Page 145 of Embers of Ruin

I laugh because, gods, I do love him, and I’m glad he knows it, because he unleashed one of the seven hells to get me out of this place.

CHAPTER 33

Two days pass before Thorin finally stops treating me like I might disappear. I sleep in his chambers now, tangled in his sheets and his silence, and I go where he goes—though he doesn’t go very far.

The first day after the rescue, he follows me everywhere, no pretense about it. The second day, he follows me everywhere while pretending not to. By the third, he’s developed enough dignity to trail several feet behind me instead of hovering at my shoulder.

I choose to see that as progress.

I stop beside a narrow stone bridge crossing one of the streams that winds through the palace and glance over my shoulder. He’s there, leaning against a fence post with his arms crossed, pretending to be fascinated by absolutely anything other than me. But the warmth in his face gives him away—I’ve never seen him look at anything like that before.

“Stop acting like you aren't stalking me, Thorin.”

He doesn’t answer. I stare until he finally cracks, and the laugh that escapes me is the easiest one I’ve had in longer than I can remember.

His gaze flicks toward mine. “Oh. Apologies, Lady Tarethyn. Is something wrong? I did not notice you.”

I laugh so hard that the guards passing by chuckle along, grateful, maybe, for the peace that’s settled over the palace these last two days.

“Thorin. You're following me. You didn’t have to do that.”

“No, I am not. I am simply… admiring… the stonework. The architect did an amazing job.”

I cross to him and pinch his arm. “You absolutely are following me. But you didn’t have to, you insane man.”

His expression stays perfectly serious. “Muya quenati, I happened to be walking in the same direction. Maybe it is you following me.”

“You’ve been walking in the same direction for two days. My direction, Thorin.”

“I enjoy this direction.”

I narrow my eyes, fighting a smile, and lose when the corner of his mouth twitches first. We haven't talked much about what happened with The Rebellion. I’ve had nightmares for two nights running, and both nights I’ve ended up pressed so close to him it’s like I’m trying to disappear inside his chest. As badly as I want him—all of him—I need my mind to settle first.

There’s too much to sort through: Mara’s betrayal, The Rebellion, the settlement. It sits in me like a weight I haven’t found the words for yet.

Except one thing I have found the words for.

“Onyx is your fucking brother, Thorin? Gods, that was the easiest answer you could’ve given me when I asked.”

His face drops instantly, laughter gone before I've even finished the sentence.

“Lyra—”

“Let me talk.” I cut him off before he can spiral into something evasive.

“You do enough of that, and I don’t feel like unraveling your riddles today. They give me headaches.”

That earns me a smile—the dazzling one, the one that makes the silver in his eyes swirl as he steps in close.

“Talk, my love.”

I breathe him in, searching his eyes with an intensity that makes my own magic stir under my skin.

“I know you aren’t a monster. I just need to say it out loud. When I was in the glass cage, someone told me the truth. I don’t know his name—only that he’s on your side. I know about the settlement. I know you’ve been protecting us. Protecting me.”

Something in him loosens. He sighs, low and long, and drops his forehead to mine.

“No. I’m not a monster. Not to you. To anyone foolish enough to stand against me? I am their nightmare.”