Or risk losing this feeling.
It felt... good. Being in his arms, being held as if I mattered to someone. As if I were a person of worthy dreams and thoughts.
It could be like this. You could stay here with him.
I dismissed my inner voice which sounded suspiciously like Ramishah and concentrated on trying to slide out of his arms as quietly as I could.
But I could sense the moment he woke up.
He tensed, and his palm that was previously splayed over my behind was suddenly lifted. His heart hammered faster.
I had the courage to tilt my head up, and found dark eyes rimmed in silver staring back at me.
“I’m sorry,” I said, my voice husky from sleep, and I cringed inwardly at the throaty tone. It sounded like I was trying to seduce him. “It appears I mauled you in my sleep.” I looked down at my arm locked around his waist.
“It’s my fault for not sleeping on the floor.”
I let out a little laugh, the idea that he should’ve slept on the floor to avoid me throwing myself all over him, but my humor caused unexpected movement and we both froze at the additional contact.
“I’ll just...”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
We extricated our limbs, our hands, our bodies until we were both stood on opposite sides of the bed, not facing each other.
He cleared his throat. “I’m going to check on Reza and make sure everything is still to plan.”
I turned abruptly. “Are you going to tell him about yesterday?”
He met my gaze as he put his boots back on. “No. And I would hope you don’t either, for all our sakes, including the lives of the peris in this village,” he warned.
“I would never do that.”
He nodded, and slipped from the room, leaving me to my thoughts and my burning face.
I hadsleptwith him.
The man who was the Viceroy’s rebel hunter, the one who seemed to be playing both sides and who had secrets he wasn’t telling me.
Yes, we had only shared a bed, but waking up entangled with him felt like it had woken my body up too.
And now it was very, very aware of him—and in more than just the physical sense.
Near him, I felt as though I wasn’t alone anymore, as though I had someone who understood the act of violence that was growing up being told you couldn’t be who you were meant to be, because someone else had taken that from you.
It was in the way he understood that the very soil and connection to the earth had meaning. The importance of home and being free in our home.
I sat down on the bed, my head in my hands, wishing fervently that I had never known what it felt like to have his arms around me, nor to listen to the steady beat of his heart.
* * *
We traveled the rest of the day, the terrain growing rockier, more mountainous. Occasionally I would call on my magic to see if there was anything nearby.
Find what I need.
But it was silent, despite the increased in power thrumming through my veins. As we grew closer to the low mountains, I felt my magic rising in my belly, spreading to my fingertips, my skin, all over. My body was alive with it, the same way it had been when I’d found Ghassan’s key. It was the same feeling I’d always had when I came close to unearthing what had been lost for centuries.
But this time, you’ll be taking it for yourself. You’ll be the one stealing it from where it belongs.
