The night wasclear and cold, the kind of cold that sharpened everything. Moonlight sprawled across the flagstones in longwhite panels. We took a different route through La Forêt de Veillepierre to another part of the ward as she reiterated the steps for the spell she wanted us to try, using herbs she’d found in the garden and called “rare and magical.”
“I know it will be tedious work,” she explained. “The boundary around your land is huge, but I think it’s our best bet. It incorporates both of our strengths.”
I didn’t dare crush her enthusiasm, having learned better from our earlier arguments. If she wanted to try this, I’d do my best and support her efforts without any of my usual grumbling.
“Here,” I said, stopping at the boundary, which was invisible to the eye but not to the senses, at least, not to mine.
Lilia stepped up beside me and crouched down. She pressed a handful of plants to the earth and closed her eyes.
“Now you,” she directed.
I moved beside her. Close enough that I could scent her unique fragrance. I pressed one hand to the earth and the other to the carved stone marking the border of my land.
She chanted something low and indistinguishable—part of the spell she’d been practicing. For several minutes we stood there while she chanted.
Then she took my hand.
I inhaled sharply through my nostrils in surprise. Her hand was so tiny and warm in mine, and it felt so…right. For a moment, I forgot the reason she was touching me this way, and that it was all part of the spell she’d wanted to try.
Something happened.
What, I wasn’t sure. I felt it before I understood it—the tiniest spark moved from Lilia into me.
She exhaled. “Hadrien?” she whispered.
“Yes.”
“Do you…feelthat?” Her voice was barely audible and full of awe.
I was struck just the same, not by the magic, but by her.
“I do,” I barely managed to say.
“We’re on the right track, I think.” She turned to me, eyes bright and our hands still joined. “Maybe it might work after all.”
I wasn’t prepared for her face. Her expression was so full of excitement and hope that I couldn’t help but feel it myself. A yearning to cup her cheeks in both hands and bend down to kiss her rose in me, but I wouldn’t dare break this spell she’d practiced so hard on.
Besides, I needed this magic to work.
For several lifetimes, it seemed, we stared at each other, expressing a thousand emotions without uttering a word, all while the electrifying magic flowed through us.
Lilia exhaled and squeezed my hand. Her eyes were luminous, as beguiling as a lantern through a window promising cozy warmth. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips parted, and she was looking at me as if I’d accomplished something extraordinary, when all I’d done was stand still as stone.
She released my hand, and the cold night air replaced her warm touch. I missed the feel of her already.
But then, she reached up and placed her hands on my chest. She glanced up at me and searched my eyes, and then lowered her gaze to my lips. My gods, was this truly happening?
I cupped her cheek, tilting her head back. She didn’t pull away. Her eyes remained fixed on mine, bright with expectation, while anticipation thundered through my veins.
Her lips parted. After all this time, I had forgotten how to close the last inch.
She rose on her tiptoes, the warmth of her sweet breath tickling my chin. Ache, need, and desire coiled in me like never before, warming me like a blazing hearth after years of isolation.
Stirring me with—hope.
And that terrified me most of all.
CHAPTER 14
