Talking.
“You have sisters,” I said finally.
Her eyes softened, a sweet smile touching her lips. “Gray, Georgie, and Adele.”
“And you. The four Silversbane witches,” I said, remembering what she’d told me in Keradoc’s war room that night. “I still can’t wrap my head around it. You’re part of the prophecy—that’s insane, Haley. I’d always assumed it was a legend.”
“Nope. You’re in the presence of greatness,” she teased. “Practically witch-fae royalty right here. Maybe you should kiss my feet.” She stuck a foot out from under the blanket and nudged my knee.
I grabbed it, gave it a squeeze. Held it, soft and warm in my hand, unable—unwilling—to let go.
The playfulness in her eyes shifted to something more serious, and in them I saw a deep longing I wanted nothing more than to dive right into.
“Haley,” I whispered, and she bit her lip and lowered her gaze, pulling her foot out of my grasp.
“Elian, I… I’m…” She sighed, and I was already feeling the crushing weight of her rejection, knowing she was about to kick me out.
Probably for the best.
But then she scooted over to the side of the bed, looked up at me again, and patted the empty space next to her.
I didn’t move.
“Just for a little while,” she said softly. “Please? Yes, I know I’m needy and whiny and impossible, but—”
“You know I can’t say no to you, little sparrow.” I rose from the chair. “You sure your boyfriend won’t get mad if he comes home and finds me in bed with his woman?” I teased, but I was already sliding in next to her.
Like I gave a fuck what Jax would think. It was his fault for not being here.
That’s right, asshole,the little voice inside my head said.She wasyourgirl first. Just because you can’t fuck her doesn’t mean you can’tthinkabout fucking her. Doesn’t mean you can’t lay next to her and remember what it was like…
Ignoring the pulse of heat in my cock, I settled in next to her, rolling onto my hip to face her. The bed was warm from her body, the moonlight painting her face, and for a long moment I just… watched her. Drank her in. Tried to set aside my complicated feelings and the pain and the regrets and all the fucked-up shit between us and just appreciate the fact that for right now, whether it would be for an hour or fifteen seconds, I had her all to myself.
I didn’t even care that we’d stopped talking. Just being here, just looking at her was enough.
But then she reached up to touch one of my silver braids, and sadness washed through her eyes, her mouth pulling into a frown.
“Elian,” she whispered, and I held my breath, knowing—just fuckingknowing—what would come next. “Who’s Evander?”
A smile touched my lips, but then it vanished, swallowed up by the ache inside me that would never heal.
“You used to dream about him,” she continued softly, as if I could ever forget. As if I didn’tstilldream about him, didn’t still see him every time I closed my eyes. “Back in the Bay sometimes. I remember you’d—”
“I know, sparrow. It… it was a long time ago.”
“That night in the throne room, though… What made you think of him?”
I didn’t answer her. Couldn’t. The truth still sounded too fucking crazy, even in my own drug-addled brain—a place that practically thrived on crazy.
“Is Evander the reason you…” She trailed off into a sigh, then lifted her other hand, the unmistakable black pill pinched between her thumb and forefinger.
“Haley!” I bolted upright and leaned over her, trying to take it. “Where did you get that?”
She closed her fist around it and shrugged. “I found it in the kitchen. One of the staff probably dropped it.”
“Give it to me.”
Still clutching it in her fist, she said, “What does it feel like? I used to turn my nose up at the idea of trying it, but I have to admit—I’m kind of curious now.”
