Page 19 of Veil of Night & Flames

He laughed, loving her a tiny bit more for no reason other than that she was who she was.

He let her lead him through campus paths, naming each building as they passed. As they crossed what she called a quad—a place where students sprawled on grass with books and laptops—he noticed the way she kept reaching for things. Touching a tree trunk, running her hand along a wrought-iron fence, twisting a leaf between her fingers. And when he glanced sideways, even her profile showed that she missed this place.

“That’s the Science Center,” she said, nodding at a Spanish-style building with arched doorways and walls that had clearly seen a few centuries. “Professor Valdez teaches Abnormal Psych in there. She does sleep disorder research.” She shot him a sideways glance. “Silly me to think I had a disorder when all along it was destiny.”

Destiny.

He wondered which version of it she meant. Him? The Bride-mantle? Or the whole impossible weight of being chosen by a prophecy she hadn’t asked for.

He didn’t ask. He suspected the answer was all three.

“Where does that go?” he asked, gesturing to a path that cut off from the route they were walking.

“The town. Touristy stuff, mostly. But I work at The Griffin’s Nest. It’s this adorable bookstore that carries pretty much everything. And serves great coffee.”

“You like working there.” Not a question. He’d already heard the answer in her voice.

“Oh, yeah. Mr. Griffin’s great. He and Chase have been good friends for ages.”

Friends.

The word hung heavy in his thoughts. His brother had friends. This shopkeeper. The warrior from the Realm of the Others who’d died outside the walls of the castle. Probably even the girl Tia, whom Cora so missed.

Griffin. Something about the name rang familiar, and if the man was Chase’s friend, he was likely a Hunter, too—but no clear memory surfaced.

“Earth to Adric?”

He smiled. “Just imagining you as a shop girl.”

“We can go there if you want to see it.”

He shook his head. “Some other time.” He had no wish to share her with Chase’s allies. Not today. “We aren’t staying, remember? Best to remain out of sight.”

“Oh.” Her face lost some of its glow, and he hated himself for that. But not enough to change his mind. He’d see the place someday, but only when he was certain that she was truly his, and that she would remain so even if they were parted.

“I want to see Tia,” she said. “I know you think it will make it harder, but it won’t. Please?”

For a moment, he stood still, fighting the urge to simply say no, his fear that she would miss this world too much looming up around him. And if she decided to stay—well, that was a price he was not yet ready to pay.

And yet he could see the longing—it seemed to cling to her. And he was a man who understood longing.

“Very well,” he said, and his heart mlted a bit as her entire body seemed to light up.

“Thank you. Thank you so much. She’ll be awestruck meeting you. And as for this…” She pressed her fingers to the vial. “She’s going to totally lose her shit.”

“Cora.”

He let her name hang in the wind. “Out of sight, remember?”

“Even Tia?” The heartbreak in her voice felt like a stab to his gut. “She can keep a secret.”

“Do you really wish to go into explanations with her now, when all you would be doing after is returning to my realm?”

She tilted her head as she studied him. “I suppose I should at least be grateful that you’re not going to snatch her up and take her to your realm for me. Guess you got your fill of that with my uncle.”

He thought he heard a tease in her voice, but it was buried under genuine anger that felt like a punch to the gut.

“I would not do that,” he said. “And Kali abducted your uncle without my blessing.”