“How did you know where to find me?”
“I felt you—I felt your magic and knew you needed me.” His eyes darted around the perimeter of the clearing.
“How is that possible?” I clutched onto the tree still.
“You sensed me at the willow tree, like I’ve been sensing you.” His dark curls tumbled down as he leaned toward me—his chest heaved, still breathless.
A steady pulse wrapped around me, his calm grounding me.
“Before you crossed the divide…it felt like you were calling me. I went there. I searched for you.”
Air struck my lungs too quickly. Lord Joran mentioned a disturbance at the divide before I crossed it. Was it him?
“When you finally did. Something shifted in me.”
“That’s why you were there? How you found me?” I asked.
He only nodded.
I never stopped to wonder how he got to me so quickly. But now I knew. He chose to be there—to wait for me.
Lioran winced as he leaned closer. I thought he had healed,but now I saw it—his composure was cracking. Even as he unraveled, he fought to keep himself together. “Ever since I’ve laid eyes on you…you’ve driven me absolutely mad?—”
“You came here to tell me you can’t stand me?” I pushed past him, but he grabbed my wrist. As he pulled me closer, his silver gaze searched for everything I wouldn’t say.
“I came here to tell you what I should have told you sooner. Ever since I found you…I can barely sleep, barely think…the need to be near you is consuming me.”
“Lioran…I…”
“You are my rose blooming among the decay. I lost hope, but you gave me a glimmer of light.”
A single tear grazed my cheek.
“I tried to keep it to myself, but I can’t any longer.”
I shoved down every feeling I had for him. Denied it all even as Fyn prodded me. It terrified me that I could want someone as much as I wanted him. That I could give my heart and trust it wouldn’t break. I was so afraid it would that I couldn’t see how he felt.
He released his hold on me. “Aelira…” His hands brushed my cheek, wiping my tears away. “If you don’t feel the way that I do, I will give you whatever space you require and never speak of it again.”
The tears fell faster. Every word I could have uttered remained unsaid.
He saw me—he truly saw me.
“I need to know. Not knowing is destroying me.” Desperation etched into every line of his face. “Tell me anything—tell me you don’t feel the same.” His jaw hardened.
“I can’t tell you that…because it would be a lie. I was so broken in Bailoc, but here with you, I feel like me again.”
“I love you, Aelira. Entirely.”
He looked at me—as if I meant everything. I couldn’tspeak. His lips collided with mine, and everything inside me strengthened. I gripped his arms and sank into his kiss, into him.
“And you said none of this was what I think it is.” Pyrran clutched the trunk of a nearby tree. “Making a human believe you love her, that you could ever love her. It’s pathetic, even for you.”
Anger swelled within me. I looked to Lioran. His eyes pleaded with mine before he turned toward Pyrran.
“Enough,” Lioran growled as he stepped in front of me.
A chill nipped at my neck through the gemstone. I felt my magic tumble—I breathed through it. My eyes welled, but I wouldn’t let the tears fall.
