“Alright,” I said softly.
“I could grab a chair, sleep outside the door–”
“No,” I cut in, a little too quick. “No, you don’t have to do that. You – you can stay in here.”
I didn’t miss the twitch of his lip, and he didn’t miss the answering flicker of my magic. We both glanced away, and Iwilledmy Flame to calm down, or at the very least to vacate my quickly reddening face.
He’s here to guard us,I told it.Nothing else.
The uneven ripple of that fire in my chest felt oddly close to mocking laughter.
Impudent little parasite.
It only burned hotter.
When I looked up, Caelan was once more grabbing at his neck in that same nervous way that did such distracting things to his biceps.
“I suppose I’ll just go have a word with Brennan, and then –”
He cut himself off and shot me a glance, some question in his gaze that I had no hope of deciphering. I swallowed against the tightness in my throat, not that it did anything to relieve the tension threading my every word.
“And then you’ll be back.”
His grin flashed so bright and sudden that it disarmed me and robbed the little breath left in my lungs. I was sure it had overtaken him too, especially when he fought it down to a smirk, voice a little hoarser when he said; “And then I’ll be back.”
I bit against the answering curve of my own lips and held myself entirely still until the door clicked shut behind him. Only then did I flop back on my pillows and let my whole body sink into the bed, the painful tension seeping out of every coiled muscle.He’d be back. That knowledge swept over me like a gentle, stroking hand to the chaos of my thoughts. I hadn’t noticed the adrenaline hiding in the shadow of my Flame until its frantic hum began to quiet and the ensuing peace made my blinks turn slow and heavy.
I knew I ought to sit up if I had a hope of being awake whenCaelan returned, but my muscles had melted into the mattress and I could not have moved even if my Flame leapt from my chest and set the whole building alight.
My eyes ached to close. I fought the urge until they rolled in my head.
???
“You’re awake.”
I wasn’t sure how he could tell, because I certainly didn’t realise until I heard his voice. I rolled over and glanced around for him through one cracked eye. He sat in the corner, looking almost comically massive perched upon the tiny stool I kept tucked beneath my vanity table. It can’t have been terribly comfortable, either. I propped myself up on my elbow and peered around blearily.
The light hadn’t shifted much, but even so I asked; “What time is it?”
He shrugged. “Almost midnight.”
“Midnight? I’ve been asleep for hours, weren’t you bored?”
“Far from it.”
He flashed me something in his hand I hadn’t noticed; a book with an unassuming blue cover andThe Nightingale Jewelprinted in flowery white script. A very familiar, very dog-eared book. I groaned, knowing what was coming even before he grinned at me, so broad the soft lantern light flashed off his incisors like wicked fangs.
“For fuck’s sake,” I grumbled.
“Didn’t know you read bodice rippers.”
“Didn’t know you could read.”
I smiled sweetly and he barked out a shocked laugh that made my heart swell. He clutched at his broad chest with one hand like I’d mortally wounded him.
“Gods, you’re a mean little thing.” His eyes glinted as they swept the length of me, head tilted. “Why do I love that about you?”
The sudden colour in my face woke my Flame, and it rose with acute interest before diving into my belly to squirm and riot. Rendered speechless, I wrenched my gaze from his and scooted off the bed, head bent to hide my red cheeks – though I was sure he’d caught them anyway. This man didn’t miss a thing. I could still feel his eyes on me as I feigned a sleepy stretch and finally turned to meet his gaze, perhaps a little too boldly.
