Page 46 of Vervain

He looks away from me and says, “Let me show you to your room before the sun rises.” His focus stays on the stairs, pointedly not watching me. “I can show you the manor tomorrow.”

I follow him upstairs, my footsteps the only noise. Serun’s movements are silent, and with every step, shadows peel away from him until they are a coat resting on his shoulders. He turns left at the top of the bifurcated staircase, into a narrow corridor. One painting between two doors stands out, with candlelight rising from a small oak table beneath it. I smile at the lingering lemon scent coming from a vase filled with lemongrass nestled among the candles. It reminds me of Cherry Bloom and days spent by the water, surrounded by the plants.

I stop to admire the painting, and Serun hovers beside me. An intense sunrise overlooks a valley, green with envy. In the centre of the frame, a man stands looking up, as if he is seeing the sun for the very first time.

“Is that you?” I ask.

“Possibly.” Serun tears his gaze away from the painting. “Your room is this way.”

He leaves, but I don’t follow right away, my heart twisting as I take in the scene a little longer. Serun said he was looking for Mother’s tear—a cure so he can walk in the sun again.

When we reach the end of the hallway, Serun opens the last door to reveal an office. Bookshelves line the walls, leaving little room for anything else. There’s a desk in the centre, a single candle burning near the scattered papers, softly illuminating the map spread open on top.

“What’s this?” I move around the desk, my pointed fingernails dragging over the areas crossed out in red. “The silver tear?”

He smirks. “Possibly.”

“Is that your favourite word tonight, nightwalker?” My brow twitches. “At least you aren’t using your liar’s tongue.”

With his ears pulled back, he gestures to the map and says, “Yes, I was looking for a lead.”

I nod, accepting his answer. “Is this the room I will be sleeping in?”

Serun smiles and points to a door I hadn’t noticed. “Through there.”

My eyes catch on a phone on the desk, and I stop. Observing my interest, Serun takes the phone and presses it to his ear. I lean over the desk, the wood groaning as I wait with bated breath.

After the second ring, a grumbling voice emerges. “Brother, it is near daylight. Can this wait?”

Serun keeps his gaze on me. “Yes, well, I have a worried consort. Have you caught his scent?”

I’m never going to get used to the word consort.

“Faint, but there. We passed Olivyan. They must have stopped there, for the scent lingered by the settlement before I picked it up again near the split in the ocean.

Serun looks down at the map, and there is a pause that sends a shrill hit of anxiety to my heart.

“Do you know if he’s still alive? Is that something you can sense?” I ask, leaning even further over the desk so my voice carries to the phone.

“He is, Lady Consort,” Reyes reassures me.

A pained look crosses Serun’s face for the briefest of moments. “Keep us updated.” He ends the call, his face relaxing, smoothing over and becoming hard for me to read once again.

“Thank you,” I say in a small, breathy voice.

“It is the least I can do after all I have put you through, kamai.”

Running my hand down my face, I push away from the desk and make my way to the door. “In all honesty, I wouldn’t have survived if it weren’t for you. If you had let me leave when I asked to, I’d likely have died before night fell. This has been the best path to finding Cole and getting him away from those slayers.”

Serun tweaks an eye, and as he scratches at his chest, he nudges his head towards the door. “I won’t enter your room without an invitation. You should sleep. Tomorrow, I will teach you how to bring back your glamour. If you are to leave here with your brother, having it will help hide you from humans and slayers who don’t know your face.”

I move towards the door with a laugh, but it is a weak and pathetic attempt to save face. “Funny how I don’t want it, but will need it because of the world we live in. How easy it is to hate someone without even knowing them.”

“You hate me.”

My smile falls, and my arm stills on the door handle. “I don’t hate you. If anything, I like the idea of you, Serun. Far more than Jax and what I thought I had with him.”

I settle my gaze on his, and his ears pull back at my sudden declaration. His clenched fists slacken, and the man behind the shadows comes alive. It reminds me of the time he panicked when he thought he was mind-manipulating me before we kissed in the private room.