“I’m far from untouchable,” he finally said, his voice dropping lower. “And it’s safe to say the realm now knows my one, true weakness.”
All words slipped from her mind at that. She felt the heat of him flicker against her skin, mingling with the warmth rising in her chest.
Esmyra lifted her fingers and brushed the edge of the map. “You’ve been staring at this map all night?”
“Not all night,” he said softly, finally turning to her. His eyes burned with the same intensity as the flames dancing on the candles’ wicks. “Do you ever think about what’s beyond our realm?”
Her head cocked to the side, intrigued.
“There has to be more than just Rymelle,” he continued. “Other lands, or worlds. Maybe even places we can’t imagine.”
She thought about Lia, the female she met in the tavern back in Anchorage Cove, and how she said she and her companions were from another realm.
Esmyra let out a breath. “You know, I’ve spent centuries chasing every edge of this map, and yet it feels like we’re still trapped inside an invisible cage.”
A half-smile played on his lips. “If there’s something beyond our world, I’d like to be the one to find it.” He paused, and her pulse began to race. “With you.If you’re up for the adventure, that is.”
The words lingered between them. She shifted on her feet, their shoulders almost touching as she stared at the map alongside him.
“Then maybe we just need to sail far enough to fall off the edge.”
His smirk deepened. “Or find out the edge was only the beginning.”
Draevyn wanted to sail off into the sunset together and never look back. It was the most love-sick thing she’d ever heard. Something she would mock others for without a second thought.
But the thought of it now…withDraevyn?
It should’ve been the kind of thing that made her heart soar, that made the walls she’d built around herself crumble for him once again. But instead, it twisted inside her. Because hemeantit. She could hear it in his voice—see it in the way he looked at her like there was no wicked deed she could cast that would scare him away.
Esmyra didn’t deserve the hope in his words, or the promise in his eyes.
She tried to swallow it down, to smirk and tease like she always did, but her voice cracked when she finally asked, “Why?”
