I gazed back at him as my lips tugged up into a sly smile. “Got any games in the castle?”
CHAPTER 15
HADRIEN
“Agame?” I repeated with surprise.
“Yes,” Lilia replied with a small smile. “I figured it would help with all this…” She motioned between us and didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t have to. I knew exactly what she was referring to with all this palpable tension between us, especially since I didn’t know what to do with it.
“Yes, back at the castle.”
“Let’s head back.” As we walked back on the well-worn forest path, she moved closer to me than she’d been on the way out.
The forest was quiet save for the crunch of twigs and leaves beneath our feet and the whisper of a breeze through the leaves. The night air cooled my skin and moonlight peeked through the foliage from above, casting strips of light and shadow dancing on the path ahead of us.
I’d kept a careful distance to give her space, the way I had all evening, even though every instinct inside me pushed me to move closer to her. I couldn’t, not after our kiss last night. Theconfusion on her face when she’d pulled away had said it all—that it had been a mistake, something that had just happened in the moment. She must have regretted it, and I ruminated on it all day while in stone. I didn’t blame her. Why would someone as vivacious as her want anything to do with a cantankerous grump like me, especially after forcing her to stay here at Valgarde like a prisoner?
I should give her freedom, but couldn’t. How could I let her go and reveal the truth of the wards to anyone? I’d already let her mother and brother go, and the only leverage I had to keep them quiet was by keeping Lilia here.
And even after a few days, I didn’t want her to leave. Selfish, I knew. But the days when I was locked in stone atop Valgarde, staring out over my land now weren’t so dark, not with Lilia in my vision and in my thoughts. She’d waved at me when she’d stepped outside this morning before tending the gardens. She’d often hummed while she worked and referred to books to identify plants she didn’t recognize. She’d chat with Victor and Genevieve, and I noted the brightness she’d brought to them as well.
Lilia had brought light into the dark walls of Valgarde, and I didn’t know how I could ever let her leave.
Not that I had much choice. With the poppy hardening, I was running out of time. Once I was gone, she was free to do whatever she pleased. Would it be so selfish to keep her here and have a spark of happiness with her before my inevitable end?
What I hadn’t anticipated was how much of an impact she’d had on me in such a short time. How I’d grown to look forward to her stepping out beneath the sunlight. Her small wave this morning had filled me with unimaginable delight for such a small gesture. I’d counted down the hours until we could dinetogether come sundown, to walk with her and take her hand when we attempted her spell.
As we approached the castle, the faint wood smoke from Valgarde’s chimneys carried through the air. Her fingers brushed mine, reminding me of the heat that had surged through my veins when we’d kissed last night. And my fantasies about continuing on…
She gave me a sweet smile. Something hit me I hadn’t expected, which went beyond desire.
I didn’t want her to leave.
The days since she’d arrived had felt less like a sentence. She’d brought something back into Valgarde I hadn’t realized was gone until I heard it again—laughter, warmth, the sound of someone moving on the grounds as if they belonged there.
She belonged there.
And I had no idea what to do with that.
This time, I brushed my fingers against hers and let them linger for a few seconds, waiting to see if she’d pull away. She didn’t.
I extended my hand and wrapped it around her tiny one. Not only did she not pull away, she curled her fingers around mine. The warmth of her small hand pushed away the cold of the night breeze.
In that moment, I forgot I was running out of time—that relentless countdown that ticked in my head. How could such a small gesture do so much, pushing away the cold inevitability of what was coming? All of it briefly gone, replaced by a lightness in my chest.
Back in the castle, I pulled out a deck of cards from a cabinet in the library. She shuffled while I started a fire.
We pulled the chairs closer together with a table between us and began to play.
“You have no expression,” she teased. “How am I supposed to know if you’re bluffing if you don’t give me any hints?”
I laughed, the sound almost foreign to my ears after years of it being silent since the curse. And yet, with Lilia here, I heard it more and more.
After a couple of games, we moved on to chess, and I won the first round.
“You’re doing that on purpose,” she said with an adorable pout.
“Winning?”
