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Riven smiles, and it’s like lightning, bright and incandescent, striking the space right in front of me.

“This is all so…” I trail off, unsure how to put the mixture of awe and grief into words.

He looks at me expectantly, blue eyes lit with amusement. “So?”

“Terribly sad.”

His smile broadens, showcasing that single dimple. “Indeed it is.”

He takes the potion from me, fingertips lingering on my skin longer than necessary. When he pulls away, he prods the back of his neck.

“All jokes aside,” he says, toying with the vial, “thank you, Gwyn, for my gift. Hopefully it works.”

“It will.”

He tilts his head to the side and purses his lips. “And how can you be so sure?”

“Because I made it.”

“Ah, yes,” he says, drifting closer to me. He turns the vial over in his hand, jaw flexing. “There’s something I want to ask you, though I know I shouldn’t.” He swallows hard. “You’re here to help me find a bride, not… Not to be my test subject.”

“Your…” I gesture between us. “You want to⁠—”

“I can’t stop thinking about our kiss, little witch.”

It’s a confession I don’t expect.

One that has my toes curling.

“You can’t?” I ask, voice catching slightly.

He’s close enough now that I can feel his warmth, close enough that I have to tip my head back to meet his gaze.

“I can’t.” His thumb and forefinger find my chin. “Can you?”

Of course not.

Tasting him unlocked a craving within me that has yet to be sated.

The corner of his mouth lifts.

“So transparent,” he murmurs, releasing my chin to lightly brush the back of his fingers against my cheek and down my arm. “Your every thought is so fucking clear to me.”

My breath hitches. No one, not even Ava, has ever been able to read me so well.

I don’t understand how he’s able to.

“How long has it been since anyone’s touched you?” His voice is velvet soft. It’s a caress in and of itself, gently tugging loose the ribbons binding my defenses, the resolve that whispers if we blur this line, we both might end up hurt in more ways than one.

And yet, I say the truth aloud without a lick of embarrassment. “Too long.”

Centuries without the touch of a lover.

I thought I didn’t need it, that I’d learn to live without it. And I did, but…

Avaline was right.

It was nothing but a half-life.